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Date
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As we've looked at project management maturity and the intersection of sustainability and project management, we've come to realize that while it's critical to get the message of sustainability to project managers, perhaps we were (and we love dogs, so the analogy is okay) "barking up the wrong tree".
Ironically, our book, Green Project Management, which won the Cleland Award for Literature in 2011, pictures a tree. All that's missing is a picture of us barking at it!
Perhaps, we've recently thought, the right audience is Program and perhaps even Portfolio Managers. Indeed, we used this philosophy in successfully submitting a presentation for the PMO Symposium in San Diego last fall and that went very well and got a great reception. But it's not enough. Not nearly.
Adding to the consternation, and perhaps a cause for more barking, is the fact that the Third Edition of the Standard for Program Management mentions - even features - "sustainment". This is a great sign.
For example, in section 4.5, Benefits Sustainment, the text says:
"Although responsibility for benefits sustainment falls outside the traditional project life cycle, this responsibility may remain within the program life cycle. While these ongoing product, service, or capability support activities may fall within the scope of the program, they are typically operational in nature and are not run as a program or project".
It then goes on to list 13 bullets (example: 'monitoring the performance of the product, service capability, or results from a reliability and availability-for-use perspective...'). But not a single one of these bullets really, truly cover the ideas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or Triple Bottom Line (3BL) thinking. They almost seem to be consciously avoiding the topic!
This unfortunate limitation (or containment) of sustainment, and we would assert, containment of sustainability, is something we're going to key in on in 2014 and beyond. We plan to continue to work with project managers to bring sustainability thinking into projects, but we think we'll be more effective at the Program level.
What are your thoughts on the idea of Benefits Sustainment? Is this indeed related to the ideas of sustainability? Should the 13 bullets be expanded or reworded to include environmental and social impact explicitly? Should "sustainment" itself be broadened in its definition in the Standard?
Or, are we still barking up the wrong tree? Please - throw us a bone!
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: February 01, 2014 04:34 PM |
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