Using the Project Management Maturity Model, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 3Customizing the PMMM

The Need for Pmmm Customization

When companies make the decision to use a PMMM, three important assumptions are usually made:

1. Continuous improvement opportunities will be easy to identify.
2. The opportunities will be easy to implement.
3. Everyone will agree to and use the changes.

Although these assumptions seem reasonable, they are often difficult to achieve if the organization’s project management approach is not aligned to the standards against which the model was created, or if the organization is primarily in a governance role for the coordination of several outsourced projects where each project is managed by a separate contractor that may have its own approach to managing projects. This situation holds true for many federal and state government agencies.

There are many situations in which customization would be beneficial. This should not imply that standard models have limited value. Standard models may be used if many of the assessment questions are aligned to the way the firm manages projects.

Understanding Customization

PMMMs should assess the organization on the tools, techniques, processes, governance requirements, and desired human behavior that the organization deems realistic according to the organization’s definition of maturity. The definition of maturity can and will change based on continuous improvements made and information obtained from benchmarking studies. Therefore, it may be best to use a PMMM that allows for both customization ...