Introduction to

Project Management

Information Technology
Project Management
Introduction
 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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 Motivation for Studying Information
Technology (IT) Project Management
 IT Projects have a terrible track record
 The number of people earning their Project Management
Professional (PMP) certification continues to increase. 44
percent of employers listed project management as a skill they
looked for in new college grads, behind only communication and
technical skills
 31% of IT projects were canceled before completion
 A PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that overall half of all
projects fail and only 2.5% of corporations consistently meet
their targets for scope, time, and cost goals for all types of
project.
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What Is a Project?
 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
 Projects can be large or small and take a short
or long time to complete

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Examples of IT Projects
 A team of students creates a smartphone
application and sells it online
 A company develops a driverless car
 A small software development team adds a new

feature to an internal software application for the

finance department
 A college upgrades its technology infrastructure to

provide wireless Internet access across the whole

campus

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Project Attributes
 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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Project and Program Managers
 Project managers work with project sponsors,
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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Figure 1-1 The Triple Constraint of
Project Management
What is Project Management?
 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

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Figure 1-2 Project Management
Framework

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Project Stakeholders
 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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10 Project Management Knowledge
Areas
 Knowledge areas describe the key competencies
that project managers must develop
 Project managers must have knowledge and skills

in all 10 knowledge areas (project integration,

scope, time, cost, quality, human resource,
communications, risk, procurement, and
stakeholder management)

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Project Management Tools and
Techniques
 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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Super Tools
 “Super tools” are those tools that have high use and
high potential for improving project success, such as:
◦ Software for task scheduling (such as project management
software)
◦ Scope statements
◦ Requirements analysis
◦ Lessons-learned reports
 Tools already extensively used that have been found to
improve project importance include:
◦ Progress reports
◦ Kick-off meetings
◦ Gantt charts
◦ Change requests

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Project Success
 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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What Helps Projects Succeed?
1. User involvement
2. Executive support
3. Clear business objectives
4. Emotional maturity
5. Optimizing scope
6. Agile process
7. Project management expertise
8. Skilled resources
9. Execution
10. Tools and infrastructure

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Top Three Reasons Why Projects
Succeed
 Adequate funding
 Staff expertise
 Engagement from all stakeholders

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What the Winners Do…
 Recent research findings show that companies that
excel in project delivery capability:
◦ Use an integrated project management toolbox
(use standard/advanced PM tools, lots of
templates)
◦ Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and
soft skills
◦ Develop a streamlined project delivery process
◦ Measure project health using metrics, like customer
satisfaction or return on investment

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Program and Project Portfolio
Management
 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,
and user support

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Project Portfolio Management
 As part of project portfolio management,
organizations group and manage projects and
programs as a portfolio of investments that
contribute to the entire enterprise’s success
 Portfolio managers help their organizations make

wise investment decisions by helping to select and

analyze projects from a strategic perspective

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Figure 1-3. Project Management Compared
to Project Portfolio Management

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Figure 1-4. Sample Project Portfolio
Approach

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The Role of the Project Manager
 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 are led
by experienced project managers, who can often
help influence success factors

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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

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Table 1-3 Ten Most Important Skills and
Competencies for Project Managers
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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Different Skills Needed in Different
Situations
 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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Importance of Leadership Skills
 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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History of Project Management
 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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Project Management Offices
 many companies began creating PMOs to help
them handle the increasing number and
complexity of projects
 A Project Management Office (PMO) is an

organizational group responsible for coordinating

the project management function throughout an
organization

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Figure 1-8. Growth in the Number of
Project Management Offices

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Advantages of Using Formal
Project Management
 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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Global Issues
 Several global dynamics are forcing organizations to
rethink their practices:
◦ Talent development for project and program managers is a
top concern
◦ Good project portfolio management is crucial in tight
economic conditions
◦ Basic project management techniques are core
competencies
◦ Organizations want to use more agile approaches to
project management
◦ Benefits realization of projects is a key metric

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Ethics in Project Management
 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

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