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  • Istanbul Bilgi University Department of Industrial Engineering IE 270 - Engineering Project Management 2020-2021 Spring - Case Study 01

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    Salim Gündüz
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    The executive staff of a company were directed by the president to develop a project management methodology within six months. A project management office (PMO) was formed to lead this process. The PMO identified five initial steps: 1) establishing the number of project lifecycle phases, 2) choosing a formal or informal methodology approach, 3) reviewing existing templates, 4) developing a means to capture best practices, and 5) providing training. The PMO believed a standardized methodology using six or fewer phases and an informal flexible approach could help the company better respond to client needs and Requests for Proposals.

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    The executive staff of a company were directed by the president to develop a project management methodology within six months. A project management office (PMO) was formed to lead this process. The PMO identified five initial steps: 1) establishing the number of project lifecycle phases, 2) choosing a formal or informal methodology approach, 3) reviewing existing templates, 4) developing a means to capture best practices, and 5) providing training. The PMO believed a standardized methodology using six or fewer phases and an informal flexible approach could help the company better respond to client needs and Requests for Proposals.

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    47 views2 pages

    Istanbul Bilgi University Department of Industrial Engineering IE 270 - Engineering Project Management 2020-2021 Spring - Case Study 01

    Uploaded by

    Salim Gündüz
    The executive staff of a company were directed by the president to develop a project management methodology within six months. A project management office (PMO) was formed to lead this process. The PMO identified five initial steps: 1) establishing the number of project lifecycle phases, 2) choosing a formal or informal methodology approach, 3) reviewing existing templates, 4) developing a means to capture best practices, and 5) providing training. The PMO believed a standardized methodology using six or fewer phases and an informal flexible approach could help the company better respond to client needs and Requests for Proposals.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Istanbul Bilgi University

    Department of Industrial Engineering


    IE 270 - Engineering Project Management
    2020-2021 Spring - Case Study 01

    Case: Creating a Methodology


    Background

    John Compton, the president of the company, expressed his feelings quite bluntly at the executive
    staff meeting:

    ”We are no longer competitive in the marketplace. Almost all of the Requests for Proposal
    (RFP) that we want to bid on have a requirement that we must identify in the proposal the project
    management methodology we will use on the contract should we be awarded the contract. We have
    no project management methodology. We have just a few templates we use based upon the PMBOK
    Guide. All of our competitors have methodologies, but not us.

    I have been asking for a methodology to be developed for more than a year now, and all I get
    are excuses. some of you are obviously afraid that you might lose power and authority once the
    methodology is up and running. That may be true, but losing some power and authority is obviously
    better than losing your job. In six months, I want to see a methodology in use on all projects or I
    will handle the situation myself. I simply cannot believe that my executive staff is afraid to develop
    a project management methodology.”

    Details of the Case

    The executive staff knew this day was inevitable; they had to take the initiative in the implementation
    of a project management methodology. Last year, a consultant was brought in to conduct a morning
    three-hour session on the benefits of project management and the value of a project management
    methodology (PM). As part of the session, the consultant explained that the time needed to develop
    and implement an PM system can be shortened if the company has a project management office
    (PMO) in place to take the lead role. The consultant also explained that whichever executive
    gets control of the PMO may become more powerful than other executives because he or she now
    controls all of the project management intellectual property. The executive staff fully understood
    the implication of this and therefore became reluctant to visibly support project management until
    they could see how their organization would be affected. In the meantime, project management
    suffered.

    Reluctantly, a PMO was formed reporting to the chief information officer. The PMO comprised
    a handful of experienced project managers who could hopefully take the lead in the development
    of a methodology. The PMO concluded that there were five steps that had to be done initially.
    After the five steps were done, the executive committee would receive a final briefing on what had
    IE 270 2020-2021 Spring Case Study 01 2/2

    been accomplished. The final briefing would be in addition to the monthly updates and progress
    reports. The PMO believed that getting executive support and sign-offs in a timely manner would
    be difficult.

    The first step that needed to be done was the establishment of the number of life-cycle phases.
    some people interviewed wanted ten to twelve life-cycle phases. That meant that there would be
    ten to twelve gate review meetings (a meeting that is organized for the phase-closure) and the
    project managers would spend a great deal of time preparing paperwork for the gate review meetings
    rather than managing the project. The decision was then made to have no more than six life-cycle
    phases.

    The second step was to decide whether the methodology should be designed around rigid policies
    and procedures or go the more informal route of using forms, guidelines, checklists, and templates.
    The PMO felt that project managers needed some degree of freedom in dealing with clients and
    therefore the more informal approach would work best. Also, clients were asking to have the
    methodology designed around the client’s business needs and the more informal approach would
    provide the flexibility to do this.

    The third step was to see what could be salvaged from the existing templates and checklists. The
    company had a few templates and checklists but not all of the project managers used them. The
    decision was made to develop a standardized set of documents in accordance with the information in
    the PMBOK Guide. The project managers could then select whatever forms, guidelines, templates,
    and checklists were appropriate for a particular project and client.

    The fourth step would be to develop a means for capturing best practices using the PM system.
    Clients were now requiring in their RFP that best practices on a project must be captured and shared
    with the client prior to the closeout of the project. Most of the people in the PMO believed that
    this could be done using forms or checklists at the final project debriefing meeting.

    The fifth step involved education and training. The project managers and functional organizations
    that would staff the projects would need to be trained in the use of the new methodology. The PMO
    believed that a one-day training program would suffice and the functional organizations could easily
    release their people for a one-day training session.

    Answer the following questions:

    1. What can you determine about the corporate culture from the fact that they waited this long to
    consider the development of an PM system?

    2. Can a PMO accelerate the implementation process? If so, how?

    3. Is it acceptable for the PMO to report to the chief information officer or to someone else?

    4. Why is it best to have six or fewer life-cycle phases in an PM system?

    5. Should an PM system have the capability of capturing best practices?

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