PM² is a Project Management Methodology developed by the European Commission. Its purpose is to enable Project Managers (PMs) to deliver solutions and benefits to their organizations by effectively managing the entire lifecycle of their project. PM² has been created with the needs of European Union institutions and projects in mind, but is transferable to projects in any organization. PM² Guide includes:
- Project Governance Model: roles and responsibilities.
- Project Lifecycle: project phases.
- Set of Processes: project management activities.
- Set of Project Artefacts: templates and guidelines.
- Set of Mindsets: effective beliefs and behaviors.
OpenPM² is a free version of the PM² developed by the European Commission in 2007. It incorporates elements from globally accepted best practices, standards and methodologies. OpenPM² gives open access to the PM², widening the circle of beneficiaries across Europe and enriching the methodology with additional good practices and examples. It aims to improve project management competency in the EU.
OpenPM² offers these resources for free:
- PM² Guide – Open Edition: download pdf file (https://bit.ly/download_pm2_guide_v3)
- PM² Artefacts: download .rar file with document templates (https://bit.ly/download_pm2_templates)
- PM² Online resources (wiki)
- A Project Support Network (PSN): a network/community of PM² users that can support each other in rolling-out PM² in their organizations, and with using the PM² methodology in their projects.
European Union’s Project Management Methodology PM² is based on roles from the requester and provider side of the project. PMPeople can be the tool to implement this methodology on projects funded by the EU, as well as projects in any organization.
Introduction to PM²
Source: Project Management Methodology Guide 3.0, CoEPM² , EU, 2018
- Requestor Side, also referred to as the Client Side, includes the roles belonging to the requestor organization where the solution will be delivered, such as the Project Owner (PO), the Business Manager (BM) and Business Implementation Group (BIG).
- Provider Side includes the project roles that develop and implement the solution, i.e. the Solution Provider (SP), the Project Manager (PM) and the Project Core Team (PCT).
PM² follows a project lifecycle model with four phases :
Source: Project Management Methodology Guide 3.0, CoEPM² , EU, 2018
- Project Phases are: initiating, planning, executing and closing.
- Phase Outputs are: Project Charter, Project Handbook, Project Work Plan, Project Deliverables and Project End Report.
- Phase Gates Approvals are named as: Request for Planning (RfP) to move from initiating to planning phase,Request for Execution (RfE) to move from planning to executing phase, and Request for Closing (RfC) to move from executing to closing phase.
For each phase and also for the processes of monitor and control, the guide describes a series of activities to be performed by certain roles, to produce certain artefacts:
PM² Implementation with PMPeople
PMPeople supports the 11 collaborative roles to manage projects professionally. As in PM², these roles are separated in 2 sides: project demand management (the requestor side) versus project supply management (the provider side).
Next table shows how PMPeople roles match PM² ones:
