This paper was submitted for publication October 14, 2011.
It is copyright to Dennis Bolles of DLB Associates, LLC ©2011
Published on this site July 2012.

PART 1 | Introduction | Standardization - the Second Pillar
Iterative Management Processes | Capability - the Third Pillar
Execution - the Fourth Pillar | PBM Maturity - the Foundation | Conclusion

Iterative Management Processes

The enterprise should develop and issue an integrated model methodology for portfolio management, program management, and project management. This model should describe all the processes applicable to the enterprises overall project business management operations. The overall methodology develops the "big picture" and establishes the extent to which portfolio, program, and project management practices will be integrated into the business operations. This standardization requires the formal issuance, acceptance, and implementation of policies, processes, systems, plans, and procedures that are to be used consistently across the enterprise to authorize and manage all portfolios, programs, and projects. These include:

  • Portfolio business management policies and procedures
  • Program business management policies and procedures
  • Project management policies, plans, and procedures
  • Project Business Management System (PBMS)
  • Project Business Management Information System (PBMIS)

Identifying and Selecting Applicable Processes

It is incumbent upon a fledgling PBMO, working with the enterprise's management team, to identify and select a set of processes that will form the basis for the organization's project business management operations.

The first step in this activity is to determine what current business processes of the organization will also be used as part of the future project business management operations. This requires the following evaluation:

  • Identify the current business processes associated with strategic, tactical, and objective planning and execution.
  • Review the current procedures documentation, or prepare a rough draft a procedure for those identified business processes.
  • Extract a list of the scopes of responsibility and operational activities for the business processes.
  • Prepare flowcharts of the major steps required to complete the identified business processes.
  • Determine the functional responsibility assigned to complete each step of the business processes.
  • Construct a hierarchical diagram of the management functions owning the identified business processes.

The PBMO's second step of the evaluation of current business processes is to determine what project related processes should be included in establishing the enterprise's new project business management operations. Less than ten years ago this activity could have been a fairly difficult undertaking. At that time, the general management discipline did not recognize the documented definitions of project management processes that are now considered to be generally accepted as good practices. That's because they were not acknowledged as common practices among the practitioners in the project management discipline.

Standardization - the Second Pillar of the Enterprise-wide PBM House of Excellence  Standardization - the Second Pillar of the Enterprise-wide PBM House of Excellence

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