Until reading Jerry Manas‘ white paper titled “Service Oriented Project Management” (SOPM) I had never heard this term before (have I been hiding under a rock somewhere?). Thanks to The Project Management Podcast for bringing it to my attention.

The basic tenant of SOPM is that it adopts philosophies from the professional services and consulting arena by starting off with

“a set of symptoms or ideas from which the project leadership can work with the client and other constituents to drive requirements” (Manas, p. 4).

The SOPM framework includes four ‘phases’, they are (from Manas, pp. 5-6):

1. Understand – generates the baseline knowledge needed to be successful
2. Prepare – insures that the project team has the ability to execute effectively
3. Identify – offers incremental benefits and safer delivery
4. Transform – positions the client and project team for long-term success

A key strength, according to Manas, is that SOPM measures success in more ways than traditional project management methods do. In addition to the normal ‘time, budget and scope’ measures of progress, SOPM measures customer satisfaction and value, although it isn’t described how this is done.

Basically, the framework outlined by Manas allows for a more strategic approach to project management at the outset of a project as well as more involvement early by the project manager and members of the project team. These are all things that a good PM and/or PMO should be doing.

Manas’ SOPM framework is worth reading and the ideas within the white paper are very good. Anyone interested in learning more about SOPM should take a look at the paper (link to the PDF version is below).

References:

Manas, J. (2006). Service-oriented project management. Retrieved January 5, 2007, from http://media.libsyn.com/media/pmpodcast/Service_Oriented_Project_Management.pdf.

[tags] Project Management, Jerry Manas, Service-Oriented Project Management, Project Management Podcast [/tags]