More than twice as many participants than normal have already registered. What happened? The topic of the evening and panel discussion is the sustainability of project management. Obviously this topic has hit a chord. Project management takes a lot of energy, and the effectiveness and significance of project management is reduced without a consistent supply of "new energy", in other words, the commitment of top management.
This is a key task in companies, as shown by the sixth multi-project management study conducted by the Technical University of Berlin: More than half of those surveyed indicated that "Project management represents a core competence for our company". Almost a third even said that "PM competence is a decisive competitive factor in our industry".
Sustainability and the outstanding effectiveness of project management can only be maintained through constant change. We recommend that the following assessment is performed once a year: does our company's existing project management really address the critical needs? What benefit, what added value does it provide at present? Without wanting to anticipate the discussions and results - there are in any case concrete indicators that point to an almost certain need to adjust project management:
- The corporate strategy has changed significantly (for example, towards cost leadership)
- The company is undergoing a massive restructuring phase (as a result of a merger, for example)
- Or the company does not deliver satisfactory project performance, and there is evidence of recurring undesirable developments in projects
And even if these results are not evident, there are nevertheless two general concepts that are also highlighted by the Berlin MPM study: Top performers in project management are better at satisfying their customers and in particular ensure that customers/clients can use the project results effectively. And they do this approx. 20% better than the average. In addition, top performers place a higher value on maintaining positive and constructive collaboration between projects. They also do that 20% better than the average.
Accept that project management must be enhanced on a continuous basis. It is the only way to sustainability. Be the first to think - well before anyone else: how will the concrete requirements for project management change in our company? At Campana & Schott, we recommend that you follow the P3M approach and always focus on the three Ps: Project, program and portfolio management. In addition, it is also important to pay attention to the interaction between the following four dimensions: existing competencies, organization (structure), processes (flows) and supporting IT tools.