Organizational Project Management

1. Welcome

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Organizational project management (OPM) describes the integration of all project-management related activities of an organization. This survey provides for an assessment of this integration and helps to establish OPM implementation profiles and to fine-tune them for improved organizational results.
Results from the assessment will be send to the email address left at the end of the survey.

The questions will assess all parts of an organization that deal with project selection and/or management.
The term 'my organization' is used synonymously with my firm, enterprise, or department and should be interpreted in line with your position (e.g. a CEO may read 'my organization' as 'my firm', while an employee, such as a software developer, may read it as 'my department').

There are no right or wrong answers, participation is voluntarily, and organizations or individuals will not be traceable from the final reports. Respondents can abandon the questionnaire at any time. However, meaningful results are only possible when all questions are answered. Respondents can save their answer and come back later to complete their responses.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out the questionnaire. In case of questions, please contact Professor Ralf Müller at ralf.muller@bi.no.
 
 

1. Consent

I have received and understood information about the project Organizational Project Management and have been given the opportunity to ask questions.

I give consent to participate in this online questionnaire:

 

2. In this set of questions, please indicate whether the left or right statement comes closer to your organization's practices

My organization delivers to their internal or external clients mainly …

Very muchTo some extentNeither of the two choicesTo some extentVery much
Standard products/services Bespoke projects
 

3. In my organization, the deliverables to our clients are most often outcomes of…

Very muchTo some extentNeither one of the twoTo some extentVery much
A repetitive production process A unique project
 

4. In my organization, the development/manufacturing of client deliverables is mainly…

Very muchTo some extentNeither of the twoTo some extentVery much
Subordinated to and part of the production process Done through individual projects for each client/deliverable
 

5. Project and/or program management are explicit processes and/or functions in the organization

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
 

6. The strategy with projects in our organization is mainly to...

 

7. Organizational or strategic Project Management Offices (PMOs) address organization-wide aspects of project management. They are sometimes known under different names.

Please answer the following set of questions if your organization has an entity that serves as such a type of PMO.

The functions of this PMO are:

NeverRarelyOccasionallyFrequentlyAlways
Monitoring and control of project performance
Development of project management competencies
Development and implementation of standard project management methodologies
Coordination of projects and resources
Strategic work, such as development of business strategies, new markets to target, or new skills
Managing organizational learning across projects
Execute specialized tasks, such as professional planning
Coordinate the interface between projects and stakeholders, such as between a buyer and a seller organization
HR management of project managers, e.g. through recruiting, selecting, evaluating, developing of career systems etc.
Other tasks
 

8. In my wider organization (such as the whole company)….

Very lowLowNeither high nor lowHighVery high
The perceived importance of project management for achieving organizational objectives is…
The level of development of a career system for project managers (e.g. training, certification, career ladder, etc.) is …
The understanding that working-in-projects is a business principle is …
The degree a project mindset and culture pervades the organization is…
 

9. In my organization…

Almost alwaysSomewhat more oftenBalancedSomewhat more oftenAlmost always
Decisions are made in the best interest of the shareholders and owners of the organization and their Return on Investment (RoI) Decisions are made in the best interest of the wider stakeholder community (incl. employees, local communities etc.).
The remuneration system includes stock-options for employees and similar incentives that foster shareholder RoI thinking The remuneration system provides incentives for community, environmental, humanitarian or other non-profit activities outside and/or inside the organization.
Prevails an image that profitability determines the legitimacy of actions (including projects) prevails an image that wider social and ethical interests determine the legitimacy of actions (including projects)
I am sometimes asked to sacrifice stakeholder satisfaction for the achievement of financial objectives I am sometimes asked to sacrifice the achievement of financial objectives for improvement of stakeholder satisfaction
The long term objective is to maximize value for the owners of the organization The long term objective is to maximize value for society
 

10. The governance of projects in my organization favors…

Almost alwaysSomewhat more oftenBalancedSomewhat more often,Almost always
A strong emphasis on always getting personnel to follow the formally laid down procedures A strong emphasis on getting things done even if it means disregarding formal procedures
Tight formal control of most operations by means of sophisticated control and information systems Loose, informal control; heavy dependence on informal relationships and the norm of cooperation for getting things done
A strong emphasis on getting personnel to adhere closely to formal job descriptions A strong emphasis to let the requirements of the situation and the individual’s personality define proper on job behavior
Support institutions (like a PMO) emphasize tactical aspects, such as compliance with the organization’s project management methodology Support institutions (like a PMO) emphasize strategic aspects, such as skills and knowledge development
Prioritization of methodology compliance over people’s own experiences in doing their work Prioritization of people’s own experiences in doing their work over methodology compliance
 

11. The way we govern the management of our projects…

Almost alwaysSomewhat more oftenBalancedSomewhat more oftenAlmost always
Is not formalized Follows existing standards like those of ISO, PMI, IPMA, APM, or self-developed routines
Will not punish the project management for poor project results Will punish the project manager for poor project results
Follows principles (which may be omitted when needed) Follows rules (which are to be applied in all projects)
 

12. Those in governance roles (such as steering group members in my last project)…

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
Give clear directions about how the projects should be managed
Enforce their decisions, e.g. by insisting on process compliance
Are mainly authoritative in their style
Control mainly the achievement of objectives and not the process for achieving them
Use incentives and other rational means to convince us of their recommendations
Flexibly adjust the organization structure to the needs of projects
Work mainly by communicating values and foster a culture that allows project managers to control themselves
Expect project managers and teams to decide by themselves, based on the collective interest of the stakeholders in the project
Do rarely steer the project through directive orders
 

13. For delivery of good project management, my organization…

NeverRarelyOccasionallyFrequentlyAlways
Provides basic training in project management
Uses project management methodologies
Uses steering committees to govern projects
Uses audits and reviews (e.g. on troubled projects)
Aims for certification of project managers
Establishes support institutions, such as Project Management Offices (PMO)
Uses mentor programs for junior project managers
Provides advanced training in project management or organization internal certification
Benchmarks its project management capabilities against other companies
Uses a formal project management maturity model to identify areas for improvement
 

14. Project portfolios are groups of projects that require the same skill sets for their execution (e.g. all IT projects in an organization).

In my organization...

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
Management devises a strategy for the different project portfolios in the organization
Projects in the portfolios are aligned with the organizational strategy
Projects in the portfolio are prioritized
Projects are selected based on the organization’s strategy
A dedicated process is used to manage project portfolios
An individual or group of people is responsible for the management of the portfolio
 

15. The projects I am involved in come from a portfolio where…

NeverRarelyOccasionallyFrequentlyAlways
Projects must pass an economic threshold value, such as for profit, Net Present Value, payback period or other
Projects are heterogeneous so that their risks may cancel each other out (like in an investment fund)
Projects must be clearly aligned with the organization’s strategy
Other means are used to optimize the portfolio
 

16. In terms of benefits management, my organization...

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
Has specific processes to follow-up on the achievement of intended project benefits
Executes these processes on a regular basis
Feeds the results of these benefits assessments back to portfolio management to improve performance
 

17. To do the work in my organization...

NeverRarelyOccasionallyFrequentlyAlways
We group related projects together into programs to manage them in a coordinated way in order to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually
We manage or contribute to mega-projects (projects costing more than 1 billion US Dollar)
We manage individual projects through temporary and dedicated project teams
 

18. Project governance in my organization includes...

NeverRarelyOccasionallyFrequentlyAlways
Project steering committees
PMOs to support or govern projects or project managers
Other institutions, such as regulatory bodies
Formally appointed project managers
Formalized steering committee members
Communicated PMO members' names and contact details to project managers
 

19. For project governance, my organization

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
Has policies for the execution of project management
Makes the policies available to project managers
Project managers are trained in these policies
Project managers follow these policies
 

20. In projects in my organization, the most preferred contract types are...

NeverRarelyOccasionallyFrequentlyAlways
Fixed price contracts
Time and material contracts
Alliance contracts
Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) contracts
Relational contracts
Other contracts
 

21. What are the most often used project management methodologies? Please 'drag and drop' to rank the choices by frequency of use.

 

22. In the last project I worked in...

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
Team members were assigned to the project
Planning and scheduling was part of project management
The progress of the project was controlled
Measures were taken to counteract plan deviations
The project was formally closed-down
 

23. In the last project I worked in, the project manager's leadership style is best described as....

 

24. How many employees has your company?

 

25. What industry is your company in?

 

26. Which types of projects are usually done in your organization?

 

27. What is the typical cost of a project in your organization

 

28. Which country are you working in?

 

29. Your role/position in the organization

 

30. The project-based part of your organization (e.g. firm or institution) achieved last year's plan in terms of...

Strongly disagreeDisagreeNeither agree nor disagreeAgreeStrongly agree
Overall results of the organization
At project portfolio level: financial results
At project portfolio level: customer satisfaction
At portfolio level: resource turnover
At program level: timely accomplishments of programs
At program level: stakeholder satisfaction
At program level: program purpose
At project level: time, cost, and scope results
At project level: user requirements
At project level: project purpose
 

31. If you would like a summary of your organization's OPM profile, please leave an email address here, so that we can send the results back to you.