CARICOM - Delivering Successful Projects Consistently and Predictably
OPM Experts LLC dramatically transformed CARICOM's project success rate, elevating it from 45% to industry-leading standards. Through a comprehensive assessment of CARICOM's operations, strategies, and stakeholder relationships across Caribbean nations, OPM Experts delivered a strategic roadmap that revolutionized governance structures, processes, and project implementations for the region. Our transformative approach enhanced the economic integration and social development of the Caribbean Community.
“OPM Experts LLC is a project management consultancy that brings considerable experience and expertise to its assignments. My organization was very pleased and satisfied with their astute business acumen and considerable depth of knowledge on project management maturity models. Within a short time of undertaking the assignment they were fully seized of our business practices as an Inter-Governmental organization which implements projects in a very a complex and dynamic environment. The analysis was thorough and recommendations insightful. Without hesitation I would recommend OPM Experts to everyone who wishes to undertake an in-depth analysis of their organization’s project management maturity.”
CARICOM video.
Challenge
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organization of fifteen Caribbean nations and dependencies whose main objective is to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy. Article 25 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas provides the raison d’être of the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community. More specifically, paragraphs ‘e’ and ‘f’ of Article 25 mandate that the Secretariat shall assist the Community Organs in the development and implementation of programs and coordinate the activities of donor agencies and international organizations. To this end, the Secretariat mobilizes resources and technical assistance for various regional programs from donor agencies and international institutions. When CARICOM engaged OPM Experts, only 45% of the Secretariat’s projects were implemented successfully. This was considerably below the target expected by donors. Moreover, the poor rate of successful implementations was impacting the staff’s self-esteem and morale.
Solution
We analyzed CARICOM’s stakeholders: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Colombia, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, and Venezuela. We helped CARICOM understand how its strategies are implemented through projects. We performed an assessment of CARICOM, its partners, and suppliers. We analyzed governance structures, processes, and behaviors. Then we produced a comprehensive report with recommendations and developed a roadmap for CARICOM’s transformation.
Results
Our assessment and recommendations helped CARICOM make regional projects more reliable building blocks to craft the social development and economic integration of the Caribbean Community, visibly enacting Article 6 of the Revised Treaty. The Secretariat adopted a portfolio structure to mirror the Councils of the Community, i.e Trade and Economic Integration, Foreign and Community Relations, and Human and Social Development. Each portfolio was composed of a set of programs that collectively enacted the portfolio. The programs contained related projects managed as a whole to produce desired benefits for the region.