Adopting a New Project Management Methodology

If your company or organization wants to start using formal project management procedures, what do you need to do? The first thing is to pick a methodology.  I suggest the standard methodology used by the Project Management Institute or PMI. www.pmi.org.  Another methodology to consider might be Agile. You’ll need to do some research on both to see what might work best for your organization. Whatever method you choose there are several key steps to successful implementation. First is to commit to using formal project management methods. Second, create a road map of your current projects including basic info about each project. Third, identify and analyze all your standard stakeholders, both the positive ones and the negative. Fourth, identify general project risks both positive and negative. Next steps are to set your expectations for the phases in your projects, the project scope, the resources you will use, the communications methods and procedures and how you will conduct procurements. Establish metrics to measure your objectives, goals and milestones. Determine your virtual teams; create a generic scope statement model that will be used as a template for all projects. Other templates for communications, cost, and scheduling also need to be determined. Develop a solid method for estimating. I’d use PERT, the program evaluation review technique, which involves considering the pessimistic, optimistic and most likely estimates rather than the normal one point estimate. Last but not least, establish a project management office to champion these efforts and make sure they get started and stay in place. For more ideas feel free to contact me directly at wlewis55@comcast.net.