This document discusses best practices for managing global projects. It identifies several key challenges in global project management including developing a consistent approach, resource allocation, and managing too many projects. It then outlines several best practices for global project management methodology and structure. This includes developing a standardized methodology, establishing executive sponsorship and global/regional project management offices for support, and using web-based knowledge management of best practices. The document also discusses the importance of project portfolio management, multi-cultural training, developing individual and organizational global competencies, and using maturity models to benchmark project management capabilities.

1. 8 s Contract Management / April 2004
This article is an extract from
Managing Complex Outsource
Projects by Gregory A. Garrett,
published by CCH Inc.,
Chicago 2004.
As more and more companies and
organizations conduct work on a multi-
national or global basis, the need to
define project management (PM) “best
practices” and leverage project man-
agement expertise globally becomes
greater. What organizations want is
to develop PM methodologies, based
upon proven processes to ensure
repeatable and measurable results,
which meet or exceed their customers
demanding expectations.
Many companies or organizations
have developed internal PM expertise,
typically within their professional
services department or supply chain
management organizations. Likewise,
many companies have taken the time
to develop PM best practices databases
to facilitate knowledge transfer within
their organizations. Most companies
hope to repeat project best practices,
if they were proven successful some-
where else in the organization.
According to the Center for Business
Practices (CBP), the research arm of
PM Solutions and a U.S.-based project
management firm, consistency and
resource problems top the list of con-
cerns facing project managers. These
results come from CBP’s 2003 survey
of 1,000 project professionals and
senior-level executives from such
industries as manufacturing, health
care, and information technology. CBP’s
survey found the largest project man-
agement challenge was developing a
consistent approach to managing pro-
jects (23.9 percent of the respondents).
Following close behind was the concern
over resource allocation (19.7 percent)
and managing too many projects or
the wrong projects (16.9 percent).
GREGORY A. GARRETT, CPCM, PMP,
is vice president and general manager,
U.S. federal government programs for
Lucent Technologies in Herndon, Virginia.
He is a member of NCMA’s Washington,
D.C., Chapter and received the Project
Management Excellence Award from
the Project Management Institute.
Send comments on this article to
cm@ncmahq.org.
A b o u t t h e A u t h o r
As projects are becoming increasingly complex,
professional project management is vital to
achieving successful results in both the public
and private business sectors.
BY GREGORY A. GARRETT
Global Project
Management:
Best Practices
Global Project
Management:
Best Practices

2. April 2004 / Contract Management s 9
The CBP survey also found that
companies implementing PM improve-
ments spent an average of $712,000 on
them annually, with most commonly
implemented improvements including:
s Software tools (77.9 percent),
s Methodology development
(69.1 percent), and
s Staff training (69.1 percent).
The survey also included other
insights in the area of project types,
project activities, and other areas,
such as
s Project complexity—51.7 percent
of the projects surveyed were con-
sidered complex or highly complex.
s Project management office (PMO)—
44.6 percent of the companies
surveyed had established a PMO
or PM Center of Excellence.
s Project portfolio management
(PPM)—Most companies surveyed
still had a low level of project
portfolio management maturity.
s Project performance measurements—
The metrics most commonly used by
the companies surveyed to assess value
are measured by improvements in
delivery dates (78.9 percent), bottom-
line economics (65.8 percent), and
product or service quality (57.9 percent).1
PM Methodology and Structure
The following best practices have
all been proven effective by numerous
organizations involved in managing
projects on a multi-national and/or
global business scale.
Methodology
Many large multi-national organizations
and companies have created a network
of project managers geographically
distributed in numerous countries
worldwide. The goal of most large
multi-national organizations and
companies is to meet or exceed their
customer’s business needs through

3. successful project results. Many com-
panies, including ABB, AT&T, Bechtel,
EDS, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lucent
Technologies, NCR, Sun Microsystems,
USAA, and others; have developed
or have had outside consultants help
them create a high-level project
management methodology. Such PM
methodologies are usually composed
of standardized project management
processes, based upon industry best
practices and specific and tailored
processes proven successful for the
respective company.
A global project management
methodology should be a dynamic set
of processes that evolve as the industry
and company change to meet or exceed
its customers’ needs. Unfortunately,
some companies develop or purchase
a global PM methodology, but do not
take the time and effort to keep it
current and accurate. As a result,
some companies invest a lot of money
in the one-time development of such
methodologies, but do not truly reap
the long-term benefits. It is important
to remember that project management
methodologies, processes, best prac-
tices, and numerous tools and
techniques exist only as a means
to an end—meeting or exceeding
a customer’s needs, while achieving
desired company or organization
performance targets.
For a global project management
methodology to be truly successful
it must be (1) widely distributed
throughout the organization,
typically through multi-media (Web-
based, CD-ROM, and paper copies,
etc.), (2) widely acknowledged at all
levels of the organization, and (3)
routinely practiced by the project
management community within
the respective organization. The
International Standards Organization
(ISO) Standards for Project
Management 10006 provides a good
standardized outline of what process-
es and practices should be included
within global PM methodology.
Support Structure
In order to truly make project man-
agement globally successful within
an organization, there must be an
appropriate support structure. Clearly,
the level of support varies, based upon
numerous factors including the level
of PM maturity, project complexity,
degree of outsourcing, geographic
distribution, and project importance,
etc. The following items are usually
vital to ensure an appropriate project
management support structure exists
to successfully manage complex
outsourced projects worldwide.
s Executive sponsorship—A knowl-
edgeable, experienced, certified
project management executive,
who serves as a champion of the
project management discipline
within the company and externally.
s Global project management office
(GPMO)—A small but effective
team of highly experienced, trained,
and certified project management
professionals, who ensure the pro-
ject managers in the field have all
the resources, tools, training, and
support they need to get the job
done, including a global project
management methodology.
s Regional and/or local country
project management office (PMO)—
In addition, to the GPMO, there
should be a small but highly respon-
sive regional and/or local country
PMO to help support the local pro-
ject managers with more local- and
country-specific project needs, local
laws and regulations, customs, and
team mobilization support.
s Web-based PM best practices
(knowledge management)—As
much as possible, the best practices
from projects worldwide should be
documented and made easily avail-
able and key-word searchable to
all organization project managers.
s Project management networking—
Every available means should be
used to facilitate the networking
of project managers to share
expertise, including teleconferences,
video conferences, net-meetings,
shared electronic databases, Web
portals, and appropriate face-to-
face meetings.
10 s Contract Management / April 2004
G L O B A L P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T : B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Project
Name
Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
Project
Manager
Status
(Green,
Yellow, Red)
Project Net
Present
Value
(Revenue)
Project
Margin
Customer
Name
Project
Resource
(Hdct)
Customer
Strategic
Objective
Comments/
Key Notes
Key Projects Portfolio
Table 1.

4. s Accurate and real-time project-level
data—The organization should offer
an enterprisewide, globally accessi-
ble (24/7/365) information system,
which provides real-time status on
the placement of orders, for pur-
chasing products and services, and
the status of engineering, construc-
tion, manufacturing, shipping
installation, and testing.
Case Study #1
With more than 35,000 employees
in 100 countries, Sun Microsystems
(Sun) is performing project manage-
ment on a truly global scale. Within
Sun’s Services organization, Sun
Professional Services has the responsi-
bility for developing internal project
management expertise. Sun
Professional Services has a network
of about 500 project management
professionals. Project management
expertise with Sun Professional
Services is organized around its
primary competencies—the Project
Management Performance Model,
project quality activities, Customer
Loyalty Index (CLI), and the Quality
Feedback Loop. All of Sun’s specific
project management methodologies,
processes, and tools are driven by
three principles: (1) customer busi-
ness case, (2) quality, and (3) risk
management.2
Global Project Portfolio
Management
In today’s business environment,
most companies manage numerous
projects. When multiple projects are
related to one another by customers,
technology, products, services, and/or
location, they are usually referred to
as programs. While all programs and
their related projects are important,
to some extent, some are clearly more
important than others. Thus, it is
incumbent upon each organization to
understand which of their numerous
programs and related projects are of
the highest priority, to ensure the top
talent of the organization and the nec-
essary support is provided to those
key projects.
Unfortunately, many organizations
do not do a very good job of effective-
ly managing their respective project
portfolio. Common project portfolio
management problems may include:
s Allowing lower priority projects
to acquire vital materials, products,
or services needed by the higher
priority projects;
s Allowing the internal “who-you-know”
network approach to circumvent a
priority resource allocation program;
s Not placing the best talent on the
highest priority projects, typically
just getting the available talent;
s Failing to rack and stack your
organization’s projects to determine
which are the most important
projects by country, region,
or global basis;
s Not properly or frequently
obtaining status on the organiza-
tion’s key projects;
s Failing to use appropriate perfor-
mance metrics to evaluate cost
control, profitability, on-time deliv-
ery, product and service quality,
and customer satisfaction on the
key projects; and
s Not terminating failing projects.
Table 1 (on page 10) provides a
simple means of helping organizations
prioritize their projects and summa-
rize the key aspects of their portfolio
of projects.
Multi-cultural Awareness Training
As project managers are increasingly
asked by their employers to relocate
to other countries or remotely support
customer’s projects globally, the need
for multi-cultural awareness training
has grown. Likewise, as more organi-
zations outsource supplies on a
multi-national or global basis, the
need for multi-cultural awareness
training continues to grow. Clearly,
both buyers or customers and sellers
12 s Contract Management / April 2004
G L O B A L P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T : B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Individual Global Business Competencies
Table 2.
Vision
Global Attitude
• A global mindset
• Ability to work with
a highly diverse team
• A long-term orienta-
tion
Strategy
Leadership
• Motivates employees
to excellence
• Facilitates organiza-
tional change
• Sets high expectations
• Leads by example
Competencies
required to
make it work!
Demonstrated
abilities/actions
Structure
Discipline
• Focuses on process
improvement
• Serves as a team
or force multiplier
• Holds employees
accountable
Implementation
Execution
• Leverages supply-chain
partners
• Skillfully executes
the deployment cycle
• Plans and tracks
performance with
appropriate metrics
i
Adapted from The Global Challenge, by Moran & Riesenberger, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1994.

5. or suppliers of products and services
projects are expanding the need for
personnel to receive multi-cultural
awareness training, especially to
reflect the diversity of the business
partners engaged in the outsourcing
management environment.
Increasingly companies and other
multi-national organizations are estab-
lishing local country offices staffed with
local country nationals. Yet, many
organizations still require a few key
foreign country nationals to support
their projects. As a result, the foreign
country nationals often require training
in a variety of aspects in order to be
able to successfully conduct business.
Training in often needed in the areas of
s Language development,
s Local culture and customs,
s Support of local country advisors to
understand local business processes
and/or practices,
s Support of interpreters, and
s Document transcription.
Individual Global Business
Competencies
Some people believe that conducting
business on a global basis is an attitude,
not knowledge or information. Stephen
Rhinesmith, author and international
business expert, has stated that a glob-
al mindset is a requirement of a global
business manager who will guide
institutions and organizations into the
future. He defines a mindset as
A predisposition to see the world in a
particular way that sets boundaries and
provides explanations for why things are
they way they are, while at the same time
establishing guidance for ways in which
we should behave. In other words, a mind-
set is a filter through which we look
at the world.
Rhinesmith explains that people with
global mindsets approach the world
in a number of specifics ways. These
individuals
(1) Look for the big picture
and multiple possibilities;
(2) Understand the world is very com-
plex and business is interdependent;
(3) Are process-oriented, understand-
ing that all business follows a
process of inputs, tools and tech-
niques, and outputs;
April 2004 / Contract Management s 13
G L O B A L P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T : B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Organizational Global Business Competencies
Table 3.
Core Competencies
1. Global Vision—Where the corporation intends to go,
emphasis is on acceptance
2. Strategic Focus—Competitive advantages of the organization
3. Control—Flow of strategic direction from headquarters
4. Local Autonomy—Degree of freedom allocated to the
subsidiary to change/modify products or services
5. Coordination—Degree of teamwork between subsidiary,
headquarters and third parties
6. Domestic/Subsidiary Relationship—Flow of information-sharing
7. Corporate Culture—Characteristics that unite people
in an organization
8. Management Selection—Strong leadership trait,
team-builder, and results-oriented
9. Employee Selection—Combine country of origin
and corporate management staff
10. Decision Processes—Control and flow of decision-making
11. Information Processes—Control and flow of information
and knowledge
12. Performance-Oriented—Results focused management
and employees
Worldwide Organizational Solutions
Unified, understood, and accepted by all employees
Growth through coordinated centralization and local adaptability
High
High
High
High, shared, and interdependent
Central and unified
Flexibility, best candidate available from any country
Best available candidate
Shared and complex emphasis on the customer and empowering
employees
Shared and complex, real-time data, and accurate information
Shared and understood performance goals and metrics, with pay
tied to performance
i
Adapted from The Global Challenge, by Moran and Riesenberger, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1994

6. (4) Consider diversity in people as
a real asset and valued resource,
know how to work effectively
in multicultural teams;
(5) Are comfortable with change
and ambiguity; and
(6) Are open to new experiences,
and enjoy a challenge.
While a global mindset or attitude
is vital to successfully manage out-
sourced projects worldwide, there are
several additional factors or compe-
tencies that are essential for success.
Table 2 (on page 12) illustrates the
global business essentials and individ-
ual key competencies of a successful
global business manager/executive.
Organizational Global
Business Competencies
In addition to the individual compe-
tencies required for successful global
business, there are numerous core
organizational competencies required
for a company to successfully manage
complex outsourced projects world-
wide. Table 3 (on page 13) lists the
core organizational competencies
necessary for global business success.
Benchmarking Project
Management Maturity
The challenge facing today’s project-
performing organizations is that each
of the ingredients it takes to deliver
projects successfully requires a sub-
stantial commitment of time and
resources. Given the many initiatives
required to achieve consistent project
success, which initiatives should an
organization undertake first? Project
management maturity models are
designed to provide the framework
that an organization needs to purpose-
fully and progressively develop its
capabilities to consistently deliver
successful projects. Numerous project
management maturity models have
emerged since the mid ‘90s. A recent
estimate suggests there are more than
30 models currently serving the mar-
ket. Most of the models are based on
the Capability Maturity Model devel-
oped by the Software Engineering
Institute at Carnegie Mellon.
In a study first reported in 1998,
William C. Ibbs and Young-Hoon
Kwak, from the University of
California, developed a benchmark for
project management maturity, as part
of a broader study to determine the
financial and organizational impacts
of project management. This study
employed the Berkeley PM Process
Maturity Model. The sample included
38 companies representing four
targeted industries: engineering and
construction, telecommunications,
information systems, and hi-tech
manufacturing. Each of the participat-
ing companies completed a survey
assessment tool. The researchers
determined that the overall project
management maturity of the 38 com-
panies studied was 3.26 on a 5-point
scale. Ibbs and Kwak also compared
maturity among industries. Using the
average maturity level of all compa-
nies in each of the four industries, the
researchers reported that engineering
and construction (3.36), hi-tech
manufacturing (3.34) and telecommu-
nications (3.30) demonstrated
relatively high project management
maturity compared to information
systems (3.06).
The PM Solution’s Project
Management Maturity Model
The PM Solutions’ Project
Management Maturity Model, devel-
oped by its CEO, Kent Crawford, is
an excellent benchmarking tool. This
model is based on a two-dimensional
framework. The first dimension
reflects the level of maturity. It is
based on the structure of the Software
Engineering Institute’s (SEI)
Capability Maturity Model (CMM).
The SEI-CMM has received wide-
spread acceptance as a standard for
process modeling and assessment
of organizational maturity in several
process areas. The second dimension
depicts the key areas of project man-
agement addressed. This dimension
adopts the structure of the Project
Management Institute’s nine knowl-
edge areas. All of the nine knowledge
areas are further decomposed yielding
a total of 42 key components that
enable a more rigorous and specific
determination of project management
maturity. The structure of this two-
dimensional framework is presented
in Figure 1 (on page 16).
Benchmarking Study Results
Using the Project Management
Maturity Model as a tool, James
Pennypacker (director of Center
for Business Practices) and Dr. Kevin
Grant (assistant professor, University
of Texas San Antonio) conducted
a survey of 123 firms. The survey
results determined that nearly 67
percent of the organizations, compa-
nies with revenues ranging from
below $100 million to more than
$3 billion, were currently operating
at an overall project maturity level
of 2 (out of 5) or below. Further, the
research conducted concludes the
level of project management maturity
is statistically consistent among
industries and companies of
varying size.3
14 s Contract Management / April 2004
G L O B A L P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T : B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Project Management Organization Benchmarking Study
Table 4.
Revenue to Hdct. $M (U.S.)
$10M
$15M
$16M
$18M
$20+M
Expense/Revenue %
1.5%
1.0%
0.93%
0.83%
0.75%
Industry Assessment
Below average
Average
Above average
Best-in-class
World-class

7. 16 s Contract Management / April 2004
PM Expense-to-Revenue
Benchmarking Study
The Center for Project Studies
(CPS), a part of Garrett Consulting
Services—a Virginia-based interna-
tional business consulting practice,
conducted a survey of more than 75
companies during 2002. Each compa-
ny surveyed had more than $5 billion
in annual revenue during 2001,
managing numerous large complex
outsourced projects. Based upon a
response rate of more than 32 per-
cent, the following information was
gathered from multi-national compa-
nies in the following industries:
aerospace, defense, engineering,
information technology, construction,
and telecommunications.
Given: A company of more than
$5 billion in annual revenue with
outsourced projects greater than $50
million. Given: A project management
organization performs the following
functions on large complex out-
sourced projects:
(1) project management
s project leadership,
s project planning,
s project scheduling,
s project status,
s project control, and
s project correcting;
(2) Product/service demand planning;
(3) Order management;
(4) Material management;
(5) Supply chain interface; and
(6) Contract administration.
Given: An average employee total
(wrap-rate) expense equals $150,000
USD per year. Table 4 (on page 14)
provides a roughly-right guideline for
staffing large complex outsourced pro-
ject within large companies worldwide.
Recommendations
Based upon research, experience,
and recent discussion with several of
the leading project management con-
sultants who have helped numerous
organizations worldwide improve pro-
ject performance, the following major
actions are suggested.
(1) Ensure top PM talent—Obtain
highly skilled, experienced,
trained, and certified project
management professionals at
all levels of the organization.
(2) Improve information systems—
Provide accurate, real-time,
order-level data by customer
including: plans vs. actual perfor-
mance for cost and schedule/
delivery.
(3) Streamline staff—Reduce support
staffs at all levels by automating
reports, standardizing processes,
driving down decision-making
authority, and outsourcing
support functions.
G L O B A L P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T : B E S T P R A C T I C E S
Figure 1.
Level 1
Initial Process
Level 2
Structured Process
and Standards
Level 3
Organizational
Standards and
Institutionalized
Process
Level 4
Managed Process
Level 5
Optimizing Process
SEI Maturity Levels
PMI Knowledge Areas
Each knowledge area is broken down into specific components. Specific components are used
to measure maturity and develop action plans. The number of components associated with
each knowledge area is presented parenthetically following the title of each model.
PM Solutions
Project Management
Maturity Model
Project Integration
Management (5)
Scope Management (6)
Time Management (5)
Cost Management (5)
Quality Management (4)
Project Human Resource
Management (4)
Communications
Management (4)
Risk Management (5)
Procurement
Management (4)

8. April 2004 / Contract Management s 17
(4) Build high-performance teams—
Motivate leaders to create high
performance teams using the PM
discipline to consistently achieve
customer needs and goals.
(5) Recognize and reward outstanding
performance—Ensure business
leaders actively recognize and
reward project teams when they
achieve excellent results for their
customers and their organization.
(6) Develop project leadership
succession plans—Take the time
to develop project leaders at every
level of the organization. Prepare
appropriate professional develop
plans for all top rated project
managers.
Summary
In today’s world of increased
outsourcing and customers’ high
expections, there is a great need to
develop global project management
best practices. This article provides a
brief summary of many of the proven
effective tools, techniques, and prac-
tices to help projects meet or exceed
both the customers’ and suppliers’
requirements. As projects are becoming
increasingly complex, with the inte-
gration of multiple-parties involving
hardware, software, and professional
services all linked together—profes-
sional project management is vital to
achieving successful results in both
the public and private business
sectors. CM s CMBOK 1.4.6
Endnotes
1. James S. Pennypacker, Center for
Business Practices Survey Results, PM
Network Magazine, (Project Management
Institute, May 2003), 6–7.
2. Marissa Peterson, “Sun Microsystems—
Best Practices,” PM Network Magazine,
(Project Management Institute, January
2003), 24.
3. James S. Pennypacker and Kevin P.
Grant, “Project Management Maturity:
An Industry Benchmark,” Project
Management Journal (Project
Management Institute, March 2003),
4–11.
G L O B A L P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T : B E S T P R A C T I C E S
It is often said “experience is the best teacher,” and that people learn
more from their mistakes than their successes. This checklist should
help you avoid some of the most common problems that often result
in the failure of complex outsourced projects.
u Who needs roles and responsibilities?
u Begin work without a contract.
u Forget about project progress reports.
u Who needs acceptance criteria?
u Change team members frequently.
u Keep changing requirements.
u Don’t document anything.
u Hire the cheapest subcontractors.
u Select project team leader from whoever is available.
u Who needs a project plan—Just do it!
u Who needs executive support?
u Who cares about a supplier’s past performance?
u Who needs a business case?
u Promise the customer whatever he or she wants.
u Agree to whatever delivery schedule the customer wants.
u Forget about a project kick-off meeting.
u Agree to unlimited liquidated damages.
u Who needs performance-based requirements?
u Forget about earned value.
u Play the lie-and-blame game.
What Not to Do