PM² is a Project Management Methodology developed and supported by the European Commission. Its purpose is to enable Project Managers (PMs) to deliver solutions and benefits to their organisations by effectively managing the work across a project’s entire life-cycle.
The OpenPM² is an easy to use project management methodology, even for private organisations. It fits the needs without being very complex and allows tailoring to different types and sizes of projects.
The purpose of PM is to enable project teams to manage projects in an effective and efficient manner for the purpose of delivering solutions and benefits to their Organisations and Stakeholders.
The Initiative also seeks to rectify mistakes of the past, when efforts were duplicated and divergent project management approaches were sponsored rather than promoting convergent approaches based on similarities and the common interest of the broader European community.
By opening up PM², the Initiative aims to enhance project management competency within Europe, leading to increased project efficiency and success. Open PM² does this by:
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Rationalising Project Management approaches across the European Union Institutions and beyond.
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Establishing a common language and processes, resulting in effective project communication.
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Providing a common set of productive mindsets.
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Enabling transparency and visibility for cross-organisational project collaborations.
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Enabling better project management, leading to improved quality, and cost/effort efficiency.
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Enabling the improved monitoring and control of European Union-funded projects and grants.
The PM² Methodology is built on project management best practices and is supported by four pillars:
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a project governance model (i.e. Roles & Responsibilities).
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a project lifecycle (i.e. Project Phases).
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a set of processes (i.e. project management activities).
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a set of project artefacts (i.e. documentation templates and guidelines).
After a deep review of the methodology, I still think that it is really a very powerful tool for project management. However, I would like to point out that in certain sections, tables, variables, etc., both in the report and especially in the artefacts, its origin is evident. Some aspects are closely linked to IT projects. That is not a mistake but this focus limits the universal use of the tool (perhaps it does not limit but do the use more difficult).
I have decided, when translating the artefacts into Spanish, to make a more universal approach to them. The idea is that anyone can use it for any type of project without having to read or remove IT project expressions.
We must not forget that Project Management Methodologies (PMM) are not the main actors in project development. PMM are another tool to help manage them efficiently.