Systems of information and the development of organisational project management competence

This paper reports on findings from an ongoing program of action research into the use of a project management information system (PMIS) in projects and programs in Australian public sector organisations. The paper consolidates learning from the researchers' 'lived experience' with change projects and programs in four public sector organisations where the PMIS has been used and their attempts to apply a soft systems thinking model to make sense of the complexities and ambiguities they were encountering. Learning acquired during this research was found to be relevant to project goal definition, communication and strategic alignment of projects. It has particular significance for how information systems can be used to support development of project management competence and delivery capability in organisational contexts where practitioners have a low level of previous exposure to project management concepts.