About

Context

Standardization contributes to many aspects of our lives, although often that contribution goes unnoticed. For example, management standards, such as the ISO 9000 family, establish a common ground perspective that enlarges companies’ markets and boosts their international reach, technological development, and innovation, while supporting continuous quality improvement in products and services both at a national and international level.

Notwithstanding the recognized relevance of some management standards, little is known about the impact of adopting project management standards et al. (e.g., ISO 21500 family) on the organizations’ performance regarding, for instance, quality, safety, efficiency, or interoperability.

Furthermore, the high number of extant standards, guides, frameworks, methodologies, and other documents, makes it difficult for practitioners to be aware of all of them and select the right ones according to their organizations' or projects' characteristics.

This hinders the standards’ dissemination and potential use, and unnecessarily delays its revision and further development. The knowledge gap and the need to address the lack of relevant and timely information regarding adopting management standards et al. are strong motivations for more research and development. 

Mission & Objectives

The Observatory of Project, Program, Portfolio, and PMO Standards et al. (Observatory4PS) is a worldwide pioneering initiative resulting from the partnership between NOVA SCT and the University of Minho (for details, see Tenera & Varajão (2022)). 

The Observatory4PS has two main objectives: 1) provide rich information on project, program, portfolio, and PMO standards et al., and 2) develop an in-depth study on the effective use of national and international (such as ISO) standards et al.

The Observatory4PS aims to catalyze standards et al. adoption and development by providing a comprehensive understanding of their adoption and impact. Committed to applied research and interdisciplinary collaboration, the observatory seeks to establish itself as a reference space, providing essential information and guidelines for the successful and sustainable adoption of standards.

The Observatory4PS project is structured in four main phases: 1) Theoretical foundation; 2) Creation of a framework for organizing project, program, portfolio, and PMO standards et al. (including guides, frameworks, and methodologies, among others); 3) Characterization of the adoption and impact of standards et al. in organizations; 4) Dissemination of results.

🚧🚩The third phase of the project is currently underway.