In healthcare information technology, project management is finally growing up.  Slowly, healthcare organizations have recognized the value of project management and are now providing training, developing project standards and using software tools.

Though years behind their IT counterparts in other industries, healthcare is improving its level of project management maturity.  This has been most evident in the last two years with the steady growth in the number of project management offices (PMO). 

Other industries have granted tremendous power to their IT PMO, often viewing them as project management police: all project requests, approvals, prioritization and ownership are funneled through, and controlled by, the PMO.

Because the PMO is relatively new in healthcare IT, organizations have been conservative in defining its role.  The PMO often starts as a training resource for project  leaders and as the developer of project management standards and methodology.

PMOs add value by providing, with the utilization of project management software, an objective overview of the organizations’ project portfolio.  Additionally, it can identify resource capacity, demand and utilization, and determine what impact new projects will have on the portfolio.

Project requests, approval, prioritization, plan development, tracking, status reports and closure can be accomplished online, often with a just a web browser.  Though only in its beginning stages, the IT PMO is gaining acceptance within the healthcare industry.

I predict that in the future, most healthcare systems will have a sophisticated PMO. This will also provide new career opportunities in project management for IT professionals.

Glen Knights’ complete article on the Project Management Office was published in the June 2006 issue of HealthCare IT News.

The Project Management Institute recently announced a new credential for individuals who manage programs. The credential for program managers will provide a market-recognized professional credential from the world’s largest project management organization through which candidates can demonstrate their competence as a program manager. Candidates’ competence will be evaluated through a variety of assessments.

1. The initial assessment of competence occurs through the application process. Prior to a candidate becoming eligible to pursue this credential, they will be evaluated through an extensive application process including reviews of education by PMI staff and a review of their professional work experience by a panel of program managers.
2. The second level of competence assessment occurs with the multiple-choice examination in which candidates will be called upon to demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge to a variety of situational or scenario-based questions.
3. The third competence assessment occurs through a multi-rater assessment in which a team of raters that the candidate selects will be evaluating their competence in a work environment to perform germane tasks of a program manager as defined through the examination specification.  

This credential can give professionals who manage programs a distinct advantage in accessing new opportunities, or increasing visibility within their organization. As the legal steps for registering the name is still in process, the name for the new credential has not yet been released.

Visit www.pmi.org for more information.

One of the most common areas of confusion in Microsoft Enterprise Project Management Solution (MSEPM) is security. EPM has a very granular security model and a fair amount of complexity.

Within EPM, the first set of security objects defines group and individual access to the application. You can manage access to application features and functions through the use of Users and Groups and Security Templates, found under the Administration screen in Project Web Access (PWA).

• Users - Any individuals who access Project Web Access.
• Groups - Collections of individual users with the same permission requirements.
• Security Templates - Rules applied to groups to simplify the administration of permissions.

The second set of security objects provides ways to access, or limit access, to data including projects, resources and views. Categories are the collection of projects, resources, assignments, views and models to which users and groups are granted access.

A defined Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) is a major tool used by categories in defining how they grant access.  Project Web Access includes the following default Categories:

• My Tasks - Intended for individual team members who are assigned to tasks in one or more enterprise projects.
• My Projects - Intended for project managers, grants read and write access to projects created by project managers.
• My Resources - Intended for resource managers and uses a security rule based on RBS.  It is useful only when RBS is defined.
• My Direct Reports - Intended for resource managers who need to approve timesheets.
• My Organization - This category is used to grant access to all information in the organization. It is intended for members of a Project Management Office, or Executives in an organization, and other key users who require the ability to view projects and resources across the entire organization.

Security Rules are used to query the Project Server database to determine the list of projects, resources and models a particular user can access. Examples are:

• Information for all resources that a resource manager manages.
• A project manager’s or resource manager’s own models.
• Models created by resources that a resource manager manages.

So to summarize, Security Templates and Groups are just convenient ways for system administrators to assign rights to a large number of users. Categories and Security Rules define and automate the granting of access to data relating to projects, resources and models in the project server database.

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

Do you have project team members that are constantly coming to you with problems that they expect you to solve.  How can you get them find their own solutions and keep ownership of the issue?

Years ago as a sports coach, I learned a tool to help young athletes understand the value of a new skill through the process of guided discovery. Instead of lecture, the athlete was guided through a process to have an “ah ha!” moment. I have modified this technique and used it effectively as a project leader for years.

Here is the five step process: (all questions).

1. “John, tell me about the problem / issue”. You then need to shut your mouth and listen. Do not attempt to solve the problem or interrupt the person.
2. “John, that is an interesting problem. What are our options?” Notice that I did not use “what are my options” or “what are your options”. I want John to know that this will be a collaborative effort.
3. “John, those are good options. What are the pros and cons of each option?” This allows John an opportunity to think through the risks and merits of each option.
4. “John, based on those pros and cons, which option would you recommend?” Using the word recommend makes the decision seem less risky to John.
5. “John, is there anything that is preventing you from implementing that solution?” 

Often the real problem is that there is an obstacle preventing the team member from implementing their idea. Your role may be to remove that obstacle.

If John picks a solution that will probably fail, I could guide him to another solution by continuing the questioning process. Also, if John’s solution is not too risky, I may let him fail and use this as a learning opportunity.