Managing information systems 7th edition brow ch011

IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT GOALS• To deliver a quality system that meets the needs of the business, on schedule, and on budget • To achieve goals, tripleproject constraints need to be managed

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYTEMS

CHAPTER 11

IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT GOALS

• To deliver a quality system that meets the needs of the business,

on schedule, and on budget

• To achieve goals, tripleproject constraints need to be managed:

a change in one factor automatically changes at least one of the others

The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the

requirements of a particular project

Program Management:

A group of projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF IT

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI)

• An international organization that provides resources for and certifies project managers

• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide details standard project management practices

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI)

• Nine areas of PMI competency

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• New project requests are typically submitted using an organizational template

IT PROJECT PRIORITIZATION

Example of a categorization scheme to help prioritize projects

Source: Denis et al 2004

PROJECT MANAGEMENT ROLES

• All IT projects should have a project manager and a project sponsor

• Some projects also require a project champion for successful implementation

• Each role can be critical to the success of a project, especially for complex projects and/or those involving a significant investment

PROJECT MANAGER (PM)

• The project manager (PM) is responsible for planning and executing the project

• IT projects are typically lead by managers from the IS organization, but business managers sometimes are asked to lead projects – or there may be dual PMs for a project

• A PM needs to have project management skills, as well as technical skills and business knowledge

• Research has shown that the non-technical skills of the PM are also important

THE EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGER

Non Technical Skills

THE EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGER

• Important non-technical skills of the PM:

Figure 11.3

PROJECT SPONSOR ROLE

• Typically a business manager who “owns” the project (the sponsor paying for the project)

• Project Sponsor responsibilities:

- Fights for project approval

- Ensures project resources

- Funding

- Project team members

• It is therefore critical for the PM to maintain a strong relationship with the sponsor throughout the project

PROJECT SPONSOR

THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

Note: In this textbook, the Project Execution and Control phase includes

PROJECT INITIATION

• The main deliverable for this phase is the project charter

Project Charter: A document that describes a project’s objectives, scope, assumptions, and estimated

benefits

Project Charter: A document that describes a project’s objectives, scope, assumptions, and estimated

benefits

1 SCHEDULING

• First Scheduling step is generally a Work Breakdown analysis

Work Breakdown Structure: A basic management technique that systematically subdivides blocks of work

down to the level of detail at which the project will be controlled

• Once the project work is broken into tasks, time estimates are assigned to each task based on past experience

• It is important to consider task dependencies when creating the master schedule with project milestones

Top-down (parametric estimating)

- Used when not enough is known about the project to base costs on specific project tasks—

especially in Project Initiation phase

• Inexperienced PMs often make the following mistakes:

- Too optimistic in their cost estimates

- Leave components out of estimates

- Do not use a consistent methodology

2 BUDGETING

• Purposeful inaccurate estimations of the project budget are of two types, and can have adverse effects:

• Highballing (or budget padding)

- Overestimating project costs on purpose

- Projects may not be approved because of higher costs

• Lowballing

- Underestimating project costs on purpose

- Sometimes used to gain approval of projects,

but can result in a failed project due to being over budget

3 STAFFING

• Successful projects must have people resources with the right IT skills mix to meet the needs of the project

• An effective PM must be capable of estimating the skill type, proficiency level, quantity, and time required for

personnel needed to complete project tasks

- Some staff may require training for a specific project

future projects

• Special Incentives may also be required to retain key project team members for multi-year projects of high

impact

3 STAFFING

• One method of obtaining skilled professionals is to utilize outside contractors

- PMs must ensure that relevant knowledge is transferred from contractors to employees to ensure

independence from 3rd-party help after the project is completed

• The usage of contractors to support a project team can also increase project risks due to the uncertainty about

the contract workers’ expertise and working methods

PROJECT PLANNING

• Two primary deliverables from the Planning phase

- Statement of Work: A high level document for the customer that describes what the project will deliver and when

- Project Plan: A formal document that includes the projects schedule, budget, and assigned resources that is used by

the project manager to guide the execution and control of the project

• Two types of charts commonly accompany these documents:

- PERT (or CPM) chart

PROJECT PLANNING

• PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) or Critical Path Method (CPM)

PROJECT PLANNING

• Gantt Chart

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Most projects exhibit the following characteristics:

1. Risk and uncertainty are highest at the start of the project

2. The ability of the project stakeholders to influence the outcome is highest at the start of the project

3. Cost and staffing levels are lower at the start of the project and higher toward the end

•. The deliverable for this phase is the completed project

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Communication with stakeholders is critical

- Status reporting should be simple and clear

Figure 11.8 (Roman 1986)

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• A Request for Change process needs to be followed for requesting changes to the initial requirements:

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

probability, and time frame of occurrence

(present and future)

change requirements, change technologies)

Change the initial assessments (impact, probability, time frame) as relevant

formally plan for its occurrence (such as shifting the management of a risk to a party)

re-assess the risks and the effectiveness of the monitoring process

• Managing Project Risks

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Managing Project Risks

- Early warning signs of project failure include People- related and Process-related symptoms:

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Managing Project Risks

- The profile of the project risks changes over the phases

- The risks typically decrease as the organization’s stake in the project increases

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Three recommended Strategies to manage Project Risks

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Managing Business Change

- Strong Change Management as part of the IT project is required

if success of new system requires major changes within the business—work processes, new cross-unit dependencies, new skills that require training prior to implementation, etc

- The objective is to include a strong change management component in the project to minimize resistance to the

implementation and usage of a new system

Change Management: The ability to successfully introduce change to individuals and organizational units

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

Lewin/Schein Change Model

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

Kotter Change Model

1. Establish a sense of urgency

2. Form a powerful guiding coalition

3. Create a vision

4. Communicate the vision

5. Empower others to act on the vision

6. Plan for and create short-term wins

7. Consolidate improvements and produce still more change

8. Institutionalize new approaches

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL

• Managing Conflict

- PMs typically need to manage conflicts among project team members as well as with other stakeholders

- Five modes of conflict resolution (Kerzner 2006)

1. Confronting – a collaborative, problem-solving approach where both parties try for a win-win

3. Smoothing – minimizing the differences between the parties

4. Forcing – competing or dominant; one party goes all out to win

5. Avoiding – removal of one party from the conflict

PROJECT CLOSING

• Post-Project Reviews should be a part of the Project Closing

• Review process is designed to promote open sharing of “lessons learned” during the project to avoid same problems in the future:

• Typical questions as part of Project Review:

- What went right on this project?

- What went wrong on this project?

- What would you do differently on the next project, based on your experience with this project?

MANAGING COMPLEX IT PROJECTS

• Three critical success factors have been identified for effective management of large, complex projects:

1. The business vision was an integral part of the project

2. A testing approach was used at the program level (not just at the individual application level)

3. The projects used a phased-release approach (rather than a single-release rollout strategy)

• To manage complex projects, many organizations engage consulting firms to take advantage of their expertise performing similar projects in other firms, but this affects project costs

MANAGING COMPLEX IT PROJECTS

Characteristic of large, complex project  Increased Risk of Project Failure

cost for project coordination

organization before project completion

need to be made to accommodate unanticipated changes outside of the control of the project leader

• Project Size is related to Project Complexity and Risk of Failure

MANAGING COMPLEX IT PROJECTS

• Usage of People Resources off-site & offshore also can increase Project Complexity

MANAGING VIRTUAL TEAMS

• Virtual teams bring together individuals with expertise that cannot work together face-to-face

• Virtual teams for IT projects can introduce additional project risks due to:

- Differences in communication norms

- Unfamiliarity with a different culture

- Lack of trusting relationships across team members

Virtual Teams: Project teams that are geographically dispersed and communicating through information

technology

Virtual Teams: Project teams that are geographically dispersed and communicating through information

technology

MANAGING VIRTUAL TEAMS

• Strategies for managing Virtual Teams

Source: Kostner (1996)