Maturity and Models Around Project Management

Introduction

In a world where complex projects are increasingly frequent, project management must provide organizations with a set of managerial processes to survive in this scenario of fierce competition and scarcity of resources.

Because they are complex, most projects require effective management throughout their life cycle. Thus, seeking an increase in the level of maturity in project management has been a frequent concern of organizations.

In this context we can say that the current project management is characterized by:

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  Demand project management skills not only from individuals, but also from project teams and organizations;

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  Have become a core competency of organizations, especially those that are project-based;

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  Expand your study focus from a single project to the way organizations are using projects to achieve their goals;

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  Have established a relationship with the execution of the organization's strategies;

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  Consequently, it has become a competitive advantage for organizations.

It is worth remembering the concepts of project, program and portfolio constructs. A project is a temporary effort made to create a unique product or service.

A program is a group of projects, subprograms and related activities that are managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits that could not be achieved if managed individually. For a program, centralized management and control allow both the operationalization of each one and the maintenance of the vision together of its objectives.

Finally, a portfolio is a set of projects, programs, sub-projects and operations, which are managed as a group to achieve the organization's strategic objectives. This alignment between the portfolio and the organization's strategic objectives is its main characteristic. In other words, the relationship between project management and an organization's strategy occurs through portfolio management.

The current project management approach comprises the basics of lean management, total quality management, re-engineering business process and the organization learning, among others.

In this context, if organizations need to manage their projects in an organized and systematized way, it is a fact that their processes need to evolve and mature. So, nothing is fairer than to realize this quest for excellence, through actions and planning, for the improvement of processes. That is, nothing more fair than seeking maturity in project management.

Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to talk about what is maturity, what are the maturity models, and to present four of the major models currently in use.

Maturity In Project Management

There are several definitions of maturity in project management. Here are some of them.

Almeida (2005) makes a comparison between the characteristics of mature and immature organizations, as shown in Table 1.

Source: Almeida (2005).