In a meeting with a prospective client this week, I was asked about the advantages of hiring in Project Management talent in the same way that many other elements of an organisation’s IT estate are now bought in “as a Service”.

1. STONESSED BLOG|NINE BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
In a meeting with a prospective client this week, I was asked
about the advantages of hiring in Project Management
talent in the same way that many other elements of an
organisation’s IT estate are now bought in “as a Service”.
Before I answered, I asked what he thought good service
looked like.
As we talked and compared our answers it became clear
that the lists were entirely compatible, his idea of what he
wanted from a service matched my idea of what a Project
Management Partner could and should deliver.
Here’s a summary of our discussion - both of the client’s Utopia (in bold) and what a potential
provider can offer. You’ll see how they dovetail.
1 - Skills | You can access talent with the specialist knowledge to manage your particular project.
Many projects fail or do not realise their full potential because the Project Manager (PM) in charge is
ill equipped or inexperienced (more on this later). At first glance, it makes sense that a PM sitting
idle earning a salary should be given a project that needs managing – but if for example, your PM is
lacking the key skills needed for the project, what made sense on paper, can soon become a
calamitous disaster.
2 - Tenacity | By hiring in you get managers who can’t afford an off day – they want to get in, get the
gold and get out ... onto the next project – that makes commercial sense for you and them – but
they don’t cut corners, because their next job depends on the reference that you give them.
3 - Openness | Hiring in Project Management talent that doesn’t rely exclusively upon you for their
income, means that they are often more open and transparent. Suddenly risks that previously might
have been brushed under the carpet and hidden, now have a bright light shone upon them. Being
employed in this way promotes transparency and a focus on results that just doesn’t exist with
comfortable, contracted, salaried staff.
4 - New ideas | You get to tap into a greater pool of ideas and ways of thinking. Your salaried Project
Managers spend all their time working in your company. Imagine if you could send them out on loan
to other companies or even industries – picture the new ideas that they might come back with.
Hiring talent who spend their whole time elsewhere gives you this! Ideas that have worked
previously, honed and filtered for success – at your disposal.
5 - Experience | If your in-house PM is not suitably experienced for the scale of your project, vital
potential gains can be lost throughout the project’s lifecycle. Often they are subtle leaks too, so you
don’t notice until project deadline day ... but even subtle leakages can add up to form huge losses in
terms of budgets and time milestones missed.
6 - Scope and Space | One of the complaints I often hear from Projects Managers is that a lack of
time is sapping their ability to deliver. Especially since the economic downturn, most business
environments are operating with fewer resources across the board, in your PMO this can manifest
itself in dull but important administrative tasks being overlooked and focus being thinned. Hiring in

2. Project Management as a Service can help increase capacity, both in short term panic management,
but even more so as part of your long term strategy – without increasing your headcount.
7 - Efficiency (Cost Effectiveness & Productivity)| You only pay for what you use. Find a resource
model that you turn up and down, depending upon your needs – no long term commitments or
need to increase your headcount. You get to tap into expertise and experience when you need it.
And when you no longer need it – it isn’t sat on the bench burning a hole in your payroll. Larger scale
projects require more experienced Project Managers, of course they don’t come cheap and having
such talent on your in-house books but idle (between projects) can significantly impact on the
overall cost effectiveness of your PMO.
Plus as we’ve already touched upon, there is greater incentive for talent working this way to deliver
on-time (or early) – successful projects look good on the CV.
8 - Elasticity |Hire the talent that you need, when you need it, for exactly the length of time you
require, and when the project finishes you have no long term commitment, no extended overheads.
Perfect! And what you do have is a tap that can be turned on again when you need it. It is the
ultimate flexible and agile Project Management solution.
9 – New Diverse Talent Solutions | By hiring in specific project management talent for specific
business challenges you tap into a different address book each time. The PM you hire will have
successful relationships and be connected with other project management professionals who can
offer different services, paradigms, experience and expertise. Your partner will have talent solutions
for projects beyond the one that you initially hire them for. Remember any recommendation
reflects on the referee and their reputation, so you can be sure that your contact will only
recommend the best.
I have yet to encounter a Project Management opportunity that would not benefit from accessing
Project Management talent, in the way that you are now used to accessing other IT elements,
Platform, Software, Infrastructure, etc. as a Service.
Not just for the reasons listed here but for a whole range of others that will be specific to your
business case, project or industry sector – it’s worth considering for future projects.
Further details of how Stoneseed’s services can help, can be found on our website
http://www.stoneseed.co.uk/services/project-management-as-a-service