“I really recommend this training; it was like brainstorming for 2 days. It opened my eyes for many cases. I can't wait to implement in my work!”

Customer

At a large, multinational brewery, project management was done for years in the traditional way with a derivative of Prince2. A few years ago, an agile transition was initiated, during which it was rigorously decided to stop everything that tended towards projects: projects and programmes were stopped, steering committees were dissolved and the intranet site with all the knowledge on doing projects went dark. After about 1.5 years, it turned out that realising change at 180 operating companies worldwide is too complicated for agile teams after all, and the hard agile line was discontinued. However, nothing took its place, so teams started working on approaches, templates and set-up themselves.

Issue

In spring 2024, the organisation asked IMPROVEN to advise on a hybrid project management approach combining proven elements from traditional project management approaches with more modern agile techniques. Important prerequisite is the reuse of cases where possible.

Approach

After the old materials were dug up again from the digital archives, a first version of a project management framework was designed with a group of content experts. A conscious decision was made to reuse the old name P3M, to increase recognisability. A skills training for project managers was then put together and tested through two pilot training sessions. After some modifications, the framework was deepened for Development projects and Deployment projects, keeping in line with recent developments in the market. A P3M Playbook was designed, the handbook soldier for project managers in which not only the P3M framework is explained, but also the 12 main components, roles & responsibilities, etc. This P3M Playbook forms the basis for the P3M SharePointsite. In cooperation with the PM team in Poland, the relevant templates were adapted or developed. Then, through training, the method was rolled out in both the Netherlands and the Shared Service Centre in Poland.

At the same time as the above development, the organisation was working on an integrated approach to successfully doing major transitions, which includes governance, high performing organisations, value management and change management. In the next step, P3M was woven into the integrated transition methodology.

Maarten van Weeghel

Partner

+31 6 40 05 9354

Maarten.van.weeghel@improven.nl

Result

The organisation has its own tailor-made PM methodology, complete with a SharePointsite, templates, role descriptions and training materials. Meanwhile, most relevant roles have been trained in the Netherlands and in the Shared Service Centre in Poland, the P3M SharePointsite is well visited and the templates used. There is ample demand from Operating Companies, programmes and departments for guidance on local implementations. However, the transfer to the standing organisation is delayed because a reorganisation has made it unclear who takes ownership of P3M.