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

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.

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

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

Why Do Projects Fail?  Senior management show less than optimal commitment  Scope not set or controlled  Insufficient / inappropriate resources  Estimates are wrong  No risk or issues management  Poor communication  Time frames too ambitious or too long  Inappropriate technology  Lack of commitment / accountabilities not met by stakeholders

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

Project Management A Maturity Model Research by Carnegie Mellon University seat of the pants Success rate less than 30% aware e Success rate of 30 to 45% Success rate of 45 to 75% Success rate better than 75% best practice competent seat of pants awareaware

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

Why Should We Care?  To Increase the likelihood that projects will : –be done on time and within budget –meet people’s expectations –be done well

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PPMM Summary Overview

Initiation Plan Status Report Audit Report Post phase assessment Detail Work Plan Process

PPMM Tools  Office 2000 –Word –Excel –Access  MS Project 2000

Recommended Best Practices (Lessons Learned in managing projects at Princeton University) Project Planning and Management  Follow proven methodologies  Active Executive/Project Sponsor  Identify / revisit “critical success” factors  Document assumptions –Business process change vs. customization

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

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

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

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

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

Recommended Best Practices Managing Expectations  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

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

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)

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