Successfully Execute IT Projects

According to a 2008 Gartner report, 15% of all IT projects failed that year because of high cost variance, while 18% were unsuccessful because they were substantially late.* This means that in 2008, 1 in 3 technology projects failed. Why such a dismal success rate? Such projects primarily involve the management of human resources in order to accomplish the target schedule, cost, and quality, so it is safe to assume that poor resource management played a large role. Unfortunately, without effective resource management processes, such organizations are left asking questions like:

• "Who is working on what?"
• "How do I get this project back on schedule?"
• "How much more work will it take to finish?"

The Problem with IT Projects Today

Time Management

It's a major concern that some people believe there is a perfect time management software out there that will fix all their scheduling woes. This challenge can't be surmounted with technology alone, there are aspects of habit at play here, not to mention the inherently unpredictable nature of software development (e.g. do you know how many bugs your software will have after launch?)
The PRINCE2 manual says that a staff member can only do 3.5 days of productive work in a week (out of 5 days).¹ Other tasks like meetings, answering the phone, attending Janice's farewell party, and so on take up the remaining time. I have been at a company where management believed staff were capable of 4.5 days of productive work per week; this was pure fantasy, wishing something were true doesn't make it so. Perhaps this was a misapplication of Parkinson's Law.

Controlling Projects

Changes requested once a project is underway are an inevitable part of any project. They can either be the result of external changes in the business or they can be internal changes requested because the original aims of the project were not clearly defined or understood.
Change requests resulting from external factors are usually beyond the control of a project manager and there is usually little choice but to deal with them. Most successful project managers will have already put a process in place at the start of the project to handle such requests and the plan will be flexible enough to cope without unduly affecting the final outcome.

Effective Project Management

We've all been there. We've all exhaled loudly when finished - the proverbial 'monkey' is off your back! Maybe you have even given a silent 'high-five' as the project has finally gone live when it looked like you were going to miss the deadline? But have these reactions only manifest because you have managed to snatch project victory from the jaws of defeat? Would your behaviour be the same if the project was run smoothly? I doubt it.

So, how can we avoid the, some would say traditional, last minute 'all hands to the pump'? Well, here's my top tips for project management success - I have even given them a catchy-title: "Clarkson's Criteria for Cracking Change":

Project Manager

A project manager's prime task is managing a project to success. The products of the project need to be picked up by the line organisation, and if this involves change in the organisation or ways of working, the changes must be made to 'stick'. By ensuring that the responsibilities for project management and business change are well assigned in a project there is an increased chance of success.

IT Helpdesk Environment

In the IT Support domain, Helpdesks frequently have to make preparations to provide support for a new tool, application, technology or product that is being rolled out to their end-users. Although these types of projects are typically small and non-complex, all Helpdesk projects require proper planning and need to follow a project framework, in order to maintain customer satisfaction and to ensure that any changes in the supported environment do not negatively impact on the service that the Helpdesk is providing. After all, one of the key aims of a Helpdesk in its day to day operations has to be ensuring customer satisfaction by consistently providing the service that is expected.

Work Breakdown Structure in Microsoft Project

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical decomposition of the project objectives into deliverable-oriented tasks that are executed by the project team to accomplish the overall project goals. The WBS forms the backbone of all the project planning activities. The WBS divides the scope of the project work into smaller, manageable work packages for maintaining better control of the project activities. As you move from the higher levels of the WBS to the lower levels, the definition of the project works gets more detailed with the upper levels representing the major phases of the project. It is imperative to remember that the WBS represents 100% of all the work defined in the project scope. Anything that is not included in the WBS is considered out of scope for the project.