There are four pillars to appropriately architect the human dimension in managing by projects:
expanding the leadership style; creating a high-performance team; acting on the needs and
expectations of the interested parties; and establishing effective communication.

A holistic view is required to chart the pathway to successfully implement Enterprise Project Management, and it all starts with the work breakdown structure!

More heads are nodding affirmatively about applying a projectized approach to running business. I see this at conferences, seminars and in conversations with executives in company settings. Even companies whose end products are not projects (such as consumer product manufacturers, or telephone carriers) are implementing project approaches to shrink time to market and increase organizational productivity.

“Hey guys, we need to work on transition when we switch formations: there’s a lot of extra flapping going on.”

Any similarity between a group of flying ducks and corporations trying to get their act together is more than coincidental. A well-oiled organization is like a flock of wild ducks flying South: they are both made up of individuals moving energetically towards a common goal. When wild ducks and geese take off or shift formations in flight, they juggle about for quick transition so they can align themselves to take advantage of the aerodynamics of the V formation. By working together and “drafting” off of each other, they create group synergy that takes them efficiently to their destination.

CEO, CFO, COO and CIO are active titles in major corporations, created to fit a need, to focus responsibility on one spot. Is the time right now for the CPO, the Chief Project Officer?

You’d think it would be easy, but tracking down where project management lives within an organization is not always a simple task. Like the buffalo that roam, project management may be found at specific spots within an organization, as well as at alternative grazing grounds depending on the seasons and the times. Here are some of the places project management resides within a company

While speaking to the Amil Health Insurance Group in Brazil in 1994, Tom Peters admitted that he was almost always wrong in his predictions. He said that no matter how zany his prognostications were about the “wacky future”, reality proved that he had actually been conservative, in spite of the apparent brashness of his initial vision. Things happened at a faster pace and a more surprising manner than he had originally envisioned.

Paul C. Dinsmore, PMP

Most companies have their strategies in place. This means mission and vision statements, objectives and goals have been established. Those strategies require that projects be under way, whether they be of a strategic nature or are more targeted towards new products, operations or expansion. Between the business strategies and the projects being carried out is the area I call “the never never land of enterprise project management.” For companies that carry on multiple projects, it’s the space between the company’s good intentions (strategies) and what is being done to put the proposed strategies into practice (projects).

--Paul C. Dinsmore, PMP, PMI Fellow

Tennis players at all levels intuitively know how to upgrade their games. It’s about improving technique and putting good form into practice on the tennis court. This pursuit of better tennis practices results in boosting the players’ odds at winning.
The same is true for project professionals. By putting proven techniques and approaches into practice, they too boost the odds of winning in the project management arena. The resulting wins include: improved project delivery, better performance, and increased stakeholder satisfaction. So project professionals likewise upgrade performance by putting best practices into play.

--Paul C. Dinsmore

It all started this decade and is coming to a crest as the New Millennium arrives. Project management has established a beachhead as a new approach for managing organizations. Corporations are using project techniques as an approach for formulating plans and taking care of daily business. Companies are beginning to perceive themselves as enterprises of multiple projects, so project management is becoming a part of organizations’ managerial philosophy, like total quality, or customer satisfaction or “lean” management. It’s becoming in-bred, part of the fiber of the company, an accepted way for accomplishing goals.

By Paul C. Dinsmore, PMP, PMI Fellow

Do PM’s Silver Bullets Mean Bulls-Eye Solutions or Hip-Shots into the Blue?
How do you fix a project management organization that is broken or lagging behind in performance?
Where should you start making improvements?
What actions will have the most punch?

Paul C. Dinsmore, PMP, PMI Fellow
Pedro C. Ribeiro, MBA, PMP

Profitable growth through seamless execution of strategies is the best way to assure the creation of long-term value for shareholders. However, experience indicates that brilliantly formulated strategies that are not effectively executed result in loss to shareholders. Executing strategy through projects aligned with key shareholder value drivers is perhaps the most important factor for organizational success.