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Project Management: A Critical Skill for IT Organizations

Project Management: A Critical Skill for IT Organizations. Presented by Hetty Baiz Project Office, OIT Princeton University. Background. Princeton replaces administrative systems multiple projects cross-functional mutually Interdependent multi-million dollar investment

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Project Management: A Critical Skill for IT Organizations

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  1. Project Management:A Critical Skill for IT Organizations Presented by Hetty Baiz Project Office, OIT Princeton University

  2. Background Princeton replaces administrative systems • multiple projects • cross-functional • mutually Interdependent • multi-million dollar investment Success and failure is no longer within the total control of a given project.

  3. What’s A Project? A “project” • Will deliver • Business and/or technical objectives • Is made up of • Defined processes & tasks • Will run for • Set period of time • Has a budget • Resources and $’s

  4. Project success occurs when we have: I A delighted client (expectations met) Delivered the agreed objectives I Objectives Met an agreed budget - $, resources etc. I Within an agreed time frame I The 'Golden Triangle' of ProjectSuccess and Done it all professionally & without killing the team I Cost Time What is Project Success?

  5. Why Do Projects Fail? • Changing scope • Insufficient planning • No risk or issues management • Poor communication • Lack of commitment and responsibility by stakeholders

  6. Steering Committee Senior Mgmt Clients & Users Academic & Business Units Interdependent Projects Project Information Technology Outside Groups (Vendors) Team Members Who Are Stakeholders?

  7. Project Management A Maturity Model best practice best practice competent Success rate better than 75% aware aware aware e Success rate of 45 to 75% seat seat of the of pants pants Success rate of 30 to 45% Success rate less than 30%

  8. Competent • Methodology and standards are well established and supported • Stakeholders understand and accept roles • Discrete measures support good management • Projects are set up and managed end-to-end • Risks are clearly defined and controlled

  9. What Is Princeton Doing? • Established a project management organization • monitor, assess, manage, support • Developed and supports a Princeton project management methodology

  10. Project Management Organization Steering Committee Project Managers’ Team Project Implementation Teams Project Office

  11. Project Office Mission To enable the successful implementation of OIT initiatives in a way that establishes a project management culture so that we deliver projects on time, within budget and with expected results.

  12. How? • Define a Princeton Project Management Methodology (PPMM) • Support and Mentor • Offer Training • Facilitation, Audit, Review

  13. Princeton Project Office Methodology Continuous Improvement Consulting/Mentoring Education/Training

  14. Tracking & Control Complete Initiation Planning & Reporting Assess Review Project Management Process Initiation Plan Detailed Plan Status Report Post Project Review Report

  15. Initiation Planning • Goal • Objectives / Deliverables • Scope • Roles & Responsibilities • Risks • Success Criteria • Time line (high level)

  16. Management Techniques To increase the likelihood of project success you must manage: • Stakeholders • Risks • Issues • Change

  17. Manage Stakeholders A stakeholder is any person or group who, if their support were to be withdrawn, could cause the project to fail. - Get them involved - Keep them informed - Gain their endorsement

  18. How to Manage Stakeholders • Identify stakeholders • Involve in planning • Establish expectations / accountabilities • Formal communication • Gain sign-off • Change and issues resolution • Project reviews • Define project completion

  19. Risk Management What is “risk”? • Any factor capable of causing the project to go off track. Develop, monitor, implement Risk Plan

  20. Issues Management • Unresolved issues will drive a project towards failure and consume a significant part of a project manager’s time. • Stakeholders play key role in issues management and resolution Establish Issues log, review, escalation process

  21. Change Management • Uncontrolled changes to a project will probably account for up to 30% of a project’s total effort. • If these changes are not managed, the project will be viewed to be over time and over budget. Establish a Change Management Process

  22. PPMM Summary Overview

  23. PPMM Summary Overview Process Initiation Plan Detail Work Plan Status Report Audit Report Post phase assessment

  24. PPMM Tools • Office 2000 • Word • Excel • Access • MS Project 2000

  25. Recommended Best Practices Project Planning and Management • Follow proven methodologies • Active Executive/Project Sponsor • Identify / revisit “critical success” factors • Document assumptions • Business process change vs. customization

  26. Recommended Best Practices Project Planning and Management • Have technical staff in place at start-up • Plan for backfill • Involve Steering Committee early • Plan production support in central offices • Plan for applying fixes • Plan for “end of project” • Plan for vacation/sick time

  27. Recommended Best Practices Scheduling, Tracking and Control • Break large projects into phases (no > 18 - 24 months total) • Control phase “bleed over” • Post phase assessments • “Go/No Go” decision points • Sponsor sign-off • Review Scope periodically

  28. Recommended Best Practices Scheduling, Tracking and Control • Building learning curve into plans • Weekly team meetings • Detail planning in 1-2 month segments • Define and manage to “critical path” • What’s important • Prioritize • Who, what, when

  29. Recommended Best Practices Reporting • Establish monthly status reporting • Hold monthly status reviews with key stakeholders • Oral status reports are effective • Keep users of system (middle managers) informed

  30. Recommended Best Practices Resourcing • Resource Plan • Cross functional teams work • Co-locate teams • Projects are full time job • Complete training before prototyping • Have full team train together • Leverage investment • Build team spirit

  31. Recommended Best Practices Managing Expectations • Have a Communication Plan • Make major policy decisions up front • Don’t make promises to users up front • Monthly status report and review • Monthly / bi-monthly presentations • Articles, web pages, newsletters • Special communications from sponsor • Focus groups, demos, town meetings

  32. Recommended Best Practices Promoting the System • Focus Groups during gap analysis • Demos for every user after first release • Executive Sponsor showed support • Town meetings to endorse system • Major presentation to users

  33. Recommended Best Practices Methodology • Follow proven methodologies • Consolidate methodology ( pre-kick off ) • Functional reps go to all prototyping • Use standard report formats • Co-locate developer with tester (short term)

  34. For more information…... • Call the Princeton Project Office at (609) 258-6335 • Send e-mail tohetty@princeton.edu • Visit our web site at… • www.princeton.edu/ppo

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