6.3 Conducting a Maturity Assessment

A PPM maturity assessment is the critical first step in pinpointing an organization’s strengths and weaknesses across the key dimensions of PPM (as covered in Section 6.3). Without an accurate picture of where you stand, attempts to refine governance processes, upgrade tools, or launch change initiatives risk missing the mark. This section provides a deep dive into how CIOs and senior IT leaders can plan and execute a maturity assessment, interpret the findings, and set the stage for meaningful improvements.

6.4.1 Purpose and Benefits of a Maturity Assessment

1. Establish a Baseline
   • Clarity on Current State: Determine how projects are currently initiated, governed, and measured.
   • Shared Understanding: Align executive leaders, PMO staff, and functional managers on precisely where gaps exist.
   • Set Realistic Goals: Avoid overreaching by defining maturity targets appropriate for your organization’s scale and strategic priorities.
2. Drive Stakeholder Engagement
   • Common Vocabulary: A structured assessment yields a clear framework (e.g., stages, dimensions) that all stakeholders can rally around.
   • Leadership Buy-In: Concrete data on bottlenecks and successes can persuade decision-makers to allocate resources or adjust strategies.
3. Prioritize Improvements
   • Targeted Action: Pinpointing critical weaknesses—such as inconsistent project intake or weak risk management—enables more focused interventions.
   • Efficient Use of Budget: Investment in PPM tools or training is more effective when informed by a systematic diagnosis of what will truly move the needle.

6.4.2 Approaches to Assessment

6.4.2.1 Self-Assessment

1. Method
   • Questionnaires and Checklists: Teams can use internally developed or widely available templates (e.g., from PMI, Axelos) that ask targeted questions about governance, processes, people, data, etc.
   • Workshops and Interviews: Facilitate group discussions with project managers, sponsors, and IT leaders to capture nuanced insights.
2. Pros
   • Cost-Effective: No immediate external consulting fees.
   • Greater Ownership: Internal teams gain deeper awareness of the issues, which can foster a sense of collective responsibility for improvements.
3. Cons
   • Bias and Blind Spots: Without an outside perspective, organizations may overlook entrenched cultural issues or assume certain practices are more mature than they really are.
   • Limited Benchmarking: Self-assessments can lack external references to peer organizations or industry standards.
4. Best Practices
   • Standardize Templates: Ensure the same set of questions and scoring criteria are applied across all departments or functions.
   • Anonymous Feedback: Allow for candid input, especially when assessing leadership support, organizational culture, or resistance to change.
   • Validate Results: Cross-check findings with objective data (e.g., project success rates, on-time delivery metrics) to confirm they match perceptions.

6.4.2.2 Third-Party or External Assessment

1. Method
   • External Consultants: Specialists in PPM frameworks (e.g., OPM3, P3M3, CMMI) conduct interviews, review documentation, and observe governance in action.
   • Benchmarking Studies: Some consulting firms provide industry-wide surveys comparing your data to peers in similar sectors (e.g., finance, healthcare, manufacturing).
2. Pros
   • Objective Perspective: Independent assessors can uncover blind spots and provide fresh insights on best practices.
   • Credibility with Executives: Leadership may be more inclined to act on recommendations validated by a recognized external authority.
3. Cons
   • Higher Cost: External engagement can be expensive and time-consuming.
   • Possible Resistance: Some internal teams might be skeptical of outsiders, fearing criticism or misunderstanding of the corporate context.
4. Best Practices
   • Select the Right Partner: Look for consultants or firms with proven expertise in PPM maturity and an understanding of your industry.
   • Set Clear Objectives: Define what you want from the assessment (e.g., detailed gap analysis, roadmap, quick wins) to guide the scope of work.
   • Include Internal Teams: Blend external insights with internal knowledge by involving key stakeholders in workshops and final reviews.

6.4.3 Defining Assessment Criteria

To ensure a holistic evaluation, your assessment should span all key dimensions of PPM (Section 6.3). Common criteria include:

1. Governance and Processes
   • Existence of documented PPM policies and procedures (intake, gating, approvals).
   • Clarity of roles, responsibilities, and decision rights (steering committees, PMO).
   • Frequency and rigor of portfolio-level reviews.
2. People and Competencies
   • Ratio of certified or formally trained project/portfolio managers to overall project staff.
   • Effectiveness of cross-functional collaboration.
   • Leadership support and sponsorship activity.
3. Tools and Technology
   • Presence of integrated PPM tools; level of automation in reporting and resource allocation.
   • Data accuracy and consistency across platforms (ERP, HR, finance, DevOps tools).
   • Scalability of toolsets to handle complex or global portfolios.
4. Data and Analytics
   • Standard definitions of metrics (e.g., schedule variance, cost variance).
   • Quality of data inputs (accuracy, timeliness, completeness).
   • Advanced capabilities (predictive analytics, scenario modeling).
5. Strategic Alignment
   • Formal links between portfolio selection and corporate/IT strategy.
   • Evidence that projects map to specific KPIs or OKRs.
   • Mechanisms for adjusting portfolios if strategic goals shift.
6. Risk and Change Management
   • Existence and usage of a portfolio-wide risk register.
   • Structured processes for stakeholder engagement and communication during changes.
   • Organizational capacity to pivot or terminate low-value/high-risk projects.

6.4.4 Tools and Techniques for Gathering Evidence

1. Surveys and Questionnaires
   • Simple, scalable, and can be distributed across a wide stakeholder base.
   • Likert-scale questions (e.g., 1–5) help quantify perceptions of maturity.
2. Interviews and Focus Groups
   • Provide rich, qualitative data.
   • Uncover contextual nuances—like cultural barriers, political challenges, or hidden inefficiencies.
3. Document Reviews
   • Examine governance charters, project charters, stage gate checklists, business cases, and performance reports.
   • Cross-reference actual artifacts with stated procedures to spot gaps between policy and practice.
4. Observations and Workshops
   • Attend steering committee or gate review meetings to see real-life application of processes.
   • Conduct hands-on sessions where stakeholders discuss pain points, share best practices, and propose improvements.
5. Data Analytics
   • Extract project performance metrics from PPM software, finance systems, or time-tracking tools.
   • Compare actual vs. planned data (budget, schedule, resource usage) to measure consistency and accuracy.

6.4.5 Interpreting Results and Prioritizing Gaps

1. Gap Analysis
   • Current vs. Desired State: Identify which maturity stage (Section 6.2) best describes your reality and which stage aligns with strategic goals.
   • Risk and Impact: Weigh the severity of each gap (e.g., poor strategic alignment might pose a higher risk than inconsistent reporting).
2. Root Causes
   • Process Deficiencies: Are outdated or ad hoc processes causing repeated project failures?
   • Cultural Barriers: Does a lack of executive sponsorship or employee buy-in hamper more disciplined approaches?
   • Resource Constraints: Are tool gaps or skill shortages preventing more advanced PPM practices?
3. Actionable Insights
   • Short-Term Fixes: Quick wins (e.g., updating a standard business case template or scheduling mandatory gate reviews) to build momentum.
   • Long-Term Initiatives: Bigger transformations (e.g., new governance structure, enterprise tool rollout, leadership training) that will take months or years to implement.

6.4.6 Reporting and Communicating Assessment Outcomes

1. Tailor the Message to the Audience
   • Executives and Board Members: Emphasize strategic risks, high-level metrics, and potential ROI from maturing PPM practices.
   • Middle Management and PMO: Provide detailed findings, specific process improvements, and change management recommendations.
   • Team-Level Stakeholders: Highlight how new processes or tools will impact day-to-day work and improve outcomes.
2. Visual Aids
   • Heat Maps: Show maturity scores across dimensions (processes, people, tools, data, alignment, risk).
   • Spider Charts: Illustrate “where we are” versus “where we want to be” in each dimension.
   • Roadmap Diagrams: Outline next steps in a phased approach, linking gaps to targeted solutions.
3. Action Planning Sessions
   • Facilitated Workshops: Bring leaders, PMO staff, and key stakeholders together to review results, debate priorities, and shape a consensus on next steps.
   • Risk-Benefit Discussions: Identify trade-offs—such as investing in a robust PPM tool now vs. waiting until more fundamental process gaps are resolved.

6.4.7 Laying the Groundwork for Ongoing Maturity

An assessment is not a one-time exercise. Rather, it should lead into an iterative cycle of improvement:

1. Iterative Reviews
   • Conduct smaller-scale assessments periodically (e.g., bi-annually) to track progress on previously identified gaps.
2. Continuous Stakeholder Engagement
   • Keep governance committees and PMO teams in the loop about improvement milestones, successes, and roadblocks.
3. Culture of Learning
   • Integrate lessons learned into updated procedures, training programs, and leadership development initiatives.
   • Celebrate incremental wins—like improved on-time project delivery or better resource utilization—to maintain momentum.

Conclusion and Transition to the Next Section

Conducting a maturity assessment is both a diagnostic and a catalyst. It exposes hidden inefficiencies and clarifies where you truly stand in your PPM journey, laying a foundation for a targeted, effective improvement plan. In the next section (6.4), we will explore how to use assessment findings to create a roadmap that methodically progresses your organization toward higher levels of portfolio maturity—ensuring a better fit between IT investments and strategic outcomes. By approaching maturity as a structured, data-driven process rather than a guesswork-based initiative, you enhance the odds of transforming PPM into a sustained driver of organizational success.