EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (ABSTRACT)
Over the last five (5) years the Enablers of Community Advancement Projects and Initiatives (ECAPI) Limited have assisted community groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Jamaica to access grant funding for their various community projects.
Under the three pillars of sustainable development (environmental, social and economic), ECAPI assisted community groups to prioritize their needs and develop practical solutions to address them. In addition to assisting community groups address their challenges, ECAPI recognized the limited knowledge and experience among leaders of community groups to effectively source funding and execute their local projects.
To date the organization accessed over JMD$60 million in grant funding for fifteen (15) community projects across Jamaica. Since ECAPI’s inception in 2015, its efforts have been gaining traction among its target customers and the workload of its two-member project team who are not fulltime staff have increased.
The organization does not have any written policies and procedures due to the limited personnel to develop them and as such this has created a challenge for ECAPI to effectively manage projects. The growing demand for ECAPI services has increased the need for project management systems to be in place to keep track of all projects being executed and monitored.
With a limited staff, it has been even more prudent that ECAPI develop astandardized project management system that will not only improve its efficiency but capitalize on new opportunities to manage large grant funding which often requires stringent organizational systems to be in place prior to funding approval.
The purpose of this research was to examine the operational structure and projectmanagement maturity of ECAPI based on the problems highlighted above.Through this investigation a PMO proposal suitable for ECAPI’s operations was developed as well as proposed standardized project management practices to aid the organization to manage projects and satisfy the needs of future clients.
The general objective for this project was to develop a Project Management Office (PMO) proposal for ECAPI that will allow the standardization of project management practices. The specific objectives were: to assess the Project Management Maturity of ECAPI in order to determine existing gaps, opportunities for improvement and a road map for improvement; to establish the operational structure of the proposed PMO for ECAPI and its project management framework, to develop the proposed PMO implementation plan for ECAPI that would guide the organization to establish a Project Management Office; and to establish an effective PMO communication model that will aid ECAPI to attract donor funding organizations that seek to advance community development projects.
The methodologies utilized in this research were based on information garnered from primary sources such as interviews and organizational documents and secondary sources such as online articles, journals, textbooks and reviewed research on the FGP topic. The research methods adopted were Analytical, Deductive and Inductive. The selected research methods allowed for thorough analysis of the organization’s project management operations and identification of a suitable PMO structure and PMO communication model for ECAPI.
The project management maturity assessment of ECAPI revealed that theorganization’s project management maturity was immature. Of the eight knowledge areas tested ECAPI showed weakness in six. While there were pockets of project management knowledge in key personnel, project management training will be essential for key personnel in ECAPI to effectively execute projects. The research also showed that ECAPI lacked project management methodologies, procedures, and tools to efficiently perform project management tasks. Given that ECAPI lacks project management procedures, tools, templates and training in project management, it was concluded that a Supportive PMO would be suitable for ECAPI.
Of the three project management frameworks assessed (i.e. PMBOK/PMI, PRiNCE2, and Scrum), ECAPI’s current project management practice resembled the Scrum framework however due to the project management career path of ECAPI, it was determined that an integration of the PMBOK/PMI framework would be meaningful as it would provide ECAPI with a complete step-by-step process on managing a project.
To enable ECAPI to implement a PMO, the organization will need to conduct: 1) Current-State Analysis of ECAPI, 2) PMO Planning, 3) PMO Implementation and 4) PMO Management. The research also examined the communication model at ECAPI which was concluded to be a Transactional Model.
This communication model was found to be effective amongst its stakeholders andas such should be used to establish an effective PMO communication model.Base on the results obtained from this research, some of the mainrecommendations were; facilitate immediate project management training with key personnel in ECAPI, develop a project management system which include policies, procedures, tools and templates to track projects, redesign ECAPI’s organizational chart to include a PMO with its respective PMO roles, refine proposed implementation plan with relevant stakeholders to include timelines and roles responsible for executing such tasks, conduct a Communication Audit of ECAPI and develop a Communication Strategy and Communication Plan that will help the organization effectively communicate with its stakeholders.
Given the results from the research and the recommendations made, ECAPI will be able to develop a suitable PMO and standardize its project management practices.
Estudiante : Nicolene Tashnette Witter
Aprobado: Marzo 2020
Tutor: Evelyn Hernández
Descargar Aquí:
http://www.uci.ac.cr/Biblioteca/Tesis/PFGMAP2066.pdf
