Project Excellence is an objective standard that sets high quality results that meet stakeholder needs and environmental regulations.
Hill has established the program with multiple faculty members and departments across campus, but her ambitions extend much further: She hopes that one day it may spread to all University of Tennessee campuses as a model program and even become national standard.
Technical Excellence
Technical excellence refers to the quality of software code underlying any project, which requires an iterative process of writing and testing every piece of code with an aim of producing clean, robust code without bugs or errors. Technical excellence can be considered an essential element of agile software development but can also be utilized within other environments.
Our informants described this concept as having multiple meanings and characteristics depending on the team, its values, and approach to project management. For instance, an agile-minded highly technical team may require different needs and approaches than one managed traditionally using waterfall methodologies and tools.
Key features identified by our informants included an emphasis on test-driven development and commitment to clean, sustainable code. The latter was stressed as it makes maintenance simpler since bugs are found and resolved more quickly. Furthermore, commitment to continuous improvement was seen as necessary to technical excellence, with this including learning from mistakes as well as admitting fault and altering course when necessary.
Psychological safety is another essential component of technical excellence, enabling developers to feel at ease bringing forth new ideas without fear of reprisals from coworkers or management. Our informants found it hard to sustain this practice over time but maintained its importance for making sure new thoughts are considered and not suppressed.
As part of our conversations with informants, many mentioned the need for leadership support to promote technical excellence. This might involve setting an example by modeling a growth mindset and supporting a learning culture; providing training, tools and an environment conducive to team success; or encouraging continuous deployment practices along with feedback loops including tests after every iteration (or “deployment”) of code.
Management Excellence
No matter whether it’s time to launch a project from scratch or revamp existing processes, using management excellence principles will bring big gains for your business. Management excellence involves adopting idealized behaviors which achieve its goals such as dedicating staff development efforts fully; providing clear position descriptions; encouraging initiative and decision-making as well as rewarding initiative and initiative among employees.
Firms committed to management excellence make a concerted effort to remain aware of changes in the economy, regulations, laws, codes, technology and labor force so it can adapt its practices accordingly. This flexibility is especially vital for professional services companies; good project managers can quickly adapt to changes while those struggling to alter their operating methods and processes might struggle for survival.
Companies exhibiting management excellence also place great importance on satisfying the customer. Their entire structure revolves around meeting client needs, meeting schedules and, where possible, budget constraints, while being client-centric in all aspects of operations ranging from administrative support functions to field teams.
Employees in a management excellence firm typically possess extensive qualifications and experience, including formal education, training and certifications. Furthermore, such firms provide stimulating work environments that offer advancement opportunities at competitive salaries and benefits packages; as well as encouraging communication across all levels of their firm where employees can share knowledge and expertise freely with each other.
An organization striving for management excellence typically has clearly articulated missions, visions and values; its leadership team and management staff possess high skill sets; its staff have a sense of pride for its products and services; it rapidly recognizes problems and collaborates in finding solutions quickly; they meet challenges head on rather than reacting reactively; its processes are well documented and maintained, and continuous improvements to operations are sought out; adaptability is readily possible within their operations while managers have effective ways of communicating changes effectively with staff members.
Staff Development
Staff development encompasses any activities undertaken by an organization to help its employees enhance their skills, from seminars and certification exams to higher education courses. Businesses that prioritize professional development will experience greater employee retention rates, higher work performance and overall business productivity – leading to an improved employee experience and increased profits overall.
Managers must take an holistic approach to staff development, taking into account not only technical skill acquisition but also management and supervisory capabilities. Furthermore, managers must consider future needs such as replacing experienced employees or the retirement of long-term members when planning staff development programs.
A comprehensive staff development plan should incorporate all the components necessary for creating an effective project management team capable of meeting project goals and expectations, such as an evaluation of individual and departmental training needs, clear definition of roles and responsibilities, structured approach to planning and allocation of appropriate resources. Furthermore, such plans must include evaluation of effectiveness and impact of staff development programs.
Project Excellence students spend their 11th and 12th grade years with our leadership instructor Kimberly Hill exploring their strengths, learning leadership concepts, and identifying their personal values in order to become strong leaders of tomorrow. In addition, Project Excellence encourages their students to connect with one another as peers as well as mentoring younger ones.
Staff development plans must include creating an enjoyable workplace with competitive wages and fringe benefits for their staff members. Firms which practice project management excellence provide complete clarity around each person’s responsibilities and remit. Written position descriptions must be established and adhered to, initiatives are recognized, and organizational charts demonstrate each employee’s level of authority. An effective staff development program should allow for a smooth handoff when employees leave or retire and must also include formal approval by management or head of department to ensure its alignment with prevailing strategic aims and operational needs of the Department.
Organizational Excellence
Project excellence is a strategic process designed to bring your people and organization together under a common mission and vision for your organization. It serves as a framework that ensures you as a leader, your organization and its staff possessing matching skill sets are aligned in order to execute its vision daily. Project excellence provides systems, processes and tools that make this possible in practice.
Organizational excellence requires an unwavering dedication to continuous improvement. This involves actively seeking opportunities to upgrade methods and systems while remaining true to core values and customer satisfaction; additionally, keeping up with market trends and technologies requires this type of dedication.
Organizational excellence requires companies to have an efficient system for managing resources – both human and physical resources – effectively while minimising environmental impact; for example, using recycled materials in production.
Organizational excellence also involves being able to design and manage processes that create greater value for customers and other stakeholders, including producing more valuable products or services than those produced by competitors. To accomplish this goal, organizations should utilize processes designed to maximize stakeholder satisfaction as well as establish an ongoing culture of process improvement.
Phoenix Country Day School’s Project Excellence scholarship program is an award-winning scholarship designed to enrich and engage first generation college bound students through academic enrichment and community outreach. Staffed by volunteers who assist in helping develop leadership potential through academic, cultural and social experiences for these first generation college bound students, this “labor of love” for Hill and multiple faculty members helps establish it into state wide standardization standard.
Vartiak stated that IPMA PE award assessors must possess professional competencies that enable them to accurately and ethically raise questions, identify problems, evaluate and verify projects according to the Project Excellence Model – this will allow for fair, just, professional evaluation of projects.