Information Technology

Project Management, Sixth

Edition

Note: See the text itself for full citations.

  Many organizations today have a new or renewed
interest in project management
 Computer hardware, software, networks, and the
use of interdisciplinary and global work teams
have radically changed the work environment
 The world as a whole spends nearly $10 trillion
of its $40.7 trillion gross product on projects of all
kinds
 More than 16 million people regard project
management as their profession

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  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

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  A project is “a temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique product, service,
or result”

 Operations is work done to sustain the business

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  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

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  Projects can be large or small and take a
short or long time to complete

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  A project:
◦ Has a unique purpose
◦ Is temporary
◦ 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

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  A technician replaces ten laptops for a
small department
 A small software development team adds a new
feature to an internal software application for
the finance department
 A college campus upgrades its technology
infrastructure to provide wireless Internet access
across the whole campus
 A cross-functional task force in a company
decides what Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP)
system to purchase and how it will be

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 implemented

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  Project managers work with project sponsors, the
project team, and other people involved in a
project to meet project goals
 Program: group of related projects managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits and control
not available from managing them individually
 Program managers oversee programs; often act
as bosses for project managers

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 Successful project
management means
meeting all three
goals (scope, time,
and cost) – and
satisfying the
project’s sponsor!

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Project Management, Sixth
Copyright 2009 9
  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 by balancing project scope, time,
and cost goals

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  Stakeholders are the people involved in
or affected by project activities
 Stakeholders include:
◦ The project sponsor
◦ The project manager
◦ The project team
◦ Support staff
◦ Customers
◦ Users
◦ Suppliers
◦ Opponents to the project

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  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
◦ All knowledge areas are important!

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  Project management tools and techniques assist
project managers and their teams in various
aspects of project management
 Some specific ones include:
◦ Project charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)
◦ Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis,
critical chain scheduling (time)
◦ Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)

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  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

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 1. Executive support 7. Firm basic requirements
2. User involvement 8. Formal methodology
3. Experienced project 9. Reliable estimates
manager 10. Other criteria, such as
4. Clear business objectives small milestones, proper
5. Minimized scope planning, competent
6. Standard software staff, and ownership
infrastructure
*The Standish Group, “Extreme CHAOS,” (2001).

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  A program is “a group of related projects
managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits
and control not available from managing them
individually”

 A program manager provides leadership and

direction for the project managers heading the
projects within the program

 Examples of common programs in the IT field

include infrastructure, applications development,

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 and user support

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  Project managers need a wide variety of skills

 They should:

◦ Be comfortable with change

◦ Understand the organizations they work in and with

◦ Be able to lead teams to accomplish project goals

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  Job descriptions vary, but most include
responsibilities like planning, scheduling,
coordinating, and working with people to achieve
project goals

 Remember that 97% of successful projects

were led by experienced project managers, who
can often help influence success factors

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 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

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  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

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  Large projects: leadership, relevant prior experience,
planning, people skills, verbal communication, and team-
building skills were most important

 High uncertainty projects: risk management, expectation

management, leadership, people skills, and planning
skills were most important

 Very novel projects: leadership, people skills, having

vision and goals, self confidence, expectations
management, and listening skills were most important

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  Effective project managers provide leadership
by example
 A leader focuses on long-term goals and big-
picture objectives while inspiring people to reach
those goals
 A manager deals with the day-to-day details
of meeting specific goals
 Project managers often take on the role of
both leader and manager

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  In a 2006 survey by [Link], IT
executives ranked the skills that would be
the most in demand in the next two to five
years

 Project/program management topped the list!

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 SKILL PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
 Project/program management 60%
 Business process management 55%
 Business analysis 53%
 Application development 52%
 Database management 49%
 Security 42%
 Enterprise architect 41%
 Strategist/internal consultant 40%

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  The profession of project management is growing
at a very rapid pace

 It is helpful to understand the history of the

field, the role of professional societies like the
Project Management Institute, and the growth
in project management software

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  Some people argue that building the Egyptian
pyramids was a project, as was building the Great
Wall of China

 Most people consider the Manhattan Project to

be the first project to use “modern” project
management

 This three-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars)

project had a separate project manager and a
technical manager

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Information Technology Edition
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Copyright 2009 28
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  Ethics, loosely defined, is a set of principles that
guide our decision making based on personal values
of what is “right” and “wrong”

 Project managers often face ethical dilemmas

 In order to earn PMP certification, applicants

must agree to PMI’s Code of Ethics and
Professional Conduct

 Several questions on the PMP exam are related

to professional responsibility, including ethics

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  There are hundreds of different products to assist in
performing project management
 Three main categories of tools:
◦ Low-end tools: handle single or smaller projects well, cost
under $200 per user
◦ Midrange tools: handle multiple projects and users, cost
$200-600 per user, Project 2007 most popular
◦ High-end tools: also called enterprise project management
software, often licensed on a per-user basis, like VPMi
Enterprise Online ([Link]) – see front cover
for trial version information
 See the Project Management Center Web site or
Top Ten Reviews for links to many companies that
provide project management software

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  A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product, service, or result
 Project management is the application of knowledge,
skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to
meet project requirements
 A program is a group of related projects managed in
a coordinated way
 Project portfolio management involves organizing
and managing projects and programs as a portfolio of
investments
 Project managers play a key role in helping
projects and organizations succeed
 The project management profession continues to
grow and mature

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