Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has an office to support and provide consulting on project management best practices, tools and processes for projects across the Medical Center.
In collaboration with divisions and Project Management Offices (PMOs) throughout VUMC, the Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) assists with creating and structuring new enterprise programs, provides project management consultation and training and serves as a centralized source for owning and disseminating key program management processes and methodologies.
“At any phase of any given project, we’re here to support,” said Anne Marie Turner, director of EPMO. “From inception to implementation, we’re here to help put together the structure and to provide ongoing consulting and assistance throughout the complete life cycle of the project or program.”
The EPMO also implements and supports VUMC’s enterprise project management software, Planview. This software is currently tracking more than 600 active projects throughout the Medical Center, inclusive of the IT projects. The EPMO team is currently introducing Planview to several groups who have expressed interest: Human Resources, the Finance Systems group, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Telemedicine, Space and Facilities Planning, Operations Improvement, Nursing Support Services and Population Health.
This Planview onboarding process includes a software demonstration, training, project entry workshops and the development of customized project management guides and reports.
“Our office provides guidance and an abundance of tools and templates,” said Adrianne Hiltz, a senior project manager, consultant and trainer for EPMO. “We are able to customize project plan templates in Planview based on varying project manager and department reporting needs.”
Planview also has the ability to link projects and programs dependent on each other to reduce redundancy and enable an enterprise view of projects across the Medical Center.
“I see what we do as providing a better road map for project planning so you can move from a reactive ‘putting-out-fires’ approach to an enterprise strategy of focusing on results and achieving our pillar goals,” Hiltz said.
“We provide more detail for those who want it, and more support options for those who want to take a deeper dive into project management.”
The EPMO will also be offering a full suite of project management training based on various skill and interest levels. The scope of the curriculum was determined through a needs assessment distributed to more than 1,000 employees with project management responsibilities across VUMC. The VUMC Project Management course offerings will be available through the Learning Exchange (VUMC’s learning management system) in April.
For more information about the EPMO and to access the full suite of tools, templates, terms, Planview job aids and training information, please visit the EPMO website.
