Page 76 - Organizational Project Management

Appendix B—Evolution of the OPM3 Standard

led by Clarese Walker and Mila Bozic, to put the entire baseline network
through the rigor of this analysis. For almost two months, paired members
of this team analyzed and modified the directory content to assure suffi-
cient quality to present the Standard to beta testers.
At the same time, selected OPM3 members began assisting a technical
writer, Paul Wesman, with the task of actually describing the Model and the
concepts of OPM3. Professional writing expertise was needed for the pri-
mary writing and editing of the Standard, to ensure that the final product
would read smoothly and with one voice. For the first six months of 2003,
the team was heavily engaged in writing, rewriting, editing, and amending
the OPM3 text. As a result of these efforts and the efforts of the ERT, by
June of 2003, the OPM3 team was able to release a draft of OPM3 to beta
testers for its first complete test run.

B.11 BETA TESTING OF OPM3
Through the end of 2002 and throughout the first half of 2003, the Beta
Test Team, led by Tom Keuten, had worked to identify, qualify and select
a final list of organizations from industry willing to spend the time and
resources necessary to test the Model. These testers also had to be organi-
zations that had not participated in the development of OPM3. Beta testers
would test the Model's functionality and provide valuable feedback on how
to revise and improve the product. By mid-2003, as the narrative and direc-
tories were nearing completion, the Beta Test Team finalized its list of beta
testers, supported by mentoring teams.
During these beta tests, organizations reviewed the Standard and pro-
vided feedback to the program team. Beta testers then tried to plan
improvements within their organizations while using the steps of the OPM3
Cycle. Over twenty global companies of various sizes that are active in a
range of industries contributed to this testing effort. Survey responses and
comments from Beta testers were reviewed and adjudicated by the Filter
Team, led by Claudia Baca, and considered during the revision process.

B.12 THE HOME STRETCH
In the last months of the project, the Home Stretch Review Team (HST),
led by PMI Standards Project Specialist Lisa Kruszewski, navigated through
three separate rounds of testing by multiple groups, including beta testers,
the larger OPM3 community, subject matter experts, and PMI itself. Finally,
after several rounds of revisions and reviews, the team submitted the Model
on schedule to PMI for publication at the beginning of September 2003.

B.13 OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROFESSION
OPM3 will not only provide a springboard for further development in this
area, but will have an immediate impact by allowing companies to learn
about, assess, and ultimately improve their ability to achieve organizational
success through the use of project management. PMI looks forward to the

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