Consulting

A sample of the consulting services offered by the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. is as follows:

• Enterprise Risk Management Assessments and Implementation
  
  Understanding the specific risks of a project, as well as the enterprise risks to the business is critical to ensuring that risks are avoided or mitigated before they occur.  The M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can provide your organization with an objective and independent assessment of the risks associated with a business initiative, program, or project.  By using a systems methodology approach, M2 can facilitate the process which will help you to identify the potential risks and the proposed countermeasures for preventing or mitigating the risks.  M2 can also help with development and implementation of a Risk Board or Risk Jury, which will be responsible for evaluating and prioritizing the identified risks.  By establishing this infrastructure of controls and facilitating the management of organization's resources, M2 professionals can help your organization effectively identify, measure, and track the risks associated with a project throughout its lifecycle.  Implementation of this type of systems approach to managing your project and enterprise risks could potentially save you and your organizations thousands, if not millions of dollars.  
  

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization develop and implement a systems approach to managing your enterprise or project risks, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com

  
  
• Organizational Project Management Maturity Assessments
  
  Project Management maturity assessments are typically conducted for organizations who want to determine their level of maturation and capability for delivering successful projects in relation to a recognized maturity model.  The data gathered during an assessment allows organizations to document their current state, which can then be used as a baseline to measure the impact (both positive and negative) of future initiatives.  M2 can conduct assessments using one of two models - 1) the recently released Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3™) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) or 2) the George Washington University/ESI ProjectFRAMEWORK™ maturity model.  Mike Martin, President of the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd., was a member of the OPM3™ development team and is also certified assessor for the ProjectFRAMEWORK™ model. Assessments may take anywhere from a couple of days to several months, depending on the scope of the engagement and the size of the organization being evaluated.

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization by performing a project management maturity assessment, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to iinfo@m2consultinggroup.com
  
  

• Team Cohesion Assessments
  
  Team cohesion assessments can be conducted for organizations or teams that want to know their cohesive rating, which will help them to determine how well they may work together and where there may be areas that will need to be improved upon.  This assessment and the associated rating is based on the seven key cohesion factors described in Mike’s forthcoming book, Cohesion – The Power Behind Successful Teams.  Data may be gathered using several different methods, including face-to-face interviews, surveys, and questionnaires.  Once the data is captured, it will be analyzed to determine the ratings specific to each of the seven key factors.  Using the ratings for the key factors, a score is computed for the overall cohesiveness of the organization or team being analyzed.

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization by performing a team cohesion assessment, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com

• Methodology Development 
  
  One of the key elements required to build a "world-class" project management organization is having a methodology in place that your project, program, and portfolio managers can follow and apply consistently throughout the organization.  With extensive experience in developing PM methodologies for organizations such as, Arthur Andersen, LLP, KPMG, LLP, Entex Information Services, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, M2 can help you develop and implement a methodology that is customized and specific to your organization.  
  
  Having a customized methodology can help you develop a culture that is unique and specific to your organization.  In doing so, you start the process of having brand and industry recognition that, this is the "Insert Your Company Name" way!  Many of the bigger consulting firms will try to sell you their methodology; however, why use one that was developed for a consulting firm, when you can develop and customize a methodology that is specific to your organization?  At a cost much lower than what one of the larger consulting firms would charge you, you can have your own customized methodology.  
  
  Methodology development may take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months to develop the framework and associated tools and templates. However, with the experience of M2 you can improve the probability of doing it right the first time; thus, saving dollars that may be spent on continuous rework from other inexperienced consulting firms.

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization develop a "world-class" methodology, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com
  

• PM Toolkit Development  
  
  One of the biggest problems facing most organizations that are immature or new to the project management discipline is the lack of consistent tools for managing projects.  Another important element in raising the maturation of project management within your organization is to have a consistent tool kit that is used by all project managers throughout the organization.  
  
  This may seem like a simple, non-important issue.  However, the lack of a common toolkit can be detrimental to an organization and negatively impact an organizations ability to implement project management successfully.  Having a consistent tool kit, which would include standard templates for conducting or developing status reports, project changes, statements of work, quality reviews, risk assessments, etc. is critical to building a "world-class" project management organization.  A standard PM toolkit is also an important supporting element to the PM methodology used by the organization.

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization develop a standard PM Toolkit, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com

• PM Competency Model Development
  
  Why is a competency model important?  First, it provides your program and project managers with a clear career path and what they need to accomplish or master to reach the next level within the organization.  Secondly, it provides a framework upon which a program and project management training curriculum can be developed.   
  
  Having a competency model specific to the career path desired by the organization, allows the PM's as well as their supervisors or managers know what training they should be taking at different stages of their career.  The basic competency model used by M2 contains both core and professional competencies.  The core competencies are those which, apply to every individual in the organization; whereas, the professional competencies refer to those competencies specific to a particular discipline.  In other words, for a project manager a professional competency may be based on one, or all of, the nine knowledge areas identified in PMI's Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). These knowledge areas are Integration Management, Scope Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Human Resource Management, Communications Management, Risk Management and Procurement Management.  
  
  Once a competency model is developed and in place, the training organization can use it as the framework for developing and/or refining the training curriculum. 

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization develop a PM Competency Model, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com

• Training Curriculum Development  
  
  Many organizations today simply refer their personnel to standard, off-the-shelf classes, without any forethought as to whether this "off-the-shelf" training will make their personnel better managers within their organization.  In most cases it doesn't!  The "off-the-shelf" training will typically provide your personnel with a foundational knowledge of the process, tools, and techniques required to deliver a project successfully; however, what it doesn't teach them is how to manage a project within their specific organization.  This, in turn, is the twist!  Organizations cannot raise the level of project management maturation within their organization by conducting "off-the-shelf" classes; instead, the courses need to be customized and specific to the methodology being used by the organization to manage projects.  In addition, the courses should incorporate the standard tools, templates, and techniques being used by the organization.  When this type of customization occurs it helps to instill the culture that the company is striving to achieve for "all" of its project managers.  The development of this culture, supported by the standard methodology, tools, techniques, and training courses, is what will help a company raise its level of maturation.   
  
  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization develop a customized training curriculum, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com
  
• Establishing a Project/Program Management Office (PMO) / PM Center of Excellence (PMCOE)
  
  The focal point of an organization's project management initiatives is the Program/Project Management Office (PMO) or in some cases the Project Management Center of Excellence (PMCOE).  M2 can help your organization develop and implement a PMO or PMCOE, which can help bring about the greatest return on investment for your organization. Implementation of an effective PMO can help your organization develop, coordinate, and manage its portfolio of projects, in such a way that it achieves the desired business goals and benefits.  An example of some of the responsibilities typically delegated to a PMO or PMCOE include standardization of P/PM processes and procedures, identification of P/PM best practices, development and deployment of a P/PM training curriculum, internal consulting, tool definition and standardization, enterprise P/PM reporting, P/PM advocacy, PM maturity assessment and competency model.
  
  

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization develop and implement a PMO or PMCOE, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com

• Statement of Work (SOW) / Request for Proposal (RFP) Development  
  
  The one document, which is often overlooked or underutilized, but is critical to the successful delivery of a project, is the Statement of Work (SOW).  The SOW is the supporting contractual document, which documents "what" is to be provided to a client, as well as, what is required to deliver a service or product successfully.  Without a detailed SOW, you will be managing a project with an unknown objective.  This, in turn, makes it difficult to determine what is to be accomplished, when you're finished, and what method will be used for measuring the success of both the PM and the project.  Without a detailed SOW, you also have no baseline against which to measure progress or change.  
  
  In Rick Page's book, Hope Is Not a Strategy, he notes that "successful organizations make habits of things others don't like to do, or don't find time to do."  Drafting quality SOW's falls into this category.  Lack of an established process and framework, or inexperience in drafting and applying an SOW to a project, can be a very frustrating and time-consuming.  When organizations or individuals shy away from developing the most important document on a project simply because it may take some time, effort, and planning, they put the project and possibly the organization at risk.   
  
  This is where the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help.  Mike Martin is author of one of the first books ever written on how to draft and apply the SOW to private sector project - Delivering Project Excellence with the Statement of Work.  As such, M2 can provide you with the senior level expertise necessary to help your organization develop and implement a customized SOW that is specific to the types of projects you typically perform.  According to research and actual project work it has been proven that having a detailed, quality SOW in place can save an organization literally millions of dollars during the life of a project.  We can also help you with the drafting of the complete Request for Proposal (RFP), which is where the SOW would typically reside when it's used in a competitive bidding process.  Our affiliation with RFP Connexion (www.RFPConneXion.com), provides us with one of the most powerful on-line formal e-procurement tools in the world.  As such, we can show you not only how to insure that you get what you ask for in a project, but we can also show you how to reduce your overall procurement costs significantly.   
  
  

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd can help your organization develop and implement quality SOW's and RFP's, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com
  

• Project Management Outsourcing 
  
  Have you ever had the need for a project manager, but didn't want to go through the hassle of hiring someone full time, knowing full well that the need or project was temporary?  If so, then you should consider outsourcing the position to an organization whose primary area of expertise is in project management.  Why outsource?  Outsourcing your work can save you significant dollars on each project, by avoiding the general and administrative costs associated with hiring a full-time employee.  This would include the costs associated with healthcare, vacation, retirement, etc.  In addition, if program and project management is not a core competency of your organization, then why would you try to do something that you don't have experience in-house to do.   
  
  M2, working with its various affiliates can help you fill these gaps with some of the most experienced and senior people in the profession.  Our affiliate project manager(s) generally have over 15 years of project management experience and have either recently retired or have started their own consulting practices.  In other words, you're not getting a new consultant, fresh out of graduate school that will be using your organization as an "on the job" training ground.  Our extensive network of professionals, allows us to closely match the individual consultant with the need of your organization, which in turn will help to increase the probability of delivering your project successfully the first time around and eliminate the need for rework that is often associated with projects that lack an experienced project manager.   
  
  

  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization outsource its project management effort, please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com

• Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)  
  
  Have you ever wondered if you were getting the highest value possible from your consultants or contractors?  If so, then you may want to consider having an independent verification and validation (IV&V) analysis performed.  M2 can provide standards, as well as, processes and procedures, by which your organization, or a third party, deliverables can be measured against.  
  
  For example, if you are requiring your contractor to perform an earned value analysis on a high-profile project, do you know for sure that what you're being told is accurate?  In most cases, you would assume that the information is correct; that is, until something goes terribly wrong and before you know it the project is failing and cannot be salvaged.  IV&V establishes standards as well as processes by which, third party deliverables are measured to insure that you're receiving the level of service and deliverables you specified in the Statement of Work. Performing an IV&V assists you, the client, in holding your consultants and contractors accountable for their work.  
  
  To find out how the M2 Consulting Group, Ltd. can help your organization by performing an independent verification and validation (IV&V), please fill out the form under the Contact tab or send an e-mail to info@m2consultinggroup.com