Solution Design That Stuck
A major national Medicaid managed care organization in a period of rapid growth needed a consistent, structured way of managing individual projects and major programs essential to both its evolution and to maintaining regulatory compliance. While various tools were in use, they were not comprehensive, nor were they consistently used. And, while international standard organizations such as the Project Management Institute (PMI) define the body of knowledge for project management, they do not define the specific processes, methods, tools, and organizational roles for project management.
Optimetra consultants facilitated discussions with company leadership and with associates responsible for project and program management to identify the organizational culture and business and technical needs that would need to be considered and respected within the design of a project management methodology. We then reviewed and evaluated both the PMI standards and several off-the-shelf methodologies to look at components, functionality, and tools that would need to be part of a standardized approach for the company. Subsequently, Optimetra designed and delivered a project management solution that included a comprehensive manual explaining all processes for project planning and management; forms, checklists, and templates; business analysis tools; job descriptions for project personnel; and learning materials. Subsequently, we conducted training for over ten percent of the company’s staff, involving everyone from executive leadership to project administrative staff. This commitment helped solidify the organization’s understanding and ownership of project management.
Many years later, the organization continues to use the methodology throughout the organization, with improvements that have been made as the result of a continuous evaluation of the system. The methodology includes a scalability decision-making matrix and has been used for projects as diverse as planning the company’s participation in a health fair up to and including planning and management of health plan acquisitions and integration.
