It’s been a few months since our last update, and the Project Management Solutions Team—Carol Adoum from IEG, Frank Divita from ERD, Anne Hudzik from USH, Margarita Fernandez and Mark McEuen from IHD, and Sandy Nolden from SEP—would like to update everyone on our work so far and our priorities moving forward. 

What Is the PM Solutions Team?

As a team of Operations Directors from each Division, we bring a project-centered perspective and a systems-thinking view of company policies, processes, and initiatives, and we partner with colleagues throughout Abt Associates to improve operations affecting project management.  We see this work as a natural extension of our “day jobs.”

Our mission is to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and reduce cost by leveraging synergies across the company; to serve as a leadership body for the planning and continuous improvement of processes affecting project management; and to build project management skills and resources.  The goal?  To make it easier to do our project work and execute with excellence, and to make project management a competitive advantage for Abt Associates.  

What’s Ahead?

In the coming months, we will focus on these priorities:

·         Continue to work with stakeholders around the company to connect, leverage, and optimize major company initiatives as they roll out. 

·         Collaborate with the PFMT development team and “super-users” from each Division to identify problems, prioritize enhancements, and share best practices.

·         Expand project management resources on the PM Hub and support the development of AGI workspaces in general.

·         Leverage and adapt the online contract review form used by international divisions so domestic projects can also benefit from this tool.

·         Continue to partner with Departments to examine services and processes, troubleshoot problems, explore meaningful metrics, and achieve data-driven improvements. 

What Have We Done So Far? 

We’ve been working largely behind the scenes to:

·         Leverage company initiatives.  There continues to be a tremendous amount of change going on at Abt Associates—AGI, the Project Financial Management Tool, iProcure, PD Training, and ATLAS are all major initiatives being rolled out company-wide.  The PM Solutions Team has been working with stakeholders around the company to help optimize these initiatives, leverage them, and make sure they fit together in the most efficient and effective way. 

·         Launch the Project Management Hub.  A few months ago we launched the Project Management Hub—a central space on AGI where project teams can find the key things they need in one place.  We started with simple links to existing resources, but the design allows us to expand the content to meet changing project needs.  We recently added the modules from PD Training, so even if you haven’t taken the training yet, you can benefit from the materials anytime.  You’ll find the PM Hub on AGI under “Projects”.  It’s a dynamic design, so let us know what other resources you’d like to see there!

·         Partner with Departments.  We have been tackling issues and discussing priorities for working together to optimize operations affecting project management.  

·         Use process mapping.  This process-improvement technique is a great way to build cross-functional teams to better understand a process and work collaboratively to make it more effective and efficient.  In the fall, the Subcontracts team and project staff from each Division got together to roll up their sleeves, break down barriers, and identify specific action items to improve the process from everyone’s perspective.  We are excited about this success, so let us know which process you think would benefit from a closer look using this technique.

On Your Mind

We encourage staff to reach out to the PM Solutions Team to provide feedback on, and suggestions for, company operations that affect project management.  We look forward to hearing your ideas for making sure our policies, processes, and systems optimally support both the project work that is at the heart of our mission, and our competitive position in this challenging market.

The PM Solutions Team

PM_Solutions_Team@abtassoc.com