Freddy Duarte

Motivation for Studying IT Project Management

• In 2003, the average senior project manager in the U.S.
  earned almost $90,000 per year, and the average Project
  Management Office (PMO) Director earned more than
  the average Chief Information Officer (CIO) ($118,633 vs.
  $103,925).

• A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found that only
  16.2 percent of IT projects were successful
  in meeting scope, time, and cost goals.

• Over 31 percent of IT
  projects were canceled before completion
  (costing over $81 billion in the U.S.
  alone)

Advantages of Using Formal Project Management

• Better control of financial, physical, and human
  resources

• Improved customer relations

• Shorter development times

• Lower costs

• Higher quality and increased reliability

• Higher profit margins

• Improved productivity

• Better internal coordination

• Higher worker morale (less stress)

Top IT Skills

(Johnson, Carolyn, “2006
Midyear Staffing Updates,” CIO Research Reports, October 2,
2006)

1. Project management – 60%
2. Business process management – 55%
3. Business analysis – 53%
4. Application development – 52%
5. Database management – 49%
6. Security – 42%
7. Enterprise architect – 41%
8. Strategist/internal consultant – 40%
9. Systems analyst – 39%
10. Relationship management – 39%
11. Web services – 33%
12. Help desk/user support – 32%
13. Networking – 32%
14. Web site development – 30%
15. Q/A testing – 28%

Top 10 Most In-Demand IT Skills

(Paul Ziv, “The Top 10 IT Skills in Demand”, Global Knowledge
Webcats,
www.globalknowledge.com, November 20, 2002)

1. SQL Database Analyst $80,664
2. Oracle DB Analyst $87,144
3. C/C++ Programmer $95,829
4. Visual Basic Programmer $76,903
5. E-commerce/Java Developer $89,163
6. Windows NT/2000 Expert $80,639
7. Windows/Java Developer $93,785
8. Security Architect $86,881
9. Project Manager $95,719
10. Network Engineer $82,906

General Definitions

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create an unique
product, service, or result.

Moreover, a project:

• is temporary
• is developed using progressive elaboration
• involves uncertainty
• has an unique purpose
• receives direction from project sponsor

Project managers work with project sponsors,
project teams, and other people involved in
projects to meet project goals.

A
Program is a group of related
projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain
benefits and control not available from managing them
individually.

Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project
activities.

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

Triple Constraint

• Scope: what work will be done?
• Time: how long should it take?
• Cost: how much should it cost?

A successful project management means meeting all three goals and
satisfying the project’s sponsor.

Nine PM Knowledge Areas

Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop.

• 4 core
  knowledge areas lead to specific project
  objectives (scope, time, cost, and quality);

• 4
  facilitating
  knowledge areas are the means through
  which the project objectives are achieved (human
  resources, communication, risk, and procurement
  management);

• 1
  knowledge area (project
  integration management) affects and is affected by
  all of the other knowledge areas.

PM Tools and Techniques

• Project charters, scope statements, and WBS (scope);
• Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, critical chain
  scheduling (time);
• Cost estimates and earned value management (cost).

According to
Standish
Group’s CHAOS studies, there has been improvements in IT projects in the
past decade. These improvements are due to two major factors:

• Better tools to monitor/control progress;
• Better skilled project managers with better management processes.

Other critical project success factors include:

• Executive support
• User involvement
• Experienced project manager
• Clear business objectives
• Minimized scope
• Standard software infrastructure
• Firm basic requirements
• Formal methodology
• Reliable estimates
• Other: small milestones, proper planning, competent staff, ownership

What do the Winners do:

• Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and soft skills
• Develop streamlined project delivery process
• Measure project health using metrics, including customer satisfaction and
  return on investment (ROI)
• Use an integrated project management toolbox

15 Project Manager’s Job Functions

• Define scope of project
• Identify stakeholders, decision-makers and escalation procedures
• Develop task lists (WBS – Work Breakdown Structures)
• Estimate time requirements
• Develop initial PM flow chart;
• Identify required resources and budget
• Evaluate project requirements
• Identify/evaluate risks
• Prepare contingency plan
• Identify interdependencies
• Identify and track critical milestones
• Participate in project phase review
• Secure needed resources
• Manage the change control process
• Report project status

10 Most Important Skills and Competencies for Project Managers

1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent
5. Strong at building trust
6. Verbal communications
7. Strong at building teams
8. Conflict resolutions, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understands, balances priorities

Large projects: Leadership, relevant prior experience, planning, people
skills, verbal communication, and team building skills.

High risk projects: Risk management, expectation management,
leadership, people skills, and planning skills.

Very novel projects: Leadership, people skills, having vision and
goals, self confidence, expectations management, and listening skills.

Suggested Skills:

• Comfortable with change
• Deep understanding of industry dynamics
• Hard skills: product knowledge and knowing how to use various PM tools and
  techniques
• Soft skills: ability to work with various types of people

Most Significant Characteristics of Effective and
Ineffective Project Managers

Effective Project Managers	Ineffective Project Managers
Leadership by example Visionary Technically competent Decisive Good communicator Good motivator Stands up to upper management when necessary Supports team members Encourages new ideas	Sets bad example Not self-assured Lacks technical expertise Poor communicator Poor motivator

Project Management Office (PMO)

A PMO is an organizational group responsible for coordinating the project
management function throughout an organization.

Possible goals include:

• Collect, organize, and integrate project data for the entire
  organization >
• Develop
  and maintain templates for project
  documents
• Develop
  or coordinate training in various project management topics

• Develop
  and provide a formal career path for project managers

• Provide
  project management consulting
  services
• Provide
  a structure to house project managers while they are acting in those roles
  or are between projects

Summary

• As the number and complexity of projects continue to
  grow, it is becoming even more important to
  practice good project management
• A project has several attributes, such as being
  unique, temporary and developed incrementally

• A framework for project management includes project
  stakeholders, the nine knowledge areas, tools
  and techniques, and creating project portfolios
  to ensure enterprise success
• Successful project managers must possess and
  development many skills and lead their teams
  by example
• The project management profession continues to mature
  as more people become certified and more tools
  are created

Sources

Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Thompson
Course Technology, Kathy Schwalbe
http://www.infogoal.com/pmc/
http://project-management-software-review.toptenreviews.com/