MPS Helps Points of Light with Project Management Framework

 “I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good,”  declared President George H.W. Bush, in his 1989 inaugural address. Almost 30 years later, as the world mourned his passing, MPS consultants were hard at work helping Points of Light (POL),  the organization he founded, and the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, establish a project management framework.

When MPS President and CEO, Kendall Lott, with consultants Cathy Garlesky and Sofia Crutchfield, came on board, in October of 2018, the team at POL was engaged and ready to get on the same page at an organizational level. They understood the value of an established project management framework, and wanted MPS’ help getting it done right.

The MPS consultants gave POL guidance and direction around project management tools and practices, producing in-depth yet digestible written content to serve as a reference library. The MPS team sought to meet the clients where they were in the project management space. They conducted numerous stakeholder interviews to clearly define POL’s needs, and create effective and consumable guidance to meet those needs.

POL’s goal was to have a baseline of understanding of project management principles. As project management experts, the MPS team looked to provide that baseline so that POL could continue working as separate and specialized teams, but speak the same language when they started cross-functional projects. The MPS team provided specialized information to guide the implementation of the online project management tool, Asana.

Upon completion of this project in December, the different teams within POL now have access to the tools necessary to set up projects in a uniform fashion, using the same documentation, and with the Asana tool to collaborate. This tool is useful for assigning actions with a clear owner and due date, as well as for visualizing and managing complex timelines.

As people everywhere honored the late President Bush, both the MPS and POL teams were thinking of the spirit and immensity of POL’s work. We trust that MPS’ efforts to enhance Points of Light’s project management capabilities will serve them well in their mission.