Selling PM to Executives Phase II

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Selling PM to Executives Phase II

Dr. Janice Thomas, Program Director, MBA in
Project Management Associate Professor, Centre
for Innovative Management
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Agenda

• Issue
• Study
• Highlights
• Next Steps

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Projects the Future of Work

• More work is done in projects
• Contract work is becoming the norm
• Organizations are becoming projects

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Project Failures

• Standish Chaos Report, 1994
• 31.1 of projects canceled before completion
• 52.7 of projects cost 189 of estimates
• Trillions of dollars lost world wide
• Standish Extreme Chaos Report, 2001
• Success rates are up but still projects are 45 to
  65 over budget and schedule
• In 1996 Canadian technology projects were 3B
  over budget

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Chaos Ten Project Success Factors
Extreme Chaos 2001, Standish Group
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Executive Support Required

• Top level executive support consistently ranks in
  top ten critical success factors for projects

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Critical Question

• Given
• Increasing importance of projects
• Consistent bad press about project success
• Clear ties between executive level support and
  project success
• Why is it difficult to sell project management
  to executives?
• How do you interest Executives in PM?

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The Study

• Largest of its kind in the world
• Contributes to theory and practise
• Focuses on Executives, Project Personnel and
  Consultants involved in managing or directing
  projects

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The Research Team

• Athabasca University and
• University of Calgary
• Dr. Janice Thomas, Dr. Connie Delisle,
• Kam Jugdev
• Partners
• The Project Management Institute headquarters and
  Southern Alberta Chapter
• Canadian Information Processing Society and
• Calgary Chapter
• CIO Canada
• IBM Canada
• ESI International

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What We Did

• Phase I - Qualitative study
• Based in Calgary
• Exploring why it is difficult to sell PM to
  executives?
• Phase II Quantitative study
• Conducted online by SurveySite.com
• March-April 2001
• Looking at the state of PM in todays
  organizations and how do you sell PM to
  executives?

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Phase I Model
Organizational Crisis
Information Search

Investment In PM
Status Quo
No
Yes
Grow it
Internal
Accidental PMs
Buy PM
External
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Phase II Research Question

• What is the state of project management in
  organizations today?
• How generalizable is the Phase I model?
• How do you successfully
• sell PM to executives?

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The Survey Structure
Status of Project Management
Issues in Selling PM to Executives
Project Manager Preparation
PM Practices
Levels of Education
Value of PM
Project Outcomes
Successful Arguments
Experience Levels
Successful Approaches
PM Preparation
Demand for Education
Executive Attention
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Phase II Sample

• 40,000 email invitations
• Posted on key websites
• 3,156 respondents in total (7.9 response rate)
• 1,867 from desired groups (4.7 Response rate)
• Response rates within acceptable limits for
  online survey method
• Accuracy /- 2.27 19 times out of 20

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Analysis to Date

• Simple descriptive statistics
• By position, region, and industry
• Correlations, cross tabs
• Multivariate analyses
• Factor analyses to check coherence of constructs
• Regressions to examine relationships

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Who Replied?

• Demographics
• 63 are over 40
• 69 are male
• 57 have less than 5 years seniority
• Experience
• 31 have less than 5 years of PM experience
• 23 have more than 16 years experience
• Training
• 51 have only individual courses in PM
• 75 hold at least one university degree
• 53 belong to a PM association
• 19 hold professional certification

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What Do They Do?

• Main role in organization
• Project personnel (53)
• Consultants (26)
• Executives (20)
• Responsibility levels
• 39 report project management responsibilities
• 32 report program management responsibilities

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What Do They Do ?

• 59 spend over 50 of their time on project
  management
• 63 expect to spend more time on PM in the
  future
• 70 come from IT or project management

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Where Do They Work?

• Industries
• 50 come from Consulting, Information,
  Telecommunications, Government, Manufacturing,
  Construction and Engineering industries
• Size of Organizations
• 30 work for organization with sales of less than
  50M in 2000 29 had sales over 1B
• 26 work for organizations with fewer than 1,000
  employees 30 had more than 10,000
• Region
• 35 Canada, 55 USA 40 countries

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Status of Project Management By Position
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Rest of World
Canada
Status by Country
Total
States
United
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Manufacturing Processing
Construction Engineering
Information Technology
Government
Consulting
Telecom
Total
By Industry
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Does Phase I Model Hold Up?

• 71 - selling PM to execs is important
• 45 - it is difficult to do
• 37 - resistance to PM
• 48 - crises as a trigger for use
• 58 - little or no formal training
• 45 - adequate funding of PM

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Phase II Critical Question

• How do you sell PM to executives?
• What are the compelling cognitive arguments that
  sell executives on project management?
• What are the effective practical strategies in
  gaining executive attention to project
  management?

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Success rate in selling PM

• 13 - report being very successful
• 62 - project personnel
• 38 - consultants
• 62 - report being somewhat successful
• 65 - project personnel
• 35 - consultants

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Who is successful?

• Demographics
• 60 are over 40 years of age
• 69 are male
• Experience
• 28 have less than 5 years of PM experience
• 31 over 16 years
• Training
• 65 hold at least one university degree
• 61 belong to a PM association
• 22 hold professional PM certification
• 38 are from Canada, 52 from the US

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Successful Triggers

• Capitalize on crises
• Identify new business opportunities
• Highlight early successes
• Stress competitive disadvantage

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Successful Descriptors

• Describing PM in terms of
• Executive/Financial constructs
• Details of techniques
• Long term benefits

ROI
NPV
Value
Market Share
Competitive advantage
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Successful Strategies

• Frame PM as way to meet corporate and project
  objectives
• Link PM to corporate strategies
• Position PM as solution to problems

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Successful Processes

• Involved more people
• Project managers, external consultants
• Tied PM to company goals
• Built on high credibility, high trust,
  established relationship
• Requires supportive executive

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Lessons Learned

• Project Managers need to be conversant in the
  language of business
• Be prepared to educate the executives
• Avoid use of crisis/emotional terms
• Personal credibility counts more than anything
  else

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For more information contact

• Dr. Janice Thomas
• Program Director, MBA in Project Management
• Associate Professor, Centre for Innovative
  Management
• 403-949-4965
• JaniceT_at_Athabascau.ca