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To prepare all Project Management Templates, checklists, schedules, and other forms for the Improve Project Management Processes Service, refer to both the instructions in Providing Services, and also to the information and examples on this page. Prepare a copy of the Service Plan Template, the Service Evaluation Schedule, and the Service Improvement Schedule for the Improve Project Management Processes Service. In addition, the following additional service-specific forms are included in MPOM Template section for the Improve Project Management Processes Service: - Processes Publication Schedule - Processes Training Plan - Processes Maintenance Schedule - List of Project Management Processes Instructions for completing these items are on this page. The Improve Processes Service should be rolled out in coordination with Implement Methodology, Promote Standards, and Standardized Tools, as discussed on the Implement Methodology Life Cycle Page.

Method123 announced today that it has released a new Feasibility Study template as part of its Project Management Kit. When you perform a Feasibility Study what you’re really trying to do is come up with the best solution for your organization from a short list of potential alternatives.  Without the right tools, it can be a very arduous effort requiring extensive time and resources – not to mention dollars – that are better spent elsewhere.  Method123 is changing all that by creating a Project Management Template that is both easy to use and full-featured in order to provide its customers with a simple solution to make the best decisions possible. “This new Feasibility Study template will really help your organization get a handle on whether or not a project should happen,” says Method123 CEO Jason Westland.  “It basically guides you through the entire process of identifying the need, reviewing all the possible solutions, and helping you choose the best one based on several criteria

Kick Starting Your Project Management Career Maybe you’re looking for a change or maybe you’ve just determined that Online Project Management is the right area for you.  If that’s the case, then you’ve chosen a very interesting, visible, and rewarding career.  You just need to be aware of the fundamentals of project management templates and some of the criteria behind being a successful project manager.  Then evaluate whether or not it’s the right career choice for you. Some of the key areas of focus for the project manager are: - Leadership - Communication - Connections within the organization - Customer focus - Decision-making - Organization Let’s look at each of these in more depth: Leadership No matter what industry you’re in, the project manager must be a leader.  If you’re seeking out this type of position, then you’re deeming yourself ready to lead a diverse team of skilled resources on a project planning and guide them toward critical project goals.  Remember, they’ll be rely

The Improve Project Management Methodology Processes Service Perform the five activities shown in this diagram to provide the Improve Project Management Methodology Processes Service: 1. Define the Improve Project Management Methodology Processes Service 2. Identify Stakeholders for the Improve Processes Service 3. Provide the Improve Project Management Methodology Processes Service 4. Evaluate the Improve Processes Service 5. Improve the Improve Processes Service - Define the Improve Processes Service. This service delivers project management software processes to project managers, team leads, teams, and project stakeholders. - Identify stakeholders for the Improve Processes Service. Customers are those who will use the processes; stakeholders are those who will interface with those using the processes. - Provide the Improve Processes Service. The processes are published, training is provided, and the processes are maintained. - Evaluate the Improve Processes Service. Processes are o

New Project Charter template announced by industry leader Method123 To make the lives of every project manager a little easier, Method123 has just released its new Project Charter template as part of its ever growing Project Management Templates Kit product offering. The Project Charter document is somewhat similar to a statement of work.  It lays out the reason for the project, the general requirements for it, the project objectives, the project scope, it’s major deliverables, resources required for the project, and overall roles and responsibilities.  It is basically a roadmap for the project.  Therefore, it is easy to understand its importance in the overall Project Management Methodology. Creating the Project Charter is usually a difficult task.  It defines the project and the information for it comes in many forms and from many sources.  This alone can make compiling it into a useable and meaningful format a strenuous effort. It is the basis for getting the project off on the ri

Evaluate the Promote Standards Service There are three components of this service to evaluate: - The promotion project management process - The standards Project Management Templates documents - The standards in use Promotion should be evaluated using web-based surveys. Customers should be asked these questions: - Are you aware of what standards your work must comply with? - Are you sufficiently trained in these standards? - Is the PMO keeping you up to date? - Is the PMO supporting you in certification in standards appropriate to your career path? Training in standards can be evaluated through the training mechanisms built into the Train Staff Service. Periodically, the PMO should perform assessments to determine if external standards are relevant and being applied well, and if internal standards are in need of improvement. These assessments are best performed by a combination of web-based Online Project Management surveys and focus groups. The standards in use are evaluated by proje

Relationship Between the Promote Standards Service and Other Services The Promote Standards service should be closely coordinated with, or even integrated into a single service with, three other services: Implement Methodology ; Improve Processes; and Standardize Tools. See the Implement Project Management Methodology life cycle page for reasons and methods for doing this. The Promote Standards Service is related to Supportive Services as follows: - Training. Standards are project management template contents of some of the training the PMO provides. - Mentoring and Supporting Staff. Certification in standards or reviews that show that a project adhered to standards are a basis for promotion and moving up the career path for both online project management managers and technical personnel. - Support Projects. Standards may be used to determine which projects receive support from this service, and the methods used to support projects must comply with appropriate standards. - Administer S

How to streamline project management without killing the fun Another way to look at it would be “How I made my customer happy without boring him to death!”  Project management can be both efficient and fun – much to the surprise of those outside of the online project management world. Project management is generally looked upon as a methodical process.  And, for the most part, that’s true.  There are simply certain things that you ‘must do’ in order to help ensure the best chance for success on a project. The Efficient Project Manager You want to be an efficient project manager.  That means you need to streamline your process to help ensure success for the project, the team, and the customer.  In order to do that, you need to focus on the following: - Engage the customer to work with you as part of the ‘team’ - Formalize your status reporting and do it regularly on a weekly basis - Formalize your status calls with the customer and with your delivery team and have at least one formal ca

Outputs for the Promote Project Management Methodology Standards Service There are three outputs of the Promote Standards Service: 1. The List of Standards, which shows what Project Management Methodology standards are to be complied with, and provides access to the current versions of the standards 2. The standards themselves, whether internal or external 3. Compliance to the standards, demonstrated through controlling processes such as reviews, audits, assessments and <a href=http://www.method123.com>Project Management Templates</a> The PMO Standards Expert takes the following eight steps to prepare the List of Standards. 1. Create a new document by copying the List of Standards Template. 2. Complete the information in the upper left. 3. Enter one version of one standard on each row. Put the name of the standard in the first column. 4. In the second column, enter (E) for an external standard that is maintained, updated, and authorized by an organization outside the compan

Method123, leading providers in the online project management industry, announced today that the top market research firm Gartner Inc has awarded Method123 as "Cool Vendor of the Month" in the "Online Project Management" space for 2010. The report states that "Method123's secret is that it truly understands the world of the multi-project manager in a low maturity organization. Even when things might be done differently in a perfect world, Method123 understands its audience and says ‘we understand that you have multiple things you’re doing; let us help you do the work on your plate.” Method 123 also has expanded into offering basic PPM capabilities as well for clients who like the method and want it seamless integrated into a Saas based project management tool.’ The key findings in the report were that: "We find that many new PMO leaders believe their success or failure will be determined by their ability to develop and deploy a single project managemen

Method123 announces the release of their new Project Review Form template for the Execution Phase of the project Method123, a global leader in the Project Management Software industry – has just announced the release of their newest project management template, the Project Review Form for the Execution project phase. The project management tempaltes or Project Management Review as it is often called – is designed to capture all relevant data and signoff information to adequately indicate that a project has completed a given phase and has approval to move forward.  In the case of the Execution phase review, the form provides documentation that the project has met all deliverables and milestones successfully to date and is ready for sponsor signoff before proceeding to the Closure phase. “Capturing and documenting project data and successes prior to a formal phase review is a critical activity in order to gain swift and smooth approval to move on to the next phase,” states Jason Westland

In the above example, two versions of the PMBOK®, Prince2®, and CMMI® are external Project Management Methodologies standards. Each project will use PRINCE2 if it is in the UK, and will use an appropriate version of the PMBOK® if outside the UK. Which version of the PMBOK® is unambiguously determined by the start date of the project. "Conducting Staff Evaluations" is an internal standard. There are two versions of the "Meeting Process Standard," and which one must be used is determined by the start date of the project in which the meetings are taking place. Maintaining a clear, unambiguous list of standards has two benefits: - At any time, any Project Manager or other standards customer can determine which standard must be complied with. - Reviews, auditors, and the managers of projects they are auditing all have immediate access to identical standards. This reduces hassle, ensuring that the standard the reviewers will use is the project management methodologies sta

When there’s Nothing Left to Do but Cry This article may be better subtitled as “The Day My Business Analyst Lost It.”  This one didn’t happen to me, but it did happen to a colleague and it greatly underscores the need to set proper project scope from the beginning. As my colleague stated to me, they were just kicking off a new project with a major customer and were going through the process of defining project requirements at a more detailed level.  Unfortunately, the account manager who finalized the deal with this customer had left some important details out when he was finalizing the sale of the Project Plan .  What this means is that the project manager and his business analyst on the project went onsite to the customer with expectations a bit out of whack. The customer did not train on the vendor organization’s Project Management Software offering prior to the engagement, as was supposed to be the requirement.  The customer did not purchase the proper level of maintenance agreem

Note that training on Project Management Methodology standards is often available either from the organization that promotes the Online Project Management standard or from companies that provide project management or industry-specific training services. Use of external training services can reduce deployment time and cost. Standards Maintenance Schedule Each standards expert should follow these eight steps to create and implement the Standards Maintenance Schedule: 1. Make a copy of the Standards Maintenance Schedule Project Management Template. Enter the general information at the top left. 2. Receive input from all users, and also check sources for the standards to identify proposed changes. 3. Enter each proposed change on one row. In the first column of the table, name the change. 4. In the Source field, enter the source of the change, including contact information. 5. In the Reason field, enter a short reason for, or benefit of, the change. See below for a sample list of reasons.

Method123 has just released its newest Project Management Template , the Project Job Description Method123’s full-featured Project Management Kit product just got another boost with the release of the new Project Job Description template. Identifying new roles on a project or even within an organization can become a rather mundane task.  Using normal shells and templates can leave the user with a job description that is too vague and doesn’t really fit the needs of the organization.  That all changes with this new Project Job Description template. The uses for this template within a company are endless.  It can save much time and effort for the Project Manager or PMO director when working to fill new project roles.  But its usage is not limited – it can be used by any human resources department over and over again to create job descriptions for any position within the organization.  Finding the right person for every job just became a lot easier. “We’re in the Project Management Metho

Standards Training Plan The Project Management Methodology PMO Standards Expert and the PMO Training Manager follow these eight steps to create and implement the Standards Training Plan: 1. Open a copy of the Standards Training Plan Project Management Template. Enter the general information at the top left. 2. Copy the list of standards from the Standards Publication Schedule into the Standards Training Plan. 3. Copy the version numbers into the Version # column. 4. Create one row for each training format. Each training program may be in an in-class format, a <a href=/>Online Project Management</a> web-based format, and other formats for guided or independent study. 5. Copy the planned dates for the start and end of training from the Standards Publication Schedule. 6. Enter the planned dates for when the outline will be approved, when the materials will be prepared, and when test classes will be run. Make sure to allow sufficient time to complete each of these activities s

When Your Customer Wants Everything - Use Project Management Templates Have you ever noticed how some customers want everything thrown in including the kitchen sink?  “Change orders, you have to be kidding!  That work is supposed to be included!”  Have you heard that before? As the project manager, when you run into one of these types of customers you have to be extremely careful.  You might find yourself way over budget at the end of the project if you aren’t. I Want It My Way Customers can be demanding.  That’s a given.  So, when you’re leading that type of a project, the best you can do is lay out the scope for them using Project Management Templates and manage to it.  Oh, and monitor deviations to project scope like a hawk because any deviations can send your project into a tailspin in terms of scope and cost. Here’s what you have to do: - Hold a formal kickoff.  Go through the statement of work (SOW) carefully with the customer.  Make sure that there is a mutual understanding on

The process of promoting standards is completed by planning and executing these three items: - The Standards Publication Schedule lays out the overall plan for publishing and promoting project management methodology standards. - The Standards Training Plan is the plan for educating all who need to comply with standards in those standards. - The Standards Maintenance Schedule tracks all work necessary to keep standards up to date. Standards Publication Schedule Follow these nine steps to create and implement the Standards Publication Schedule: 1. Review the Standards Adoption Schedule from the Standards Execution Plan using Project Management Templates. 2. Open a copy of the Standards Publication Schedule. Enter the general information at the top left. 3. Copy the first column of the Standards Adoption Schedule into the Standards Publication Schedule. Each standard in the adoption schedule should be listed in the publication schedule. 4. Enter the version number of each standard in the