The first OMIMO Community Forum took place on 2024-10-24, to review the past, present, and future of OMIMO.
A recording of the whole program is available below:
Questions about OMIMO
The following are the questions asked during the Forum on LinkedIn and the teleconferencing application. Some of them were answered live, but we didn’t have time to answer them all. Regardless, all questions are here with answers.
Q01. There are mentions of the second management layer, the third management layer, and so on. What are those?
Those are the 5 levels of management defined in OMIMO’s project ecosystem that was explained in the presentations and is also available here: https://omimo.org/landscape/
Q02. Is there a plan to create a minimalist guide?
This question follows the idea that P3.express and micro.P3.express are roadmaps (methods) rather than advice (guide). Starting with a guide, such as the PMBOK® Guide, is not a good idea, and one has to first select and implement a method and then gradually use a guide to enrich it. The question here was whether OMIMO is going to create such a guide as well.
The main focus of OMIMO is on roadmaps (methods) and other elements that are essential to practitioners. So, even if OMIMO creates a guide, it will not be in the near future.
Moreover, a defining characteristic of OMIMO modules is that they are minimalist, whereas guides tend to be maximalist, which makes them less suitable for OMIMO.
Q03. While P3.express is a roadmap, I think the PMBOK® Guide would be more useful for construction projects. Is that right?
The new version of the PMBOK Guide is compatible with all types of projects, but the old versions lean more toward construction projects. This is something still visible in PMI’s structured project management processes that are now published separately from the PMBOK Guide.
The correct approach is to implement a roadmap (method) first, and then gradually use a guide to enrich it. For enriching P3.express in construction projects, the PMBOK Guide can be a good option.
Q04. The word “minimalist” sounds negative (e.g., low-cost). Why not a different word?
The common equivalents to “minimalist” in some languages may have a slightly negative connotation. For that reason, the contributors who have translated it to some languages have used a different word that, for example, more or less means “essentials-oriented” or “uncluttered”.
Q05. Why don’t you make NUPP a vertical module?
Making it a vertical module means that instead of being the “Nearly Universal Principles of Projects”, it would be the “nearly universal principles of projects, programs, and portfolios”. This idea has come up before and is something to consider for the next update of NUPP. As of now, no decision is made.
Q06. Would it be possible to have minimalist vertical modules? Because if they are no minimalist, they won’t belong to OMIMO.
We think it’s possible to have minimalist vertical modules (e.g., a straightforward decision-making framework), but we can’t be sure until we start working on them. Regardless, we will only do it if we can make it minimalist.
Q07. Will the vertical modules be similar to the horizontal ones, with the potential for teaching, standard slides, certificates, etc.?
Yes, the vertical modules will be offered with supporting elements similar to the horizontal ones. Most of them will have a methodological nature as well, in that they will provide a step-by-step approach rather than only advice.
Q08. I think micro.P3.express is very important but not well known. Do you have a strategy as OMIMO team to create better awareness?
OMIMO is not a commercial entity with a large advertisement budget. We spend a limited effort on raising awareness and leave the rest to the community and focus our energy on creating new modules. The current awareness that exists for the modules is nearly all because of the organic activities of the community.
Q09. How should one select between P3.express and Scrum?
The following can be the main reasons for selecting P3.express or micro.P3.express over Scrum:
- You want a system that covers all essential project management concerns rather than a subset of them
- You want a system that works well for all projects rather than just IT development
- You want a system that’s understandable not only for the technical team members, but also managers in your organization and the external customer
- You want to use a post-modern system that goes beyond the Agile/waterfall wars
Q10. Would it be possible to combine P3.express and Scrum?
It’s not a good idea because while Scrum doesn’t have a complete project management system, it still has some of its elements, and those can have conflicts with any project management system you want to implement. It’s best to move from Scrum to Kanban Development, eXtreme Programming, or another system that doesn’t have those project management elements, and then combine that system with P3.express (for larger projects) or micro.P3.express (for smaller projects).
Q11. Is P3.express compatible with the PMBOK Guide? Would it be possible to adopt P3.express in an organization that already uses the PMBOK Guide?
The ideal way is to implement P3.express or another roadmap (methodology) first, and then use the PMBOK Guide or another guide to enrich it.
If the organization is already familiar with the PMBOK Guide, they have probably created a partial method that incorporates ideas from the PMBOK Guide. In that case, they can replace that partial, implied method with P3.express.
In general, the PMBOK Guide is compatible with P3.express and most other roadmaps (methods).
Q12. What’s the difference between PMP and P3.express?
“PMP” is the name of a project management certification program, but P3.express is a project management method/framework/system. In that sense, these two cannot be compared. However, people who think about PMP probably think about the syllabus of the PMP exam, which includes the PMBOK Guide but is not limited to that.
The knowledge required for the PMP exam, is an encyclopedic type of knowledge and an extension of the true nature of the PMBOK Guide, which is a guide rather than a method. As explained in the PMBOK Guide, you must make sure you don’t mistake it for a methodology and have a methodology in addition to that. In fact, what you need first and foremost in a project is a roadmap/methodology. Then, you can use the information that the PMP exam targets and some of them are included in the PMBOK Guide to enrich your method.
Q13. I’m open to trying new methods, but our contracts always require PRINCE2! Any suggestions?
There are some people in such a situation who simply use P3.express and, when questioned or audited, frame it as a tailored form of PRINCE2, PMBOK Guide, or something else that they have in their contract. This is possible because, while different, these systems are not incompatible with each other.
Some practitioners have told us after hearing the answer to this question in the live program that their customers have unrealistic, impractical expectations from them that’s incompatible with P3.express or any other practical method. What they do is run their projects using P3.express behind the scenes, but they also produce the impractical artifacts that their customers want only to satisfy them without using the artifacts for managing their project.
Q14. Can P5.express be used to manage a portfolio of Scrum projects?
Yes. P5.express is modular, meaning that it can be used in combination with any modules, including those not coming from OMIMO. It’s designed carefully to be useful in environments that run projects using P3.express, micro.P3.express, PRINCE2®, DSDM®, Scrum, any other method, or even no method at all.
Being modular is one of the key values in OMIMO because it helps increase the freedom of users.
Q15. Do you have, or will you have, any methods for PMOs?
It’s been discussed before, and we may have such a module in the future. However, note that most resources include portfolio and program management elements in what they call a PMO, which obviously won’t be like that in OMIMO’s module. A well-formed PMO should be modular, without overlap with other standard modules or layers of management.
Q16. All these modules are about projects, programs, and portfolios. However, they won’t be successful without proper “operations”. So, why don’t you work on creating methods for operations?
There are many elements involved in value creation, and many of them are outside the project ecosystem (the 5 levels of management, including project, program, and portfolio management). OMIMO cannot cover all of them, but we will focus on what we can do best, and hope that other people would cover the remaining areas.
Q17. Is P3.express Agile, waterfall, or hybrid?
P3.express is designed carefully to be compatible with both adaptive (Agile) and predictive (waterfall) development methods. Note that the cycles you see in P3.express and other OMIMO modules are an iterative approach to management, which doesn’t necessitate an iterative approach to the development of the product. The project’s product in P3.express or micro.P3.express can be created either iteratively and incrementally, or linearly. There’s no universally better approach, and the suitable one depends on the type of product, which is why P3.express and micro.P3.express support both of them.
Q18. How can P3.express methodology help a project manager in projects with high uncertainty?
Projects have a natural minimum level of uncertainty. However, when projects are run on an ad hoc basis, without structured management, they become more uncertain. So, the first way P3.express helps with uncertainties is by providing a structured project management system that people can actually use. That way, it reduces the amount of unnecessary uncertainties in the project.
The second way P3.express helps is with the natural minimum level of uncertainty in projects. The way it helps is by providing a practical, easy-to-use risk management system. This system is special because of the way it integrates the management of risks with changes, issues, improvement plans, and lessons learned.
The final key way P3.express helps is by providing an organic knowledge management system that’s implied among other activities and doesn’t consume extra energy. When such a system is in place in an organization, new projects become a little more predictive and less uncertain.
Q19. I’d like to volunteer and _____. What should I do?
Please contact info@omimo.org to discuss any ideas you have or to offer help.
It’s also a good idea to subscribe to the announcements to receive the invitations to help: https://eepurl.com/b9w8rj
Q20. Do you see any future for P3.express fiction?
The Artophile Center project simulator is an example of fiction. Other than that, there’s been two fiction books by Alexei Kuvshinnikov about P3.express that we know of. Others may write more fiction in the future. For the feedback, users have liked Artophile a lot and seems that it’s been a successful educational element.
Q21. Will OMIMO develop minimalist project management software?
We’ve done experiments before, but in general, we don’t want to enter software development as it would spread us too thin. Instead, we prefer to help software developers adapt their software to be more helpful for OMIMO modules.
Q22. Will you partner with or recommend software compatible with OMIMO values?
We won’t partner with a single software provider, but collaborate with multiple providers and recommend multiple options.
Q23. Given that P3.express is co-funded by the European Commission and PM² also belongs to the European Commission, is there a plan to merge these two into one?
No, because the community needs more options rather than fewer. Having “one system to rule them all” is a violation of human freedom, which is a core value in OMIMO.
Q24. We’ve experienced serious problems with major project management institutes in the past couple of years. How do we know we can trust OMIMO to stay open and nice in the future and won’t become a monster after gaining traction?
Instead of just saying the P3.express and other OMIMO modules are non-proprietary, they are provided with a professionally created license that covers all concerns. This license is created by a non-profit organization called Creative Commons.
A key aspect of the Creative Commons licenses is that the rights they give to the users cannot be legally removed in the future. That gives a guarantee to the users that those rights and freedoms are not temporary marketing gimmicks and will always be there.
Other questions
There were 3 presentations from open source software projects during the forum. These were by NextCloud, XWiki, and OpenProject. The questions below are what participants asked about those on LinkedIn or the teleconferencing application. We’ve indicated which answers are from OMIMO and which ones from NextCloud, XWiki, or OpenProject.
Note that these 3 projects are presented as examples of good products available to the project managers, and there’s no official partnership or affiliation between them and OMIMO: None of us should be held liable for the products and services of the others.
Are OpenProject, NextCloud, and XWiki safe?
OMIMO:
These are all open source software, and an advantage of open source is that how they work is not hidden and can be audited by anyone who’s technical enough. Usually, when open source software has a security vulnerability, people in the community find and report it, and the project fixes it. Because of that, when everything else is the same, open source software is probably more secure.
Besides the impact of being open source, these three open source software are used by important organizations and even some governmental agencies as well, which can be considered an indication of their reliability.
Is NextCloud considering the development of a Confluence-like platform?
Will be answered soon.
Will there be AI features in NextCloud?
OMIMO:
This question was probably asked at the beginning of the NextCloud presentation because they introduced their new AI features toward the end of the presentation.
What you explained seems interesting. I think I understand some of the key advantages of using NextCloud. However, anything has both advantages and disadvantages; what are the disadvantages of using NextCloud?
Will be answered soon.
I like to convince my manager to switch to NextCloud, but I’m sure he will resist. What do you think is the best way to convince him?
Will be answered soon.
P3.express recommends using mind maps for the Deliverables Map. Does NextCloud have mind maps?
OMIMO:
Yes, there are a few mind mapping apps you can enable and use in NextCloud.
Is XWiki a good option for creating a one-time knowledge base and making it available to everyone, or is it mainly for pages that are created collaboratively and edited frequently?
OMIMO:
All wikis are designed to facilitate collaboratively created content, like Wikipedia. When the content is created once and shared, there’s no real need to use a wiki. However, if you already have a wiki and use it for collaborative content and then happen to have some content that’s written once without much collaboration, it makes sense to use the same wiki to publish that content as well.
Does XWiki make pages available in the organization’s intranet or on the public Internet?
Will be answered soon.
I understand that XWiki is about knowledge management. It’s good to have a tool for knowledge management, but, how about the method? Is there any knowledge management method you would recommend?
OMIMO:
Horizontal OMIMO modules such as P3.express don’t mention “knowledge management”, but they have a practical, effective knowledge management concept embedded. That can be a good approach to follow with XWiki or any other knowledge management tool.
Moreover, one of the suggestions in the Forum’s brainstorming was to create a vertical module about knowledge management across projects, programs, and portfolios.
Is it a good idea to use XWiki to store the lessons learned in a P3.express project? Is it compatible with the lesson collection process in P3.express? Is it possible to customize XWiki to be used as the Follow-Up Register of P3.express?
OMIMO:
An important element for a Follow-Up Register is to have a visible state for each element and be able to change it as the element evolves. As such, the most straightforward option for a Follow-Up Register is a flow board (aka Kanban board). The lessons that are collected organically in the Follow-Up Registers of all ongoing projects can be reviewed frequently by a PMO or another team outside individual projects, and compiled into a unified knowledge base. A wiki such as XWiki is a good option for that knowledge base.
Another good use for a wiki is to document your P3.express method in it and gradually add information relevant to your organization to it.
Is OpenProject mainly created for IT projects or can we use it in construction projects as well?
Will be answered soon.
Is there a custom version of OpenProject for projects that use P3.express?
OMIMO:
The main customization that can be helpful to P3.express projects is terminology. As was mentioned in the presentation, OpenProject doesn’t have a templating feature to support that type of customization yet.
Regardless, OMIMO and OpenProject may work together to prepare a practical guide on how to set up and use OpenProject in P3.express and micro.P3.express projects.
If a large organization needs special features, can they provide the funding for developing those features with high priority?
Will be answered soon.
How much of the P3.express process is supported by OpenProject? Is it enough for running a P3.express project, or are other software needed in parallel?
OMIMO:
We don’t recommend trying to find a single application or platform that offers everything. Moreover, don’t try to do everything with software, as some aspects of project management are simple enough to be done manually, and adding them to the software may just make everything more complicated or superficial.
Having that said, OpenProject offers many of the communication and information management needs that you may have, plus features for creating simple schedules. For the remaining features, you can either do them outside OpenProject or sometimes connect another piece of software to it.
What are your plans for the future?
Will be answered soon.
The main reason we selected P3.express as our methodology was that it’s minimalist. However, most software seems to be maximalist. Do you consider OpenProject minimalist or maximalist?
OMIMO:
In the minimalist/maximalist spectrum, OpenProject won’t be the most maximalist solution, but it can’t be considered minimalist either. Note that not everything has to be minimalist in the ecosystem; we believe that it’s essential for the roadmap/method to be minimalist, but we would rather not make it a universal statement about other things as well.
How long does it take one to learn OpenProject and use it in their projects? Are there books or courses about it?
Will be answered soon.