Project Management is an umbrella term for effectively handling project resources and applying the best practices learned over he period of time. Doing the basics right is the mantra. Management is just not about planning, it is more about executing the planned Plan. Let us revisit the key facets of IT project management here ‐
1.Project starts with a contract or charter with the client. If possible, managers should have visibility into the contract, so that they can better plan out the downstream activities. T&M and Fixed Bid are two common flavors of contract, both have different client expectations and suppliers involvement.
2.Project’s nature should be taken into account to formulate the implementation strategy. If required, implementation processes should be tailored as per the project’s needs, to deliver in the most efficient way.
3.Project execution strategy could be sequential or iterative, which has to be decided during the initiation phase. Project’s nature, scope and team’s capabilities are the factors which could influence the decision. The most prevalent methodologies are Waterfall and Agile.
4.Knowing the historical information of the past similar projects provides a great deal of insight into the various aspects of prject including estimations, risks, and team composition.
5.Managers should take appropriate inputs from the teams regarding the things she / he is planning. Though manager is solely accountable for planning, taking valuable inputs from the team and involving them with some planning activities makes the team more responsible and commtted. This also helps in building the team bonhomie.
6.The triple constraints (time, cost, quality) have a major impact on the project’s success. Out of the three components, quality of work is of paramount importance as cost and time constraints can be negotiated but quality is compromised very rarey. In a way, management is about delivering the quality at a particular cost and time. To ensure quality deliveries proactive measures should be taken, like Defect Prevention activities, Reviews and Trainings.
7.Scope creep has to be regularly monitored and controlled. Change Requests related to scope have to be evaluated for their impact on the other project constraints and should be communicted to all the concerned stakeholders. Most of the projects go hay wire because of scope creep and unaccounted change requests.
8.Risk Management is an iterative process and should be done regularly. Managers should be discussing risks in every team meeting and get latest inputs from the team.
1.Project starts with a contract or charter with the client. If possible, managers should have visibility into the contract, so that they can better plan out the downstream activities. T&M and Fixed Bid are two common flavors of contract, both have different client expectations and suppliers involvement.
2.Project’s nature should be taken into account to formulate the implementation strategy. If required, implementation processes should be tailored as per the project’s needs, to deliver in the most efficient way.
3.Project execution strategy could be sequential or iterative, which has to be decided during the initiation phase. Project’s nature, scope and team’s capabilities are the factors which could influence the decision. The most prevalent methodologies are Waterfall and Agile.
4.Knowing the historical information of the past similar projects provides a great deal of insight into the various aspects of prject including estimations, risks, and team composition.
5.Managers should take appropriate inputs from the teams regarding the things she / he is planning. Though manager is solely accountable for planning, taking valuable inputs from the team and involving them with some planning activities makes the team more responsible and commtted. This also helps in building the team bonhomie.
6.The triple constraints (time, cost, quality) have a major impact on the project’s success. Out of the three components, quality of work is of paramount importance as cost and time constraints can be negotiated but quality is compromised very rarey. In a way, management is about delivering the quality at a particular cost and time. To ensure quality deliveries proactive measures should be taken, like Defect Prevention activities, Reviews and Trainings.
7.Scope creep has to be regularly monitored and controlled. Change Requests related to scope have to be evaluated for their impact on the other project constraints and should be communicted to all the concerned stakeholders. Most of the projects go hay wire because of scope creep and unaccounted change requests.
8.Risk Management is an iterative process and should be done regularly. Managers should be discussing risks in every team meeting and get latest inputs from the team.
