SOLVAY SA: Definition of a project management framework for the Solvay Group
Solvay wanted to promote common project management practices across its business units to improve collaboration across departements and propagate lessons learned across business units. A few departments had advanced practices while others had limited experience in project management.
The Project Gold Mine hence proposed a roadmap made of different phases to increase project management maturity. The first phase intended to establish a framework valid for the entire Group and in parallel, to define the building blocks of a project management culture. Therefore, we first launched a survey among project managers and senior management to determine current practices and priority areas of improvement. Second, we defined a typology of skills in project management (general soft skills, general technical skills, skills specific to some functions such as IT, Engineering and R&D), and integrated the project management process within the enterprise process map. Based on the typology, we defined a standard project management methodology (technical aspects, including roles and responsibilities, project lifecycles, templates & metrics) together with the specifics of managing Process Redesign and Lean Six Sigma projects (projects supported by the department sponsor of this initiative). In parallel, we defined a career path (team members, project manager junior/senior, program manager, portfolio manager), job descriptions and individual performance evaluation criteria, and led a request for proposal for trainings based on the developed standard methodology. We also developed an intranet on project management, holding the methodology as well as best practices coming from inside and outside the organization.
