Healthcare has traditionally had difficulty applying the most basic project management principles due to a lack of resources, skills, training and even organizational culture. 

However, there is a small, yet growing IT project management revolution simmering within the healthcare industry.  Here are the future trends in project management that are occurring in the healthcare industry.

1. Recognition of project management as a profession.  Today, most IT project leaders in healthcare are “accidental project leaders” - good technicians and analysts who are asked to manage high priority, high profile projects without any formal project management training and while simultaneously managing other applications.  Unfortunately, application maintenance and fire-fighting often takes priority over even the most important projects, causing projects to fall behind schedule.  To resolve this issue, organizations are moving towards full-time dedicated project leaders. The day is near for healthcare organizations to require certified project management professionals.
2. Emergence of Project Management Office (PMO). The next step after full-time project leaders is a PMO. The PMO ensures the organization’s project management methodology is followed. PMO’s come in many sizes and forms and their role varies.
3. Implementation of Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Software. EPM software is an application that can enforce an organization’s project management methodology. The process of initiating, prioritizing, approving, executing, controlling and closing a project can be enforced in a consistent manner through the software application.

In the future, healthcare organizations will be managing their business strategic plan, corporate resources and enterprise projects with an EPM application.

Interthink Consulting Incorporated and Projects@Work Magazine, conducted a study, State of the PMO 2002, to understand how project management was being utilized in organizations across the full-spectrum of industries.  Over 180 participants from nearly 80 organizations participated.

Over half of respondents were located in the United States, an additional 20% from Canada.  The study found that organizations are increasingly accepting of the need for organizational project management and the value of a Project Management Office (PMO) in supporting the organizational commitment to project management.

Despite the PMOs recognized value, they are poorly defined, lack funding and their source of organizational support is unclear. Careful thought needs to be given to determining where the PMO should report as well as what services it should provide.

When implementing a PMO, the first priority should be defining clear objectives and a formalized criteria by which it can be reviewed.  The majority of respondents, 44%, are utilizing portfolio software tools, but few have yet to fully-realize the benefits of integrated schedule and resource management.

Study participants also noted that formal project management training is viewed as more important for project management effectiveness when it is customized to the specific requirements of the organization’s methodology.

The study was originally published in the January/February 2003 issue of Projects@Work Magazine.

In the last issue I discussed Resource Breakdown Structure or RBS which is Outline Code 30. The question I received from several readers was, “What is the difference between an Outline Code and an Enterprise Custom Field?”, so I thought it warranted a little explanation.

Enterprise Custom Fields:

• Can be created at the task level, project level, and resource level
• Can have special attributes, including formulas, graphical indicators, and rules for calculations
• Non-hierarchical - simple flat list
• Cannot be selected from drop-down lists in PWA
• Do NOT become part of the OLAP cube data

An example use might be to calculate the schedule variance of a project and then display status indicators, like a red, yellow or green traffic light — if the project is a certain percentage or number of days behind schedule.

Enterprise Outline Codes:

• A Project Professional or PWA user can select a code using a drop-down
  list to assign the data value to individual tasks, resources, or projects
• Must be defined (not calculated)
• Generally defines hierarchical data
• Facilitate drill-down reporting
• Play a major role in resource management
• Automatically part of the OLAP cube data

For example, you may define an Outline Code (or many) to identify which resources have certain skill sets. The codes may be named Primary Skill, Secondary Skill and Tertiary Skill. Values for Primary Skill might be Programmer, Project Manager, and Systems Engineer.

Values for the Secondary Skill might be Visual Basic, PMP, or Microsoft Certified. These Outline Codes can then be used to do skill matching during project planning and scheduling.

Hopefully this will shed light on the differences between Outline Code and Custom Field and give you some ideas about how each should be used. 

Troy Wheeler, Vice President of Technology, EPM2e, can be reached at 800-878-0385.

Here is an idea that I try to use on every new project.  I invite the project sponsor to come to the first project meeting and speak to the project team on why we are doing this project.

I tell the project sponsor that I need only five to ten minutes of his/her time. I am even willing to schedule the kickoff meeting around the sponsor’s schedule.   There are many advantages for doing this:

First, by having the project sponsor attend, it sends a message to the project team about the importance of the project. Second, it makes the project sponsor think through the rational for doing the project and solidifies their sponsorship and ownership in the project.

Next, it provides an opportunity for the team members to ask questions that often can only be addressed by the sponsor. 

Last and most importantly, having the sponsor attend the meeting provides credibility for the project manager.

Often as the project manager, we lead teams that we have no authority over. When you as a project manager introduce the sponsor and the sponsor turns the meeting back to you, there is an implied transfer of power.  Having the sponsor talk about the importance of the project and acknowledging you as the project manager, gives you authority to lead the team.

Over the years, I have received positive feedback from the project teams after the kickoff meeting. It may be the first time that they have met or had an opportunity to speak with the executive. I have seen disinterested teams become rejuvenated after the sponsor spoke. I’ve even had team members thank me for inviting the sponsor.  It may be the only time they see the sponsor during the project, but the impact can be significant. 

Try this technique at your next kickoff meeting. I believe you will find this technique will help involve your project sponsor, motivate you project team and solidify your authority to lead the project.