Project Management Maturity; Easy Does It

So many organizations decide to institute disciplined project management processes, often as part of a PMO implementation, and try to go from zero to 60 in a few weeks. The fact is project management maturity doesn't happen overnight.

The best place to start is with a good set of principles, possibly in combination with a light set of processes (i.e. defining a good scope statement, a simple change control process, an issues and milestones list, etc.). Then---and only then---after the project managers have begun to grasp the principles, it's OK to begin introducing new disciplines, such as Earned Value Reporting, Project Accounting, Resource Leveling, etc.

The key is to introduce each item gradually and measure its use and effectiveness.Otherwise, the project managers can get so overwhelmed with details that it distracts them from the real issues of the project. And issue tracking, risk awareness, leadership and communication are the real value-add items that a project manager brings. The rest can be processized and learned over time.