The Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) is an inclusive term
that describes the sum of knowledge within the profession
of project management. The PMBOK® Guide identifies
and describes the subset of principles and practices
within the PMBOK® that are generally accepted
and applicable to most projects most of the time.
The guide also provides a common lexicon
for talking about project management. Project management
is a relatively young profession, and while there
is substantial commonality around what is done,
there is relatively little commonality in the terms
used. An extensive glossary further aids in standardizing
definitions of the most important concepts, terms,
and phrases.
Organizational Project Management
Maturity Model (OPM3)
This
tool will allow a company to assess its level of
project management maturity in comparison to best
practices and identify where changes must be made
to improve project success rates and return on investment
(ROI). Project Auditors is proud to have had early
involvement in the development process. For the
past three years the Project Management Institute
has been developing the Organizational Project Management
Maturity Model (OPM3).
OPM3 (Organizational Project Management Maturity
Model) is an international standard for assessing
and developing project management, program management,
and portfolio management capabilities.
The Organizational Project Management Maturity Model
(OPM3) provides a foundation of knowledge about
organizational project management and organizational
project management maturity. It assists organizations
in understanding and assessing the state of their
current organizational project management maturity,
and, if they choose, can help them plan an improvement
path to become more mature.
OPM3 has three primary
components:
Knowledge: An
organization must have a solid understanding of
organizational project management and organizational
project management maturity and the critical elements
of OPM3 prior to deciding to perform an assessment
and/or embark on a path to improvement. OPM3 identifies
hundreds of Best Practices in organizational project
management; the specific Capabilities needed to
achieve these Best Practices; the observable Outcomes
that represent the existence of a given Capability;
and Key Performance Indicators and Metrics that
provide the means to measure the Outcomes. OPM3
also provides explanations of how these elements
can be applied to the process areas of the PMBOK
Guide and aggregated to address program and portfolio
management within the organization.
Assessment:
OPM3 provides users with a tool to compare the characteristics
of their current state of organizational project
management maturity with those described by the
model. This self-assessment tool is based upon a
cross-section of key traits distilled from the model.
Through assessing itself in relation to these traits,
an organization can identify the general characteristics
of its own current state, including areas of strength
and weakness, and its general position on the continuum
of organizational project management maturity.
Improvement: Based on the
results of the Assessment, an organization may decide
to pursue a course for improvement and also determine
the number of Best Practices on which it wants to
improve.
This
tool will allow a company to assess its level of
project management maturity in comparison to best
practices and identify where changes must be made
to improve project success rates and return on investment
(ROI). Project Auditors is proud to have had early
involvement in the development process. For the
past three years the Project Management Institute
has been developing the Organizational Project Management
Maturity Model (OPM3). 
