Advantages of Using Formal Project Management: Better control of financial, physical, and human resources; Improved customer relations; Shorter development times; Lower costs and improved productivity; Higher quality and increased reliability; Higher profit margins; Better internal coordination; Positive impact on meeting strategic goals; Higher worker morale.
A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result”
Operations is work done to sustain the business
Projects end when their objectives have been reached or the project has been terminated
A project :
has a unique purpose; is temporary; drives change and enable value creation; is developed using progressive elaboration; requires resources, often from various areas; should have a primary customer or sponsor （The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project）; involves uncertainty.
Project managers work with project sponsors, team, and other people involved in a project to achieve project goals.
Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements”
Project managers strive to meet the triple constraint (project scope, time, and cost goals) and also facilitate the entire process to meet the needs and expectations of project stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities Stakeholders include the project sponsor banks and other financial institutions the project manager the project team support staff suppliers opponents to the project
There are several ways to define project success: The project met scope, time, and cost goals The project satisfied the customer/sponsor The results of the project met its main objective, such as making or saving a certain amount of money, providing a good return on investment, or simply making the sponsors happy
Top three reasons why federal technology projects succeed Adequate funding Staff expertise Engagement from all stakeholders
A program is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually”
Six traits of highly effective project managers as follows: Be a strategic business partner Encourage and recognize valuable contributions Respect and motivate stakeholders Be fully vested in success Stress integrity and accountability Work in the gray/Be able to deal with ambiguity
Suggested Skills for Project Managers
The Project Management Body of Knowledge Application area knowledge, standards, and regulations Project environment knowledge General management knowledge and skills Soft skills or human relations skills
Three basic organizational structures Functional: functional managers report to the CEO Project: program managers report to the CEO Matrix: middle ground between functional and project structures; personnel often report to two or more bosses; structure can be weak, balanced, or strong matrix
Ten characteristics of organizational culture: Member identity* Group emphasis* People focus Unit integration* Control Risk tolerance* Reward criteria* Conflict tolerance* Means-ends orientation Open-systems focus*
*Project work is most successful in an organizational culture where these items are strong/high and other items are balanced.
Project managers need to take a systems approach when working on projects Organizations have four different frames: structural, human resources, political, and symbolic The structure and culture of an organization have strong implications for project managers Projects should successfully pass through each phase of the project life cycle Project managers need to consider several factors due to the unique context of information technology projects Recent trends affecting IT project management include globalization, outsourcing, virtual teams, and agile project management