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need help with ITC4760, IT Evaluation & Implementation I, Unit I Assessment
Question 11
Compare and contrast the skills needed by the project manager and the IT project manager.
Your essay should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.
Question 12
What is the relationship between projects and programs? Provide an example of an IT program and some examples of the projects that would be in it.
Your essay should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.
2
Ct1apter 1
Anne Roberts, the Ilirector of the Project Management l lffice for a large retail chai
1
1
, stood were anxious to he~tr about the company’s new stratcgl•’s. , pronwted me to this position as Director of the Project rvianagement Office two years ago. smarter to decide what projects will most benefit the company, how we can continue we’ll continue to be a world-class corporation.” Many people and org:mizations today have a new-or 1 enewed-interest in project manage- nc”c’. Compute< lwtd""''· ,o!twa strate the significance: of project managemcnr in tod;J ·:'” society, especially for projects • Total g!t1bal spending on technol,)gy g,001 J·, ser\’ices. ~md staff was pi:ojected growth. 1 ‘
• In the U.S. the size of the IT workforce topped 4 million workers for the firs t
time in 2008. Unemployment rates in many information technology occupa- • In 2007 the total compensation for the average senior project manager in 5 in the United States, 8133,718 in Australia, and 9 in the United Kingdom. The average total compensation for a Project 19
countries. 3
• The number of people earning their Project Management Professional (PMP) • A research report showed that the U.S. spends $2.3 trillion on projects every 25 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Today’s companies, governments, and nonprofit organizations arc recognizing that to In 1995, the Standish Group published an often-quoted study entitled “The CHAOS continued
3 Introduction to P~oject Manaqement 4 5
In a more recent study, PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed 200 companies from 30 dif- targets for scope, time, and cost goals for all types of project. Although several researchers question the methodology of such studies, their popularity • Better control of financial, physical, and human resources
Chapter 1
• Improved customer relations • Higher profit margins • Higher worker morale into programs and portfolio management, discusses the role of the project manager, and on applying project management to information technology projects.
To discuss project management, it is important to understand the concept of a project. 7
Operations, on the other hand, is work done in organizations to sustain the busi-
ness. Projects are different from operations in that they end when their objectives have
been reached or the project has been terminated.
Examples of Information Technology Projects result. Examples of information technology projects include the following:
• A technician replaces ten laptops for a small department application for the finance department
• A college campus upgrades its technology infrastructure to provide wireless • A cross-functional taskforce in a company decides what Voice-over-Internet- • A company develops a new system to increase sales force productivity and cus- management
• A television network implements a system to allow viewers to vote for contest- • The automobile industry develops a Web site to streamline procurement standards for environmentally friendly or green IT
Gartner, Inc., a prestigious consulting firm, identified the top ten strategic technologies • Green IT: Simply defined, green IT or green computing involves developing • Unified communications: The majority of organizations are expected to • Business process modeling: Enterprise and process architects, senior develo- • Virtualization 2.0: Virtualization hides the physical characteristics of comput- • Social software: Most students and professionals today use online social net- 8
. As you can see, a wide variety of projects use information technologies, and organiza- lntr …….. r-1• ,…..,.+:~-.a.- r–. -~ ·
5 Project Attributes a project further:
• A pn~jcct has a unique purpose. Every project should have a well-defined product, service, or result. ln the information technology collaboration project, Anne might form a team • A project is developed usin.R progressive elaboration. Projects are often the inputs. 7 Introduction to Project Management 8 improve direct product sales using the Internet, he or she might be the project • A project involves uncertainty. Because every project is unique, it is some- An effective project manager is crucial to a project’s success. Project managers work The Triple Constraint
Every project is constrained in different ways by its scope, time, and cost goals. These lim- •
• Scope: What work will be done as part of the project? What unique product, Figure 1-1 illustrates the three dimensions of the triple constraint. Each area-scope, Managing the triple constraint involves making trade-offs between scope, time, and cost Successful project FIGURE 1-1 The triple constraint of project management
scope and time goals. Alternatively, you might have to reduce the scope of a project to meet For example, to generate project ideas, suppose the project manager for the informa- Although the triple constraint describes how the basic elements of a project-scope, Introduction to Project MananF>m<>n+
9 1 0
satisfaction, must be inherent in setting the scope, time, and cost goals of a project. A proj- out the project to make sure the project meets his or her expectations. but lose sight of quality or customer satisfaction? The answer is good project management,
which includes more than meeting the triple constraint.
Chapter 1 Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to proj- project activities. elements of this framework include the project stakeholders, project management knowl- projects to the enterprise.
Project Stakeholders Stakeholders’
needs and 9 Knowledge areas \ \ Tools and Cost Quality Scope 11me management management management
Human management Project integration management
Communications Risk Procurement
management management management Facilitating functions
o~ X.–%
FIGURE 1-2 Project management framework
Project portfolio
Project 1 t opponents of the project. These stakeholders often have very different needs and expecta- • The project sponsors would be the potential new homeowners. They would • The project manager in this example would normally be the general contractor • The project team for building the house would include several construction • Support staff might include the buyers’ employers, the general contractor’s • Building a house requires many suppliers. The suppliers would provide the • There may or may not be opponents of a project. In this example, there might As you can see from this example, there are many different stakeholders on projects, lntl'”r.nlo ,,…… … ; ………. ,._ 1″‘”\.
11
12
Chapter 1 good relationships with project stakeholders to understand and meet their needs and Project Management Knowledge Areas • Project scope management involves defining and managing all the work • Project time management includes estimating how long it will take to complete • Project cost management consists of preparing and managing the budget for • Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or The four facilitating knowledge areas of project management are human resource, com- • Project human resource management is concerned with making effective use • Project communications management involves generating, collecting, dissemi- • Project risk management includes identifying, analyzing, and responding to • Project procurement management involves acquiring or procuring goods and Project integration management, the ninth knowledge area, is an overarching function Project Management Tools and Techniques TABLE 1-1 Integration management
Scope management
Time management
Cost management
Quality management
Human resource management
Communications Risk management
Procurement management
Project selection methods, project management Scope statements, work breakdown structures, Gantt charts, project network diagrams, critical Net present value, return on investment, payback Quality metrics, checklists, quality control charts, Motivation techniques, empathic listening, respon- Communications management plans, kick-off Risk management plans, risk registers, probability/ Make-or-buy analyses, contracts, requests for pro- A 2006 survey of 753 project and program managers was conducted to rate several 1.-.+ …… …J. ,_ …. :_ …._
13 14
improving project success. These super tools included software for task scheduling (such 12 effective in different situations. It is crucial for project managers and their team members
to determine which tools will be most useful for their particular projects.
Chapter 1 Follow-up studies by the Standish Group (see the previously quoted CHAOS study in the technology projects in the past decade: in 1994 to 35 percent in 2006. in 2006. billion and $250 billion, respectively), but the amount of money wasted on chal- $140 billion in 1994Y bad news is that it is still very difficult to lead successful IT projects. “The reasons for the there are processes is significant in itsel£.” Despite its advantages, project management is not a silver bullet that guarantees suc- to learn from the mistakes and successes of others.
Project Success $300,000:
1.
The project met scope, time, and cost goals. If all 500 computers were successful project based on this criterion. The Standish Group studies used 2. The project satisfied the customer/sponsor. Even if the project met initial 3. The results of the pn~iect met its main objective, such as malzin.{; or saving a Why do some IT projects succeed and others fail? Table 1-2 summarizes the results of C .S. With those in other countries. A 2004 studv summarizes the results of a survcv of r! 7 _information systems project practitioners i.n mainland China. One of the stud;,’s key h lik competent team members is less important in China than in the U.S. The Chinese, ProJect rn g . . 1.s ana eras Vital to proJect success.
15
Introduction to Project Management
16
Chapter 1 TABLE 1-2 What helps projects succeed?
1. Executive support
2. User involvement
3. Experienced project manager
4. Clear business objectives
5. Minimized scope
6. Standard software infrastructure
7. Firm basic requirements
8. Formal methodology
9. Reliable estimates
10. Other criteria, such as small milestones, proper planning, competent staff,
and ownership
The Standish Group, “Extreme CHAOS,” (20()1).
It is also important to look beyond individual project success rates and focus on 1 how best practices. The winners:
1. Use an integrated toolbox. Companies that consistently succeed in malloaging to deliver positive results. referred to as project leaders-are crucial to project success. They also 1 know opportunities, training, and mentoring. examined every step in the project delivery process, analyzed t1uctuatio0 ns in parts of the organization.
4. Measure ruject health usin~ metrics. Companies that excel in project deliv- consumed “‘
Project mana,gcrs pl.lY an important role in making projects, and therefore organiza- success criteria.
As mentioned earlier, ab’ mt one-quarter of the world’s gross domestic product is spent on project portfolio manage I nent.
Programs 17
As you can imagine, it is often
more economical to >rour) projects together to help streamline management, staffing, pur- • Infrastructu ;e: An IT department often has a program for IT infrastructure
Pr O]eC S. • more w1r · ·· · • Applications development: Under this program, there could be several pro- Cust rei ‘”. tionship mana oement svstem . . on1er •· o • port, many I’f In addition to the many operational tasks related to user sup- ld be a project to provide a better e-mail system or one to A progra er :1rovides leadership and direction for the project managers head- 1 17 18
responsible for the success of products and processes produced by those projects. For under the credits section for the game. important information and coordinate important aspects of each project. .Many program Project Portfolio Management Chapter 1 Figure 1-3 illustrates the differences between project management and project portfolio budget?”, and “Do project stakeholders know what they should be doing?” jects?”, “Are we investing in the right areas?”, and “Do we have the right resources to be of project initiatives that deliver maximum business value.” til
Project management what they should be doing?
Project portfolio management competitive?
FIGURE 1-3 Project management compared to project portfolio management
Many organizations use a more disciplined approach to portfolio management by devel- A best practice is “an optimal way recognized by industry to achieve a stated goal or • Reach high. Stretch. Raise standards and aspirations. Find the best of the best • Help everyone in your organization become a professional. Empower people to • Look everywhere. Go far afield. Think of the whole world as your laboratory for Robert Butrick, author of The Project Workout, wrote an article on best practices in • Make sure your projects are driven by your strategy. Be able to demonstrate how 22
As you can imagine, project portfolio management is not an easy task. Figure 1-4 illus- 19 20
Chapter 1 overall project portfolio categories IT project portfolio categories
Marketing
Venture:
l Transform the business Discretionary Growth: s:: ~,i= 0::: :: I
Materials ~
FIGURE 1-4 Sample project portfolio approach
Grow the Core: Nondiscretionary portfolio categories as shown in the left part of Figure 1-4-marketing, materials, IT, and portfolio categories:
., Venture: Projects in this category help transform the business. For example, ships with customers and suppliers . of revenues. For example, a company might have an IT project to provide infor- • Core: Projects in this category must be accomplished to run the business. For under this category.
Note on the right part of Figure 1-4 that the Core category of IT projects is labeled as Many organizations use specialized software to organize and analyze all types of project 57%
43%
Work ld Project
0000051 Upgrade Sales Staff Laptop PC’s
CAW-035 CRM Website
CW-2002 MyMystic,oom Customer W~bsite
PARMS·O PARfoAS Jmplem.:ntation
POS-200~ Plan View and S.C..P Financial fntegration
SSR*012 Strate9io Sy:.iems Review
TAU~2D0:2 Tax Accounting Update 2002
Project Health (Effort Based}
“”‘ 4S%
~Ia Schedul~? Cost 100.0%1
Budget
39.7%
3.9%
15.9%
0 FIGURE 1-5 Sample project portfolio management screen showing project health
You have already read that project managers must work closely with the other stakeholders Project Manager Job Description
A project manager can have many different job descriptions, which can vary tremendously 21
Introduction to Project Management IIIII II I!
I,
i
li
1. 1,11
I I:
I of job listings for project managers. They even have a job category for projecUprogram man-
agers. Here are a few edited postings:
” Project manager for a consultingfirm: Plans, schedules, and controls activities • IT project managcr.f(Jr a financial services finn: ~lanages, prioritizes, devel- ” IT project manager for a nonprofit consulting firm: Responsibilities include quality, and cost-effective manner.
The job description for a project manager can vary by industry and by organization, Suggested Skills for Project Managers understand and use expertise in the following areas:
• The Project Management Body of Knowledge • Project environment knowledge This chapter introduced the nine project management knowledge areas, as well as knowledge) as well as personal competency (attitudes and personality characteristics). The project environment differs from organization to organization and project to proj- Project managers should also possess general management knowledge and skills. They Achieving high performance on projects requires soft skills, otherwise called human ,. Lastly, project managers, especially those managing IT projects, must be able to make ogyoften includes special product knowledge or experience with a particular industry.
Introduction to Project Management 23 I if Chapter 1 Project managers must make many decisions and deal with people in a wide variety of disci- All project managers should continue to develop their knowledge and experience in Importance of People and leadership Skills Respondents were also asked what skills and competencies were most important in vari- • Large projects: Leadership, relevant prior experience, planning, people skills, .. High uncertainty projects: Risk management, expectation management, lead- ” Very novel projects: Leadership, people skills, having vision and goals, self con- Notice that a few additional skills and competencies not cited in the top 10 list were Also notice the general emphasis on people and leadership skills. As mentioned earlier, TABLE 1-3 1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent
5. Strong at building trust
6. Verbal communication
7. Strong at building teams
8. Conflict resolution, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understands, balances priorities
Jennifer Krahn, “Effective Project Leadership: A Combination of Project Manager Skills and Competencies However, project managers often take on the role of both leader and manager. Good Careers for Information Technology Project Managers
A recent article suggests that, “The most sought-after corporate IT workers in 2010 may . A recent survey by CIO.com supports this career projection. IT executives listed the Introduction to Project Management
in front of 500 people in the large corporate auditorittlll to explain the company’s new strat-
egies. She was also bro:tdcasting to thousands of other ,·mployees, suppliers, and stock-
holders throughout the world using Jive video via the ]llrernet. The company had C<)me a
long way in implementing new information systems to \Jllprove inventory control, >;ell pro-
ducts using the Web, streamline the sales and distributi’m processes, and improve
Anne began to address the audience, “Good mornltlg. As many of ~:?u know, Ottr CEO
Since then, we have completed many projects, includiPg the advanced data networ-ks proj-
ect. That project enabled us to provide persistent bro:l'[band between headquarters and our
retail stores throughout the world, allowing us to mal
to leverage the power of information technology to stll’port our business, and how we can
exploit our human capital to successfully plan and execute those projects. If we succeed,
“And if we fail?” someone asked from the audien’·e.
“Let’s just say that failure is not an option,” Anne replied.
ment. Until the 1980~, project management primarilY focused on proYiding scheclule and
resource data to top management in the military, con JJ r,1ter. and construction industries.
Today’s project man:tgement involves much rnore an 1 I people in ewry industry :ctnd every
countrY manage proj<:cts. New technologies have becorne a significant factor in DJany husi-
involving information technology (IT). Note that IT pi~~ _iects in,·oh·e using hardware, soft-
ware, :mel/or networl’s to create a product, service, 0 r r2sult.
to reach 82.-1 trillion in 2008, an H perc<.: r J t increase trom 2007. IT purchases
in the U.S. grew less than 3 percent, whi j,; the rest of the i\mericas c~xpanded
in local currencies at 6-pcrcent rates. Ac.J ;l Pacific and the oil-exporting areas
of Eastern Europe, the Middle Jtast and ,', trica were the main engin
tions were among the lowest in the labor force at only 2.3 percent. Demand for
talent is high, and several organizations throughout the world cannot grow as
desired due to difficulties in hiring and recruiting the people they need. 2
U.S. dollars was ,8104,776 per year in the United States, $111,412 in Australia,
and $120,364 in the United Kingdom. The average total compensation of a pro-
gram manager was ,8122,82
8165,48
Management Office (PMO) Director was ,8134,422 in the United States,
$125,197 in Australia, and 8210,392 in the United Kingdom. This survey was
based on self-reported data from more than 5,500 practitioners in
certification continues to increase each year.
year, an amount equal to
The world as a whole spends nearly $10 trillion of its $40.7 trillion gross prod- ‘
uct on projects of all kinds. More than 16 million people regard project man-
agement as their profession. 4
be successful, they need to be conversant with and use modern project management tech-
niques. Individuals are realizing that to remain competitive in the workplace, they must
develop skills to become good project team members and project managers. They also real-
ize that many of the concepts of project management will help them in their everyday lives
as they work with people and technology on a day-to-day basis.
Report.” This consulting firm surveyed 365 information technology executive managers in
the United States who managed more than 8,380 information technology application pro-
jects. As the title of the study suggests, the projects were in a state of chaos. G.S. companies
spent more than S250 billion each year in the early 1990s on approximately 17 5,000 infor-
mation technology application deyeJopment projects. Examples of these projects included
:reating a new database for a state department of motor vehicles, developing a new system
for car rental and hotel reservations, and implementing a client-server architecture for the
banking industry. The study reported that the overall success rate of information technolo-
gy projects was only 16.2 percent. The surveyors defined success as meeting project goals
on time and on budget. The study also found that more than 31 percent of information
technology projects were canceled before completion, costing U.S. companies and
government agencies more than $81 billion. The study authors were adamant about the
need for better project management in the information technology industry. They
explained, “Software development projects are in chaos, and we can no longer imitate the
three monkeys-hear no failures, see no failures, speak no failures.”
ferent countries about their project management maturity and found that over half of all
projects fail. They also found that only 2.5 percent of corporations consistently meet their
6
has prompted managers throughout the world to examine their practices in managing projects.
Many organizations assert that using project management provides advantages, such as:
• Shorter development times
• Lower costs and improved productivity
• Higher quality and increased reliability
• Better internal coordination
• Positive impact on meeting strategic goals
This chapter introduces projects and project management, explains how projects fit
provides important background information on this growing profession. Although project
management applies to many different industries and types of projects, this text focuses
A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or
result.”
Projects can be large or small and involve one person or thousands of people. They can be
done in one day or take years to complete. As described earlier, information technology
projects involve using hardware, software, and/or networks to create a product, service, or
• A small software development team adds a new feature to an internal software
Internet access across the whole campus
Protocol (VoiP) system to purchase and how it will be implemented
tomer relationship
ants and provide other feedback on programs
• A government group develops a system to track child immunizations
• A large group of volunteers from organizations throughout the world develops
for 2008. A few of these technologies include the following:
and using computer resources in an efficient way to improve economic viabili-
ty, social responsibility, and environmental impact. For example, government
regulations now encourage organizations and IT departments to use low-
emission building materials, recycle computing equipment, and use alternative
energy and other green technologies.
migrate from PBX (private branch exchange) to IP (Internet protocol) telepho-
ny in the next three years.
pers, and business process analysts must work together to help organizations
effectively use IT to improve processes. Business process modeling (BPM)
suites are expected to fill a critical role as a compliment to service-oriented
architecture (SOA).
ing resources from their users, such as making a single server, operating sys-
tem, application, or storage device appear to function as multiple virtual
resources. Virtualization technologies can improve IT resource management
and increase t1exibility for adapting to changing requirements and workloads.
Virtualization 2.0 adds automation technologies so that resource efficiency can
improve dramatically.
working sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin, and YouTube to collabo-
rate with others. Organizations will increasingly use social software
technologies to augment traditional collaboration.
tions rei h · Yon t em for their success.
As you can see, projects come in all shapes and sizes. The following attributes help to define
objective. For example, Anne Roberts, the Director of the Project Management
Office in the opening case, might sponsor an information technology collabora-
tion project to develop a list and initial analysis of potential information tech-
nology projects that might improve operations for the company. The unique
purpose of this project would he to create a collaborative report with ideas
from people throughout the company. The results would provide the basis for
further discussions and projects. As in this example, projects result in a unique
• A project is temporary. A project has a definite beginning and a definite end.
of people to work immediately on the project, and then expect a report and
an executive presentation of the results in one month.
defined broadly when they begin, and as time passes, the specific details of the
project become clearer. Therefore, projects should be developed in incre-
ments. 1\ project team should develop initial plans and then update them with
more detail based on new information. For example, suppose a few people sub-
mitted ideas for the information technology collaboration project, but they did
not clearly address how the ideas would support the business strategy of
improving operations. The project team might decide to prepare a question-
naire for people to fill in as they submit their ideas to improve the quality of
A pn~ject requires resources, qf”tcnfrom vmious areas. Resources include peo-
ple, hardware, software, and other assets. Many projects cross departmental
or other boundaries to achieve their unique purposes. For the information
technology collaboration project, people from information technology, market-
ing, sales, distribution, and other areas of the company would need to work
together to develop ideas. The company might also hire outside consultants to
provide input. Once the project team has selected key projects for imple-
mentation, they will probably require additional resources. And to meet new
project objectives, people from other companies-product suppliers and con-
sulting companies-may be added. Resources, however, are limited and must
be used effectively to meet project and other corporate goals.
A pn~ject should have a p1imary customer or sponsor. Most projects have
many interested parties or stakeholders, but someone must take the primary
role of sponsorship. The project sponsor usually provides the direction and
funding for the project. In this case, Anne Roberts would he the sponsor for the
information technology collaboration project. Once further information tech-
nology projects are selected, however, the sponsors for those projects would
be senior managers in charge of the main parts of the company affected by the
projects. For example, if the vice president of sales initiates a project to
Chapter 1
sponsor.
times difficult to define its objectives clearly, estimate how long it will take to
complete, or determine how much it will cost. External factors also cause
uncertainty, such as a supplier going out of business or a project team member
needing unplanned time off. This uncertainty is one of the main reasons pro-
ject management is so challenging, especially on projects involving new
technologies.
with the project sponsors, the project team, and the other people involved in a project to
meet project goals.
itations are sometimes referred to in project management as the triple constraint. To cre-
ate a successful project, a project manager must consider scope, time, and cost and
balance these three often-competing goals. He or she must consider the following:
•
service, or result does the customer or sponsor expect from the project? How
will the scope be verified?
Time: How long should it take to complete the project? What is the project’s
schedule? How will the team track actual schedule performance? Who can
approve changes to the schedule?
Cost: \Vhat should it cost to complete the project? What is the project’s bud-
get? How will costs be tracked? Who can authorize changes to the budget?
time, and cost-has a target at the beginning of the project. For example, the information
technology collaboration project might have an initial scope of producing a 40- to 50-page
report and a one-hour presentation on about 30 potential information technology projects.
The project manager might further define project scope to include providing a description
of each potential project, an investigation of what other companies have implemented for
similar projects, a rough time and cost estimate, and assessments of the risk and potential
payoff as high, medium, or low. The initial time estimate for this project might be one
month, and the cost estimate might be S45,000-$50,000. These expectations provide the
targets for the scope, time, and cost dimensions of the project. Note that the scope and cost
goals in this example include ranges-the report can be between 40- to 50-pages long and
the project can cost between $45,000 and 350,000. Because projects involve uncertainty
and limited resources, projects rarely finish according to discrete scope, time, and cost
goals originally planned. Instead of discrete target goals, it is often more realistic to set a
range of goals such as spending between $45,000 and S50,000 and having the length of the
report between 40 and 50 pages. These goals might mean hitting the target, but not the
bull’s eye.
goals for a project. For example, you might need to increase the budget for a project to meet
management means
meeting all three
goals (scope, time,
and cost)-and
satisfying the project’s
sponsor!
time and cost goals. Experienced project managers know that you must decide which
aspect of the triple constraint is most important. If time is most important, you must often
change the initial scope and/or cost goals to meet the schedule. If scope goals are most
important, you may need to adjust time and/or cost goals.
tion technology collaboration project sent an e-mail survey to all employees, as planned.
The initial time and cost estimate mav have been one week and SS,OOO to collect ideas
based on this e-mail survey. Now, sup~ose the e-mail survey generated only a few good proj-
ect ideas, and the scope goal was to collect at least 30 good ideas. Should the project team
use a different method like focus groups or interviews to collect ideas? Even though it was
not in the initial scope, time, or cost estimates, it would really help the project. Since good
ideas are crucial to project success, it would make sense to inform the project sponsor that
You want to make adjustments.
time, and cost-interrelate, other elements can also play significant roles. Quality is often
a key factor in projects, as is customer or sponsor satisfaction. Some people, in fact, refer
to the quadruple constraint of project management, which includes quality as well as
scope, time, and cost. Others believe that quality considerations, including customer
ect team may meet scope, time, and cost goals but fail to meet quality standards or satisfy
their sponsor, if they have not adequately addressed these concerns. For example, Anne
Roberts may receive a 50-page report describing 30 potential information technology
projects and hear a presentation on the findings of the report. The project team may have
completed the work on time and within the cost constraint, but the quality may have been
unacceptable. Anne’s view of an executive presentation may be very different from the proj-
ect team’s view. The project manager should be communicating with the sponsor through-
How can you avoid the problems that occur when you meet scope, time, and cost goals,
ect activities to meet project requirements.” 11 Project managers must not only strive to
meet specific scope, time, cost, and quality goals of projects, they must also facilitate the
entire process to meet the needs and expectations of the people involved in or affected by
Figure 1-2 illustrates a framework to help you understand project management. Key
edge areas, project management tools and techniques, and the contribution of successful
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities and include the
project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even
expectations
Core functions 1 techniques
management
resource
Project 2
Project 3
Project 4
tions. For example, building a new house is a well-known example of a project. There are
several stakeholders involved in a home construction project.
be the people paying for the house and could be on a very tight budget, so they
would expect the contractor to provide accurate estimates of the costs involved
in building the house. They would also need a realistic idea of when they could
move in and what type of home they could afford given their budget con-
straints. The new homeowners would have to make important decisions to
keep the costs of the house within their budget. Can they afford to finish the
basement right away? If they can afford to finish the basement, will it affect the
projected move-in date? In this example, the project sponsors are also the cus-
tomers and users for the product, which is the house.
responsible for building the house. He or she needs to work with all the project
stakeholders to meet their needs and expectations.
workers, electricians, carpenters, and so on. These stakeholders would need
to know exactly what work they must do and when they need to do it. They
would need to know if the required materials and equipment will be at the con-
struction site or if they are expected to provide the materials and equipment.
Their work would need to be coordinated since there are many interrelated
factors involved. For example, the carpenter cannot put in kitchen cabinets
until the walls are completed.
administrative assistant, and other people who support other stakeholders. The
buyers’ employers might expect their employees to still complete their work
but allow some tlexibility so they can visit the building site or take phone calls
related to building the house. The contractor’s administrative assistant would
support the project by coordinating meetings between the buyers, the contrac-
tor, suppliers, and so on.
wood, windows, tlooring materials, appliances, and so on. Suppliers would
expect exact details on what items they need to provide, where and when to
deliver those items, and so on.
be a neighbor who opposes the project because the workers are making so much
noise that she cannot concentrate on her work at home, or the noise might wake
her sleeping children. She might interrupt the workers to voice her complaints
or even file a formal complaint. Or, the neighborhood might have association
rules concerning new home design and construction. If the homeowners did not
follow these rules, they might have to halt construction due to legal issues.
and they often have different interests. Stakeholders’ needs and expectations are important
in the beginning and throughout the life of a project. Successful project managers develop
expectations.
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project man-
agers must develop. The center of Figure 1-2 shows the nine knowledge areas of project
management. The four core knowledge areas of project management include project scope,
time, cost, and quality management. These are core knowledge areas because they lead to
specific project objectives.
required to complete the project successfully.
the work, developing an acceptable project schedule, and ensuring timely com-
pletion of the project.
the project.
implied needs for which it was undertaken.
munications, risk, and procurement management. These are called facilitating knowledge
areas because they are the processes through which the project objectives are achieved.
of the people involved with the project.
nating, and storing project information.
risks related to the project.
services for a project from outside the performing organization.
that affects and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas. Project managers must have
knowledge and skills in all nine of these areas. This text includes an entire chapter on each
of these knowledge areas because all of them are crucial to project success.
Thomas Carlyle, a famous historian and author, stated, “Man is a tool-using animal. Without
tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” As the world continues to become more complex, it
is even more important for people to develop and use tools, especially for managing impor-
tant projects. Project management tools and techniques assist project managers and their
teams in carrying out work in all nine knowledge areas. For example, some popular time-
management tools and techniques include Gantt charts, project network diagrams, and criti-
cal path analysis. Table 1-1lists some commonly used tools and techniques by knowledge
area. You will learn more about these and other tools and techniques throughout this text.
Common project management tools and techniques by knowledge area
management
methodologies, stakeholder analyses, project char-
ters, project management plans, project manage-
ment software, change requests, change control
boards, project review meetings, lessons-learned
reports
statements of work, requirements analyses, scope
management plans, scope verification techniques,
and scope change controls
path analysis, crashing, fast tracking, schedule
performance measurements
analysis, earned value management, project portfo-
lio management, cost estimates, cost management
plans, cost baselines
Pareto diagrams, fishbone diagrams, maturity
models, statistical methods
sibility assignment matrices, project organizational
charts, resource histograms, team building
exercises
meetings, conf1ict management, communications
media selection, status and progress report.’!, virtu-
al communications, templates, project \Veb sites
impact matrices, risk rankings
posals or quotes, source selections, supplier evalua-
tion matrices
project management tools. Respondents were asked to rate tools on a scale of 1-5 (low to
high) based on the extent of their use and the potential of the tools to help improve project
success. “Super tools” were defined as those that had high use and high potential for
as project management software), scope statements, requirement analyses, and lessons-
learned reports. Tools that are already extensively used and have been found to improve
project importance include progress reports, kick-off meetings, Gantt charts, and change
requests. These super tools are bolded in Table 1-1.
Of course, different tools can be more
What Went Wrong? passage) showed some improvement in the statistics for information
• The number of successful IT projects has more than doubled, from 16 percent
• The number of failed projects decreased from 31 percent in 1994 to 19 percent
• The United States spent more money on IT projects in 2006 than 1994 ($346
lenged projects (those that did not meet scope, time, or cost goals, but were
completed) and failed projects was down to $53 billion in 2006 compared to
The good news is that project managers are learning how to succeed more often; the
increase in successful projects vary. First, the average cost of a project has been more than
cut in half. Better tools have been created to monitor and control progress and better
skilled project managers with better management processes are being used. The fact that
14
cess on all projects. Project management is a very broad, often complex discipline. What
works on one project may not work on another, so it is essential for project managers to
continue to develop their knowledge and skills in managing projects. It is also important
How do you define the success or failure of a project? There are several ways to define proj-
ect success. The list that follows outlines a few common criteria for measuring the success
of a project using the example of upgrading 500 desktop computers within three months for
upgraded and met other scope requirements, the work was completed in three
months or less, and the cost was $300,000 or less, you could consider it a
this definition of success. Several people question this simple definition of proj-
ect success and the methods used for collecting the data. (See the references
by Glass on the companion Web site for this text to read more about this
debate.)
scope, time, and cost goals, the users of the computers or their managers (the
main customers or sponsors in this example) might not be satisfied. Perhaps
the project manager or team members never returned calls or were rude. Per-
haps users had their daily work disrupted during the upgrades or had to work
extra hours due to the upgrades. If the customers were not happy with impor-
tant aspects of the project, it would be deemed a failure. Conversely, a project
might not meet initial scope. time, and cost goals, but the customer could still
be very satisfied. Perhaps the project team took longer and spent more money
than planned, but they were very polite and helped the users and managers
solve several work-related problems. Many organizations implement a custom-
er satisfaction rating system for projects to measure project success instead
of only tracking scope, time, and cost performance.
certain amount of money, providin.{; a good return on investment, or simply
malzinP, the sponsors happy. Even if the project cost more than estimated, took
longer to complete, and the project team was hard to work with, if the users
were happy with the upgraded computers it would be a successful project, based
on this criterion. 1\s another example, suppose the sponsor really approved the
upgrade project to provide a good return on investment by speeding up work
and therefore generating more profits. If those goals were met, the sponsor
would deem the project a success, regardless of other factors involved.
the 2001 CHAOS study, describing, in order of importance, what factors contribute most
to the success of information technology projects. The study lists executive support as the
most important factor, overtakin,g user involvement, which was ranked first in earlier stud-
ies. Also note that several other success factors can be strongly influenced by executives
such as encouraging user involvement, providing clear business objectives, assigning an
experienced project manager, using a standard software infrastructure, and following a for-
mal methodology. Other success factors are related to good project scope and time manage-
ment such as having a minimized scope, firm basic requirements, and reliable estimates.
~n fact, experienced project mana{;ers, who can often help int1uencc all of these factors to
Improve the probability of project success, led 97 percent of successful projects.
, It is interesting to compare success factors for information technology projects in the
mdmgs is that 1 t. 1 · · · · :l f f · ‘ re a wns liP management IS v1ewec as a top success actor or mformation
syst_erns in China, while it is not mentioned in U.S. studies. The study also suggested that
~g .
11
e_ the Americans, included top management support, user involvement, and a competent
organizations as a whole can improve project performance. Research comparing COiffipanic·’
that excel in project delivery-the “winners”-from those that do not found four sig\nificant
projects clearly define what needs to be done in a project, by whom, wh1 en, 311 ,1
how. They use an integrated toolbox, including project management toc0 1s
methods, and techniques. They carefully select tools, align them with p11ro.iect
and business goals, link tllem to metrics, and provide them to project m1 anager:>
2. Grow project leaders. The winners know that strong project managers-_
that a good project leader needs to be a business leader as well, with str
3. Develop a streamlined pn~ject delivery process. \Vinning companies haave
workloads, searched for ways to reduce variation, and eliminated bottle~cneck’
to create a repeatable delivery process. All projects go through clear staages an·
clearly define key milestones. All project leaders use a shared road mapp, focu’
ing on key business aspects of their projects while integrating goals acro 0 ss all
ery usc pc1 iormance me tries to quantify progress. They focus on a handful of
i~portant 11teasurements and apply them to all projects. Metrics often include
customer .;Jtisfaction, return on investment, and percentage of schedule buffer
tions, successful. ProjeL·f managers work with the project sponsors, the project team, and
the other stakeholders involved in a project to meet project goals. They also work with the
sponsor to define succc~” for that particular project. Good project managers do not assume
that their definition of ~l,ccess is the same as the sponsors’. They take the time to under-
stand their sponsors’ c~l ,ectations and then track project performance based on important
projects. Projects make r J P a significant portion of work in most business organizations or
enterprises, and succcssf11lly managing those projects is crucial to enterprise success. Two
important concepts that )lelp projects meet enterprise goals are the use of programs and
A program is “a group of )’elated projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits
and control not available :rom managing them individually.”
chasing, and other w:rk ·fhe following are examples of common programs in the IT field.
. t [ ‘n(; er this program, there could be several projects, such as providing
· . ele’– :; Internet access, upgrading hardware and software, and develop-
· 6 d a.I· TJ -:aining corporate standards for IT. 1116 an n1
jects such ac updatin~ an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, purchas-
ing a’ new (jff-. -::he-shelf billing system, or developing a new capability for a
• User support
pie, there coL
develop tee hr
departments have several projects to support users. For cxam-
ical training for users.
. g h m manag .. .
m t e projects within a p -ogram. Program managers also coordinate the efforts of project
teams, fun’·t· I g , uppliers, and operations staff supporting the proje.cts to ensure h ‘· wna roupec , · . ·
t at ProJ·ect· d ·:! . …-:Jrocesses are Implemented to maximize benefits. Program man-pro ucts an c. .· · . •
agers are r(· ‘bl
• ore than the delivery of pro]·ect results· they are ehanQe agents ·spons1 e or rr · ‘ •>
Introduction to Project Management
example, the popular Yideo game Rock Bancfl’M lists the program manager and team first
Program managers often have review meetings with all their project managers to share
managers worked as project managers earlier in their careers, and they enjoy sharing their
wisdom and expertise with their project managers. Effective program managers recognize
that managing a program is much more complex than managing a single project. They recog-
nize that technical and project management skills are not enough-program managers must
also possess strong business knowledge, leadership capabilities, and communication skills.
In many organizations, project managers also support an emerging business strategy of
project portfolio management (also called just portfolio management in this text), in
which organizations group and manage projects and programs as a portfolio of investments
that contribute to the entire enterprise’s success. Portfolio managers help their organiza-
tions make wise investment decisions by helping to select and analyze projects from a strate-
gic perspective. Portfolio managers may or may not have previous experience as project
or program managers. It is most important that they have strong financial and analytical
skills and understand how projects and programs can contribute to meeting strategic goals.
management. Notice that the main distinction is a focus on meeting tactical or strategic
goals. Tactical goals are generally more specific and short-term than strategic goals, which
emphasize long-term goals for an organization. Individual projects often address tactical
goals, whereas portfolio management addresses strategic goals. Project management
addresses questions like “Are we carrying out projects well?”, “Are projects on time and
Portfolio management addresses questions like “Are we working on the right pro-
competitive’~” Pacific Edge Software’s product manager, Eric Burke, defines project port-
folio management as “the continuous process of selecting and managing the optimum set
• Are we carrying out projects well?
• Are projects on time and on budget?
• Do project stakeholders know
• Are we working on the right projects?
• Are we investing in the right a~eas?
o Do we have the right resources to be
oping guidelines and software tools to assist in project portfolio management. The Project
Management Institute (described later in this chapter) first published the Organizational
Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3) Knowledge Foundation in 2003, 19 which
describes the importance not only of managing individual projects or programs well, but the
importance of following organizational project management to align projects, programs, and
portfolios with strategic goals. OPM3 is a standard that organizations can use to measure
their organizational project management maturity against a comprehensive set of best
practices.
objective.” 20 Rosaheth Moss Kanter, a Professor at Harvard Business School and well-
known author and consultant, says that visionary leaders know “the best practice secret:
Stretching to learn from the best of the best in any sector can make a big vision more likely
to succeed.” 21 Kanter also emphasizes the need to have measurable standards for best prac-
tices. An organization can measure performance against its own past, against peers, and
even better, against potential. Kanter suggests that organizations need to continue to reach
for higher standards. She suggests the following exercise regime for business leaders who
want to adapt best practices in an intelligent way to help their own organizations:
and then use it as inspiration for reaching full potential.
manage themselves through benchmarks and standards based on best practice
exchange.
learning.
project management for the Ultimate Business Library’s Best Practice book. He suggests
that organizations need to follow basic principles of project management, including these
two mentioned earlier in this chapter:
•
each project you undertake fits your business strategy, and screen out unwanted
projects as soon as possible.
Engage your stakeholders. Ignoring stakeholders often leads to project failure .
Be sure to engage stakeholders at all stages of a project, and encourage teamwork
and commitment at all times.
trates one approach for project portfolio management where one large portfolio exists for
the entire organization. This allows top management to view and manage all projects at
an enterprise level. Sections of that portfolio are then broken down to improve the
11lanagement of projects in each sector. For example, a company might have the main
Introduction to Project Management
b.QI – __ .LL 1 1 costs
E
“‘ …… ·- CL>
business
Run the
business
costs
human resources (HR)-and divide each of those categories further to address their unique
concerns. The right part of this figure shows how the IT projects could be categorized in
more detail to assist in their management. In this example, there are three basic IT project
the large retail chain described in the opening case might have an IT project
to provide kiosks in stores and similar functionality on the Internet where cus-
tomers and suppliers could quickly provide feedback on products or services.
This project could help transform the business by developing closer partner-
., Growth: Projects in this category would help the company grow in terms
mation on their corporate Web site in a new language, such as Chinese or Japa-
nese. This capability could help them grow their business in those countries.
example, an IT project to provide computers for new employees would fall
nondiscretionary costs. This means that the company has no choice in whether to fund
these projects; they must fund them to stay in business. Projects that fall under the Venture
or Growth category are discretionary costs because the company can use its own discretion
or judgment in deciding whether or not to fund them. Notice the arrow in the center of Fig-
ure 1-4labeled Risks, Value/Timing. This arrow indicates that the risks, value, and timing
of projects normally increase as you move from Core to Growth to Venture projects. How-
ever, some core projects can also be high risk, have high value, and require good timing.
As you can see, many factors are involved in portfolio management.
data into project portfolios. Enterprise or portfolio project management software inte-
grates information from multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future
projects across an entire organization. For example, Figure 1-5 provides a sample screen
from portfolio management software provided by Planview. The charts and text in the
upper half of the screen show the number and percentage of projects in this project portfo-
lio that are on target and in trouble in terms of schedule and cost variance. The bottom half
of the screen lists the names of individual projects, percent complete, schedule variance,
cost variance, budget variance, and risk percentage. The last section in this chapter pro-
vides more information on project management software.
14%
Complete Variance
on a project, especially the sponsor and project team. They are also more effective if they
are familiar with the nine project management knowledge areas and the various tools and
techniques related to project management. Experienced project managers help projects
succeed. But what do project managers do exactly? What skills do they really need to do
a good job? The next section provides brief answers to these questions, and the rest of this
book gives more insight into the role of the project manager. Even if you never become a
project manager, you will probably be part of a project team, and it is important for team
members to help their project managers.
based on the organization and the project. For example, Monster.com includes thousands
I ,I~ :
1
11
22
Chapter 1
to fulfill identified objectives applying technical, theoretical, and managerial skills
to satisfy project requirements. Coordinates and integrates team and individual
efforts and builds positive professional relationships with clients and associates.
ops, and implements information technology solutions to meet business needs.
Prepares and executes project plans using project management software fol-
lowing a standard methodology. Establishes cross-functional end-user teams
defining and implementing projects on time and within budget. Acts as a liai-
son between third-party service providers and end-users to develop and imple-
ment technology solutions. Participates in vendor contract development and
budget management. Provides post implementation support.
business analysis, requirements gathering, project planning, budget estimating,
development, testing, and implementation. Responsible for working with vari-
ous resource providers to ensure development is completed in a timely, high-
but there are similar tasks that most project managers perform regardless of these differ-
ences. In fact, project management is a skill needed in every major information technology
field, from database administrator to network specialist to technical writer.
In an interview with two chief information officers (CIOs), John Oliver of True North Com-
munications, Inc. and George Nassef of Hotjobs.com, both men agreed that the most impor-
tant project management skills seem to depend on the uniqueness of the project and the
people involved.n Project managers need to have a wide variety of skills and be able to
decide which particular skills arc more important in different situations. As you can imag-
ine, good project managers should have many skills. A Guide to the Project Nlana,gcment
Hody of Knowledge-the PMBOK® Guide-recommends that the project management team
• Application area knowledge, standards, and regulations
• General management knowledge and skills
• Soft skills or human relations skills
some general tools and techniques project managers use. The following section focuses on
the IT application area, including skills required in the project environment, general man-
agement, and soft skills. Note that the PJVIBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition describes three
dimensions of project management competency: project management knowledge and per-
formance competency (knowing about project management and being able to apply that
Consult PJVII’s Web site at www.pmi.org for further information on skills for project man-
agers and PMI’s Career Framework for Practitioners.
ect, but some skills will help in almost all project environments. These skills include under-
standing change, and understanding how organizations work within their social, political,
and physical environments. Project managers must be comfortable leading and handling
change, since most projects introduce changes in organizations and involve changes within
the projects themselves. Project managers need to understand the organization in which
they work and how that organization develops products and provides services. The skills
and behavior needed to manage a project for a Fortune 100 company in the United States
may differ greatly from those needed to manage a government project in Poland.
Chapter 2, The Project Management and Information Technology Context, provides
detailed information on these topics.
should understand important topics related to financial management, accounting, procure-
ment, sales, marketing, contracts, manufacturing, distribution, logistics, the supply chain,
strategic planning, tactical planning, operations management, organizational structures and
behavior, personnel administration, compensation, benefits, career paths, and health and
safety practices. On some projects, it will be critical for the project manager to have a lot of
experience in one or several of these general management areas. On other projects, the proj-
ect manager can delegate detailed responsibility for some of these areas to a team member,
support staff, or even a supplier. Even so, the project manager must be intelligent and experi-
enced enough to know which of these areas arc most important and who is qualified to do the
work. He or she must also make and/or take responsibility for all key project decisions.
relations skills. Some of these soft skills include effective communication, int1uencing the
organization to get things done, leadership, motivation, negotiation, cont1ict management,
and problem solving. Why do project managers need good soft skills? One reason is that
to understand, navigate, and meet stakeholders’ needs and expectations, project managers
need to lead, communicate, negotiate, solve problems, and int1uence the organization at
large. They need to be able to listen actively to what others are saying, help develop new
approaches for solving problems, and then persuade others to work toward achieving proj-
ect goals. Project managers must lead their project teams by providing vision, delegating
Work, creating an energetic and positive environment, and setting an example of appropri-
ate and effective behavior. Project managers must focus on teamwork skills to employ peo-
ple effectively. They need to be able to motivate different types of people and develop
esprit de corps within the project team and with other project stakeholders. Since most
projects involve changes and trade-offs between competing goals, it is important for project
managers to have strong coping skills as well. It helps project managers maintain their sani-
ty and reduce their stress levels if they cope with criticism and constant change. Project
managers must be t1exible, creative, and sometimes patient in worldng toward project goals;
they must also be persistent in making project needs known.
effective use of technologv as it relates to the specific ‘)rOJ. ect. JVlaking effective use of tech-no! · ~ ‘ ·
24
plines, so it helps tremendously to have a project manager who is confident in using the spe-
cial tools or technologies that are the most effective in particular settings. Project
managers do not normally have to be experts on any specific technology, but they have to
know enough to build a strong team and ask the right questions to keep things on track. For
example, project managers for large information technology projects do not have to be
experts in the field of information technology, but they must have working knowledge of vari-
ous technologies and understand how the project would enhance the business. }.lany com-
panies have found that a good business manager can be a very good information
technology project manager because they focus on meeting business needs and rely on key
project members to handle the technical details.
project management, general management, soft skills, and the industries they support.
Non-IT business people are now very savvy with information technology, but few informa-
tion technology professionals have spent the time developing their business savvy?4 IT proj-
ect managers must be willing to develop more than their technical skills to be productive
team members and successful project managers. Everyone, no matter how technical they
are, should develop business and soft skills.
In a recent study, project management experts from various industries were asked to identify
the ten most important skills and competencies for effective project managers. Table 1-3
shows the results.
ous project situations:
verbal communication, and team-building skills were most important.
ership, people skills, and planning skills were most important.
fidence, expectations management, and listening skills were most
important. 25
mentioned when people thought about the context of a project. To be the most effective,
project managers require a changing mix of skills and competencies depending on the
project being delivered.
all project managers, especially those working on technical projects, need to demonstrate
leadership and management skills. Leadership and management are terms often used inter-
changeably, although there are differences. Generally, a leader focuses on long-term goals
and big-picture objectives, while inspiring people to reach those goals. A manager often
deals with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals. Some people say that, “Managers
do things right, and leaders do the right things.” “Leaders determine the vision, and man-
agers achieve the vision.” “You lead people and manage things.”
Ten most important skills and competencies for project managers
in Context,” ?J’vfi Research Conference Proceedin,gs (July 2006 ).
project managers know that people make or break projects, so they must set a good exam-
ple to lead their team to success. They arc aware of the greater needs of their stakeholders
and organizations, so they are visionary in guiding their current projects and in suggesting
future ones. As mentioned earlier, companies that excel in project management grow proj-
ect “leaders,” emphasizing development of business and communication skills. Yet good
project managers must also focus on getting the job done by paying attention to the details
and daily operations of each task. Instead of thinking of leaders and managers as specific
people, it is better to think of people as having leadership skills, such as being visionary and
inspiring, and management skills, such as being organized and effective. Therefore, the best
project managers have leadership and management characteristics; they are visionary yet
focused on the bottom line. Above all else, good project managers focus on achieving posi-
tive results I
be those with no deep-seated technical skills at all. The nuts-and-bolts programming and
easy-to-document support jobs will have all gone to third-party providers in the U.S. or
abroad. Instead, IT departments will be populated with ‘versatilists’-those with a technolo-
gy background who also know the business sector inside and out, can architect and carry
out IT plans that will add business value, and can cultivate relationships both inside and
outside the company.”26
skins they predicted would be the most in demand in the next two to five years. Project/
25
