Pursuit of excellence

With an array of so-called project excellence and maturity models on the market it is difficult to decide which model offers the best fit. Ron Basu FAPM from Henley Business School attempts to demystify the process using a simple assessment tool.

In the context of project and programme management excellence connotes the achievement of a sustainable standard of success criteria. The purpose of project excellence is to enhance an organisations ability to implement project objectives through a successful and consistent delivery of projects.

There are many so called project excellence and maturity models in the market, such as EFQM based IPMA model, CMMI, OPM3 and P2MI to name a few. A recent review (APM, 2007) concluded that although all the models have improvement at their heart, comparing models can be confusing and it is difficult to decide which model would be best fit for a particular purpose.

Furthermore an online questionnaire base survey for project managers in the UK (Basu, 2008) showed that the use of project excellence and maturity models in project management was found to be at its infancy and only EFQM based excellence model and customised checklist were showing some application.

Although it is recognised that these models form a useful part of achieving project organisation effectiveness it is evident from the empirical research (Basu, 2008) that their apparent complexity and implementation costs are prime causes for their slow intake.

Therefore it is justifiable to search for a simpler approach as a stepping stone towards project excellence models. Firstly, there should be a definition of project quality to establish some basic parameters. If you cannot define, you cannot measure and if you cannot measure you cannot control, assure or improve. What are dimensions of project quality? Is it meeting specifications, time scales, budgets, achieving its purpose, producing happy project teams and stakeholders? Or does it constitute a combination of all these? Secondly, what simple tools or models can be effectively used in the quest for achieving and sustaining project excellence?

In response to all these questions a simple model and software named APEX (Assessing Project Excellence) has been developed. APEX is an interactive process of identifying gaps in the application of quality strategy in a major project. The approach is based on six categories or constructs (see Figure 1). Each category contains five questions with a total of 30 questions overall. Assessments are scored and a number of visual graphs are used to identify positioning in comparison to the ideal and previous assessments.

(Above- Fig.1 - The APEX (Assessing project excellence) model)

Project analysis

In line with the conceptual research model (Figure 1) and analysis of two case studies on major infrastructure projects (viz, Heathrow Terminal 5 and Channel Tunnel Rail Link High Speed 1), each component contains a series of questions which can be graded 1 to 5, where 1 = not important and 5 = most important.

When all questions have been answered results can be analysed in three forms: average score; line graph; polar graph. Average score, as the name suggests, collates the average scores from each category and then presents them in a table format, together with the total score. The overall percentage score is also available.

For each category a Line Graph is shown to present a graphical profile of scores for each question .The Polar Graph highlights the strengths and weaknesses of results in individual categories for the project being assessed. The graph is displayed along the radii or spokes of the circle graph.

Opportunities for improvement are highlighted by the gap size between the perimeter of the circle and the location of the graph for a category. The software also enables a comparison of polar graphs of different projects. The gaps in the individual category can be further analysed by examining the gaps related to specific questions in the line graph for that category.

Health check

The main advantage of APEX is that it is simple to use and helps to understand the dimensions contributing to project quality and project excellence. Any practitioner with a broad understanding of the key aspects of a project should be able to apply the software as a preliminary health check. As this is a self assessment process to identify gaps without seeking any external accreditation, the assessment is likely to be more representative of the true state of the project.

The process is also holistic, covering all aspects of project quality procedures, policies and standards including suppliers and contractors. This allows the comparison of assessments by different project teams, leading to team building and consensus towards solutions.

Any organisation or a project team that wishes to obtain a snapshot of project quality processes by its own members, without committing a significant budget for EFQM type accreditation, should benefit from using APEX. As the model facilitates the comparison of assessments between multiple projects it will benefit programme managers to compare the performance of different projects in the programme.

It is evident that the APEX model and software can be used for assessing a single project or comparing the performance of multiple projects with little or no risk. It helps the user to define and understand the dimensions of project quality and the factors contributing to the longer term outcome of project excellence. The model is not as comprehensive as EFQM and it is not prescriptive to determine the level of maturity as CMMI or OPM3. However, it is simple, interactive and user friendly and focused on self-assessment. Even the organisations planning to apply for accreditation by external excellence and maturity models can benefit from using APEX as a first step towards achieving project excellence goals.