It’s been three months since 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)—was announced company-wide, and we’d 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 closely with colleagues throughout Abt Associates to improve operations affecting project management. 

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 and develop project management skills.  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:

·         Grow project management skills by leveraging the Project Management Hub on AGI to create a skills development resource library and a peer-to-peer learning forum.

·         Go deeper with Departments to examine key services/processes, explore meaningful metrics, and achieve data-driven improvements.

·         Collaborate with GBDU and Corporate Communications to develop a strategy for branding and marketing Abt Associates’ project management competencies.  Our competitors are increasingly doing this, and we need to keep up!

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

What Have We Done So Far? 

So far, we’ve been working largely behind the scenes to:

·         Help connect, leverage, and optimize company initiatives.  There is a tremendous amount of change going on at Abt Associates—AGI, the Project Financial Management Tool, iProcure, and PD Training, and the new HR platform are all major initiatives being rolled out.  The PM Solutions Team is working with key stakeholders around the company to optimize each of these initiatives, leverage them, and make sure they fit together in the most effective and efficient way. 

·         Launch the Project Management Hub.  We just launched the Project Management Hub—a central space on AGI where project teams can find the key things they need in one place.  We’ve started with simple links to existing resources, but we plan to expand the content and add a forum for sharing ideas.  Look for it on AGI under “Projects”.  It’s a dynamic design, so let us know what else you’d like to see there!

·         Partner with each Department to outline a framework for collaboration, tackle specific issues, and discuss priorities for working together to optimize company operations affecting project management.  

·         Conduct a process mapping of subcontracts.  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.  With iProcure rolling out, we thought the timing was right to apply this method to the subcontracting process.  So earlier this month, 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 and looking forward to helping implement the changes.  And, we’re thinking about other company-wide processes that could benefit from mapping.

On Your Mind

We encourage Abt Associates staff to reach out to the PM Solutions Team to provide feedback on, and suggestions for, company operations that affect project management.  The Team looks forward to hearing your ideas for ensuring that 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