Kerzner's Five
Levels of Project Management Maturity
LEVEL
1: Common Language (80 questions)
At this level of maturity the organization first recognizes
the importance of project management. Level 1 is based
upon knowledge of the fundamental principles of project
management and the associated terminology. Level 1 can
be fulfilled through a good understanding of the guide
to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK®
Guide) prepared by the Project Management Institute
(PMI®). Level 1 of the assessment will evaluate
your own knowledge of project management and the degree
to which your organization understands the fundamental
concepts of project management.
LEVEL 2: Common Processes
(20 questions)
At this level of maturity the organization makes a concerted
effort to use project management and to develop processes
and methodologies to support its effective use. The
organization realizes that common methodologies and
processes are needed such that managerial success on
one project can be replicated to other projects. Also
apparent in this Level is the fact that certain behavioral
expectations of organizational personnel are necessary
for the repetitive execution of the methodology. Level
2 of the assessment will evaluate how effectively your
organization has achieved common processes for project
management.
LEVEL 3: Singular Methodology
(42 questions)
At this level of maturity the organization recognizes
that synergism and process control can best be achieved
through the development of a singular methodology rather
than by using multiple methodologies. Companies that
have reached Level 3 are totally committed to the concept
of project management. Level 3 of the assessment will
evaluate how committed your organization is and whether
you have adopted a singular project management methodology.
LEVEL 4: Benchmarking (25
questions)
At this level of maturity the organization uses benchmarking
to continuously compare project management practices
to recognized leaders to gain information to help them
improve their performance. Benchmarking is a continuous
effort of analysis and evaluation. 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 are hindered. Level 4 of
the assessment will determine to what degree your organization
is using a structured approach to benchmarking.
LEVEL 5: Continuous Improvement
(16 questions)
At this level of maturity, the organization evaluates
the information learned during benchmarking and implements
the changes necessary to improve the project management
process. The organization realizes that excellence in
project management is a never-ending journey. Level
5 of the assessment will determine if your organization
has embraced continuous improvement and has reached
an advanced state of project management maturity.
Participants answer a series of multiple-choice
questions within each of the five levels. There are a total of 183 questions
in the assessment tool.
When completing each level of
the assessment, participants can see their score results broken down by
the sub-categories within that level. A click of a button compares their
scores to all others who have taken the assessment, or they can display
a prescriptive analysis of their results.
Our Executive Dashboard allows
authorized managers to see a detailed summary of their organization’s
assessment results. Managers can instantly view and compare individual
and company-wide assessment scores. The feature also allows them to export
the raw data into spreadsheet applications.
