View source for Project Management Maturity Models

== Big Idea ==
The basic idea behind PMMM’s is for an organisation to assess their current level of maturity of the project management performance. Maturity can be described as the organisation's effectiveness. A mature organisation is in position to perform to reach the goals set <ref name="BACK"> [''Project Management Maturity Models – A Critical Review''] ''    Backlund, F.; Chronéer, D.; Sundqvist, E.. 2014'' </ref>. Today, project management is an important factor in being able to succeed and well performed project management is accounted as a competitive advantage on the market. Typically, the PMMMs consist of five levels, where level 1 represents the lowest level of maturity and level 5 represents the highest reachable level of maturity. The definition and naming of the levels varies from model to model, though many use the original Carnegie Mellon maturity level definitions, which are as follows <ref name="BRO"> [''Using Maturity Models to Improve Project Management Practice''] ''    Brooks, N.; Clark, R. 2009'' </ref>. ;
# Performed/Awareness/ad hoc
# Managed/ Repeatable
# Defined
# Quantitative managed/managed
# Optimised
The level of maturity is appointed by comparing the project management execution in the given organisation with PM standards (e.g. PMBOK Guide). The result of the assessment is then used to set a roadmap for the organisation to reach higher levels of maturity in its strive for success. The idea is, that the highest level of maturity, optimized, is setting the stage to continuous improvement. Whereas, the first 4 level are based on comparison to standards, and best performance with existing processes, level 5 focus on optimising the processes in project management, <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. 

==== Concept ====
The above is a generic description of the idea behind the PMMMs. Firstly, the models did not just appear out of blue air. PMMMs have their origins in the Capability Maturity Model, developed by Software Engineering Institute (thus the abbreviation SEI-CMM). The SEI-CMM take base in the same five levels as listed above and was originally developed to use in software implementation projects.  The need for maturity models in project management arose as a result of the eighties’ tendency for project failure and budget overrun as a consequence <ref name="Jud"> [''Project Management Maturity Models: The Silver Bullets of Competitive Advantage''] ''    Judgev, K.; Thomas, J. 2002'' </ref>. This was the beginning of development of maturity models. Today, app. 30 PMMMs exist. The models can be divided into three types, which all erupts from the SEI-CMM. The first two both take base in the five levels of maturity. Whereas the third one, which is also the latest on the market, is more complex and holistic in its form. 

The first type of model is named ''technical delivery process model''. This type is the SE-CMM. As said, this model consists of five levels of maturity, which indicates the organisations current state. The level of maturity is appointed an organisation as the result of a thorough assessment of the organisation’s project management performance. The level the organisation is appointed descries the stage that the organisation should now try to reach. As an example level 3 is described as “Base practices of the process are performed, but not rigorously planned and executed. Reactive response dominates the actions of the process managers. Performance of the organization is dependent on individual knowledge and effort.“  <ref name="GR"> ["PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?"] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. This means that if an organisation is at this given stage, they will create the roadmap to reach that description. The roadmap for instance will help the organisation move from acting reactive to being proactive. When being proactive you prevent firefighting and short term planning, which can both often be very costly for the organisation. A lot of other arguments to being proactive can be listed, however that is not part of the scope of this article and therefore it will not be discussed further. An example of a technical delivery process model is the P3M3 model, which also include portfolio and program management.

The second type of PMMM is named ''project management process model''. This type of model also uses the five level of maturity, though it does so a little differently from the first one. The project management process models take base in five processes within nine knowledge areas in PM <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. An example of a project management process model is the one developed by Kerzner in 2001, who describes project management maturity as “a gradual progress from a basic knowledge of the nine knowledge areas and a single process of project management to a singular methodology across the company.”  <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. The five levels in this model are; 1) common language, 2) common processes, 3) singular methodology, 4), benchmarking, 5) continuous improvement <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. As illustrated in figure 1, level 3-5 are meant for continues benchmarking and improvements.

 [[File:sofpic2.jpg|600px|thumb|center|Figure 1. Illustration of the five levels of a project management process model <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>]]


The last type is the "organisational models". As mentioned above, this type of model is the newest type of maturity model for use in project management and is a more holistic one, compared to the two types described before. The reason is, that this type of models does not only consider project management performance but all of the organisation's performance. One of the models within this type is the Organisational Project Management Maturity Model, abbreviated to OPM3, which states itself as “a mechanism to advance your organization’s strategic interests through the efficient and successful execution of projects”  <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. The idea is, that it is not adequate to improve the project management performance, if the rest of the organisation is falling behind as they are as important together in being able to reach the organisation’s strategic goals. To be able to look at all of the organisation, this type of model includes eight business processes, where the first of them is project management. The others are as follows 2) programme management, 3) assurance of the management quality in project programme management, 4) assignment of a project or programme, 5) project portfolio coordination and networking, 6) organisational design, 7) personnel management and 8) business process management  <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>. Now, all of the business processes’ maturity levels are assessed and they are appointed a level from 1 to 5. The result can easily be illustrated with a radar chart where all of the business processes and their appointed maturity levels will be inserted. The radar chart will give a visual look of the organisation’s maturity level and point out where to act to improve the organisation’s overall performance. This type of PMMM is more nuanced than the first two. Though, it also has a higher demand in time and resources. Whereas some types of models are applicable by the organisation itself, the organisational models might need assistance of consultancy company. [[File:sofpic1.jpg|600px|thumb|center|Figure 2. Result of assessment illustrated in a radar chart <ref name="GR"> [''PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY MODELS: DOES ONE SIZE FIT ALL?''] ''    Grobler, P.J.; Steyn, H. 2006'' </ref>]]

==== PMMM as first step in changing culture in an organisation ====
Looking back at all the mentioned types of maturity models for use in project management, it is clear that the idea of using the models in order to assess why some projects currently fail is possible to realise with these models. One might fear, that this tool would only be used as an assessment and that the improvements would be hard to realise. Though, the models give an explanation of what needs to be done to reach a higher level of maturity. The aim is to make the maturity model the first step in changing culture in an organisation. To be able to change, it is key to know the current situation in details. Kotter suggest eight steps in successful change <ref name="KOT"> [''Using Kotter's Eight Stage Process to Manage an Organisational Change Program: Presentation and Practice''] ''    Pollack, J.; Pollack, R. 2015'' </ref> . The first step is to establish a sense of urgency. The step is also known as the burning platform, claiming that if there is no need for change, a change will not be executed, but if the floor beneath you is burning, you will for sure move. However, sometimes, though the need for change is present, the need for it is just not realised. Realising the need for change is key, in being able to make improvements. In many cases, this tool is taken into use, when problems are rising and projects are failing. As project management becomes a more and more important business process to any organisation, and as it is – by some – seen as a way of gaining competitive advantage, maybe tools like PMMM will be taken into use earlier in the process.