Just How Adaptive is the PM Maturity Model?

October 25, 2021 | by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

We’ve got more webinar attendee questions today. Also stay tuned for a blog from our Agile SME Sydni Neptune, answering additional webinar attendee questions specific to Agile. I’m also going to circle back to some questions I answered during the live event on October 21—questions about agile environments which, had I had more time to think about them, I would have given a more in-depth response!

The following questions were asked at the end of our July webinar on the Project Management Maturity Model. Here’s the link to the recorded webinar.

Q; Can the Project Management Maturity Model also be used to evaluate hybrid project management? Are there any specific processes for hybrid project management?

A: In a word: Yes! The strength of the fourth edition of our PM Maturity model is that it addresses a wide range of possibilities within organizations. The core of the model is still based on the project management processes we know and love, organized by knowledge area. The addition of special interest components like the PMO, Professional Development and Management Oversight acknowledged the real-world context within which projects are managed. Now, the new sections in each chapter of the book that identify agile / adaptive processes add the ability to measure the organization's progress toward agile transformation. The key is, that any of these components may be measured ... or not. This gives the user of the model the freedom to tailor the assessment to their circumstances. It jives very well with the hybrid environment.

As to processes specific to hybrid, since "hybrid" entails using either (or both) predictive and adaptive processes, it's really a matter of identifying which processes you are using, rather than having a separate set under the hybrid category. Your hybrid environment will use some predictive processes, and some adaptive, depending on the criteria you have in place for identifying the best approach for a given project. Hybrid, remember, isn't a new thing in and of itself: it's just a combination of existing processes.

Q: Coming from a Marketing PMO perspective, this is a very dry topic when compared with "Brand Pillars" or "Epic Videos" … ! How do we engage leaders in this ?

A: We hear you! One of the strengths of the PM Maturity Model is that it is industry-agnostic, and can be applied across a wide range of types of organizations. So a Marketing PMO can definitely use the components to assess and strengthen their project management. As far as getting buy-in, we always recommend "selling" project management improvement by speaking the language of your leaders. What are the business drivers that are crucial to them? Translate project management maturity-speak into arguments that address those key drivers, or pain points, or aspirational goals. Project management labored to be taken seriously for decades in part due to an over-focus on the nuts and bolts. But it's not just a tactical tool. When you identify the ways that improved project management impacts your organization's strategic execution, bottom line, or risk management, you present it in a light that any executive can love. Take a look at our research on strategy execution or on how virtual PM helped organizations thrive during the pandemic for ideas on how to frame your pitch.

About the Author

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin is editor-in-chief for PM Solutions Research, and the author, co-author and editor of over twenty books on project management, including the 2007 PMI Literature Award winner, The AMA Handbook of Project Management, Second Edition.

View Posts by Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin

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