Using the Project Management Maturity Model, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 8Level 4: Benchmarking

Introduction

Project management benchmarking is the process of continuously comparing the project management practices of your organization with the practices of leaders anywhere in the world; its goal is to gain information to help you improve your own performance. The information obtained through benchmarking might be used to help you improve your processes and the way in which those processes are executed, or the information might be used to help your company become more competitive in the marketplace.

Benchmarking is a continuous effort of analysis and evaluation. Care must be taken in deciding what to benchmark. It is impossible and impractical to evaluate every aspect of project management. It is best to decide on those few critical success factors that must go right for your business to flourish. For project management benchmarking, the critical success factors are usually the key business processes and how they are integrated. If these key success factors do not exist, then the organization’s efforts may be hindered.

Deciding what information to benchmark against is usually easier than obtaining that information. Locating some information will require a critical search. Some information may be hard to find. Some information you would find helpful might not be available for release because the organization that has it views it as proprietary. Identifying the target companies against which you should benchmark may not be as easy as you believe. ...