pm positioning

8/14/2019 PM Positioning

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SPM Group Ltdwww.spmgroup.ca

416-485-1584 or Toll Free 1-877-776-3886

Maybe it’s time for a ‘Change’ regarding Project Managers’ place in

the organization

Having a “Vision” is Job OneMost organizations in North America have invested considerable time and effort intodeveloping Value and Mission Statements for themselves. These are usually prominentlydisplayed on their home page, in their reception areas, and on all their marketing collateral.They are also used as a rallying cry internally for their staff.

I generally enjoy reading these as, well first and foremost they are short and succinct. I alsofind most of them to be well crafted with some interesting and quotable phrases embedded inthem. However they often only address three of the four critical areas they need to.

Most set some very lofty and noteworthy goals and standards and they usually always focuson Quality as the top motivator for their company, Customer service as their main driverand their employees or their People as their greatest asset.

Search any of these mission statements and you’ll find some great phrases such as: “….. isdedicated to improving life by treating and preventing human disease”; “We reach out to ourcommunities through work and volunteerism, enhancing the world around us”; “Our peoplemake the difference”; “We value your business and will do our utmost to ensure yourrelationship with us is a long and satisfying one”; “We are an inspired diverse team, werespect and value everyone’s contribution”; “..… has never lost sight of the fact that it is inbusiness to exceed the expectations of it’s customers”..

Inspiring stuff but: I often think there is another key concept that is very seldom included in these visionarydeclarations. There’s a key word that is nearly always noticeable for its absence. A wordthat does in fact describe the one true constant that every organization in every businesssector has to address every day, especially in today’s business environment - Change !Where are the rallying statements like “we embrace change”, ‘change is our driving force” or

“we constantly strive to change for the better”?

I believe that we, in the Project Management profession, are suffering from this commonoversight but also feel that we are partly to blame.

At numerous Project Management presentations and discussions I constantly hear thefrustrations that most PM professionals have regarding a perceived lack of support they getfrom their executives. I wonder if that would still be the case if organizations believed thattheir number one consideration must be Change? That quality would quickly get left in thecompetitors dust, their customers would leave in droves and their employees would stagnatewithout constant but managed Change.




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The PM dilemmaSo why are we responsible? Well, I’ll offer two causes: Our ongoing inability to developsome basic project metrics so that we can demonstrate our value is the major cause; theother, and the one I’m currently more concerned with, is how we position ourselves in theorganizational hierarchy.

I think that more and more, Project Management is becoming a process rather than astrategic function and/or enabler, both in reality and in perception. It’s clearly a verypowerful process and tool kit, but a process nonetheless.

So where do we belong?We need to disassociate ourselves from the tool somewhat and concentrate more on ourstrategic value. I think we should consider ourselves as Change Managers instead of Project Managers!

I realize that Change Management has been a very overused and abused phrase over theyears but we now need to consider it in its broadest sense as a key corporate function.

Lets review a typical organizational hierarchy: Operations Management is a key part of anymanufacturing organization whose leader is always part of the senior executive team. So arethe Sales, Marketing, Finance, IT and HR departments. They all have very significantdelivery responsibilities and so have very powerful toolkits that enable the effective andefficient execution of their role. For example, Operations has MRP based processes and toolsto manage their scheduling and shop floor processes. Similarly, Sales has CRM, IT hassoftware development lifecycle tools; Finance the accounting and financial modeling tools,etc.

So why shouldn’t organizations also have a Change Management function that utilizes thePM processes and tools to keep the organization moving in the right direction?

This means it’s time for a Change!Is your Project Management Office or PMO just a ‘bookkeeping’ or ‘gatekeeping’ operation andtherefore fairly toothless? I’m betting that a CMO or Change Management Office that canchampion and demonstrate the successful initiation and management of Change would getmuch more support and funding.

Do your recommendations for implementing Project Portfolio Management constantly fall ondeaf ears? Do you think a proposal for Change Portfolio Management would suffer the samefate?

Some would argue that the answer to our dilemma lies in PM not being properly representedat the senior executive level. No argument here, but then they claim that we would receivethe support and recognition we need if only we were represented by a CPO or Chief ProjectOfficer. But in my view that’s like saying an organization needs a Chief MRP Officer, A Chief CRM Officer, etc..




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No, I think what organizations need more than ever before is a CCO or a Chief ChangeOfficer . A senior executive who would lead not only the organization’s PM community butother change initiators and managers such as the BPI, re-engineering or 6 Sigma teams,maybe even the engineering groups and/or R&D team.

More importantly, the person empowered to ensure that the organization is properlyidentifying the need and areas for change (both big and small) and that it is properlypositioned and equipped to accomplish those changes. The spiritual and functional leaderwho would then empower us to ensure that all the approved change initiatives happen in acontrolled and orderly fashion.

I think getting a CCO and getting “Change” embedded in the Value and Mission Statementswould be our greatest ever breakthrough. So, PMI and project professionals everywhere, Ithink it’s time for a Change, what do you think?

About Peter GreenPeter Green is Vice President of Implementation Services at SPM Group Ltd and brings overtwenty five years of experience in leading and managing large initiatives.

Peter holds an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and has been a certifiedProject Management Professional (PMP) since 1999 and a dedicated project professional since1996.

Peter works well at the senior executive level assisting in decision making and hasconsistently shown his skill as an excellent leader, facilitator and problem solver through hiswide variety of project leadership, consulting, re-engineering and strategic planningassignments.

About SPM Group LtdSPM is a management consulting firm with over 12 years of experience providing projectmanagement solutions to clients. SPM is known for delivering results that enable change.Understanding the unique challenges facing business today, SPM is able to provide a solutioncustomized to the client’s needs.

With three practice areas, SPM covers the full spectrum required by our clients, combining toform a total solution.

• Consulting delivers solutions to clients business issues and challenges•

Professional Development assists clients develop the people assets required to delivertheir initiatives• Implementation Services “Make it Happen”, enabling clients to deliver their initiatives

It is our people that make the difference. Our people are the best in the industry combiningexperience, knowledge, creativity and a results oriented approach. Success is defined solelyby the success attained by our clients.

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