Reference no: EM132236177

Comau, a Fiat group member, forms a “project management family” to keep project communications in control. Part of Italian industrial giant Fiat Group, the company Comau has 11,000 employees working in 19 locations of 15 countries around the globe. Challenge In the modern age of globalization, the business world knows no borders. What happens in Italy isn’t always what happens in Brazil, India, or China. These differences among different geographical locations and the lack of real-time transparency posed huge communications-related challenges for Comau. Solution To improve the status quo, not only did Comau create a Project Management Office (PMO) at the corporate level to work with all regional PMOs to foster knowledge transfer between locations around the world, but they also formed a “project management family,” a group that included all project, program, and portfolio managers as well as people they typically worked closely with, such as project controllers and planners. The group holds yearly meetings and exchanges information, know-how, and lessons learned through a dedicated portal. “Whether it’s France or India, our project management family now shares a common language and common processes,” says Valerio Crovasce, PMP, the corporate PMO manager at Comau, Grugliasco, Italy. Results Various assessments and survey results have not only indicated significant improvements in global communications for Comau, but also they have identified the remaining weaknesses. Comau continues to use this data to make ongoing improvements. Note: This case study is based on V. Crovasce’s article “Common Ground,” which appeared in the January 2010 issue of PM Network. Case Study Questions 1. Discuss the concept of “project management family” within the context of this case. 2. What did Comau do to control project communications? 3. What are the lessons learned from this case?