The Magic of IS Project Management: Revealing the Masters Secrets

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The Magic of IS Project ManagementRevealing the
Masters Secrets

• Kathy Schwalbe, Ph.D., PMP
• May 2, 2000
• PDS 2000

schwalbe_at_augsburg.edu www.augsburg.edu/ppages/schw
albe
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Expert Revelations on How to Succeed in Project
Management
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Tricks to Avoid
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Examples from the Field
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Personal Secrets
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Expert Revelation 1 Alignment

• Projects are much more likely to succeed if they
  align to organizational needs and goals
• Aligning information systems to corporate goals
  has emerged as the number one concern over the
  last five years in surveys of information systems
  executives

Strassmann and Bienkowski, Alignment of IT and
Business Keys to Realizing Business Value, ABT
Corporation, 9/29/99
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Why Firms Invest in IT Projects
Bacon, James. The Use of Decision Criteria in
Selecting Information Systems/ Technology,
Investments, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3,
September 1992
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Trick to Avoid 1
Because ITs There!
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Expert Revelation 2 Leadership

• The majority of characteristics of effective
  project managers are managerial in nature
• Project managers must be able to lead and manage
  and have necessary technical skills

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The Most Significant Characteristics of an
Effective Project Manager

• Leadership by example
• Visionary
• Technically competent
• Decisive
• Good communicator
• Good motivator

• Stands up to upper management when necessary
• Supports team members
• Encourages new ideas

Zimmerman and Yasin, A Leadership Profile of
American Project Managers, Project Management
Journal, March 1998
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Trick to Avoid 2
Making your best technical person the project
manager
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Expert Revelation 3User Involvement

• The number one reason why IT projects fail is a
  lack of user input (CHAOS, 1995)
• There are several ways to increase user
  involvement
• Have users lead or co-lead IT projects
• Have a senior manager outside of IT sponsor and
  champion IT projects
• Put star users on the project team and co-locate
  users and developers
• Provide interim deliverables that users can
  understand on a regular basis

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Checklist for User Involvement

• Do I have the right user(s)?
• Did I involve the users(s) early and often?
• Do I have a quality user(s) relationship?
• Do I make involvement easy?
• Did I find out what the user(s) need?

Standish Group, Unfinished Voyages,1996
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Trick to Avoid 3
Thinking IT knows whats best
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Expert Revelation 4 Senior Management Support

• Experts agree that you need senior management
  support for projects to be successful
• Senor management can (or cannot) provide
• Adequate resources
• Quick approval for unique project needs
• Cooperation from people in various parts of the
  organization
• Mentoring on leadership issues

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What Helps Projects Succeed?
Pinto and Slevin
Standish Group

• Clear project mission
• Top management support
• Good project schedule/plan
• Good client consultation

• User involvement
• Executive management support
• Clear statement of requirements
• Proper planning

Pinto and Slevin, Critical Factors in
Successful Project Implementation, IEEE,
February 1987 The Standish Group, CHAOS, 1995
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Trick to Avoid 4
Assuming its okay if senior managers and users
dont protest too much
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Expert Revelation 5Clear Project Purpose

• Having a clear mission or purpose and a clear
  statement of requirements are crucial to project
  success
• Its much easier to get project approval and lead
  a project if you understand the underlying reason
  for it, even if it the specs are not crystal clear

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Defining and Selling Way Cool Projects

• Challenge 1 Futzing with the structure and
  specifics of a given taskuntil it becomes a way
  cool project
• Challenge 2 Selling that way cool project.
  Great project managementin the real world!turns
  out to be mostly a sales game. I.e., getting all
  sorts of folks to support you, help you, give you
  their very best!

Peters, Tom. Reinventing Work The Project 50,
1999, p. 12
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Trick to Avoid 5
Faking coolness
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Expert Revelation 6Communications

• Being a good communicator is an essential project
  management skill
• Master project managers are great at listening,
  persuading, explaining, and discerning the best
  way to communicate with different stakeholders
• Project managers must be astute

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80 of Problems

• Eighty percent of the problems in workplace or
  personal relationships are really not
  problemsthey are misunderstanding
• Ill pay more for a mans ability to express
  himself than for any other quality he might
  possess. Charles Schwab

Wetherbe, James and Bond. So Whats Your Point?
1996, p. 3
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Trick to Avoid 6
Over-relying on reports, web sites, or
other formal communications
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Expert Revelation 7Plan and Replan

• Proper planning is key to project success
  remember that the purpose of project plans is to
  guide execution
• Project plans must be tailored to the needs of
  each particular project
• Be flexible when changes occur and be ready to
  update plans accordingly

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Planning is a Quadrant II Activity

• Using Stephen Coveys time management matrix,
  quadrant II activities are important but not
  urgent
• Quadrant II activities include planning,
  prevention, relationship building, and
  recognizing new opportunities
• Highly effective people, including project
  managers, focus on Quadrant II activities

Covey, Stephen, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People, 1990
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Trick to Avoid 7
Taking shortcuts to planning
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Expert Revelation 8Execute, execute, execute

• The most important job of a project manager is to
  get the job done
• Project managers must balance scope, time, and
  cost goals
• If you cant deliver results, you cant meet or
  exceed stakeholder needs and expectations

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Why CEOs (and Project Managers) Fail

• Bad execution is the main reason why CEOs are
  booted
• Bad execution means not getting things done,
  being indecisive, and not delivering on
  commitments
• A good plan, strong leadership, good
  communications skills, team building, etc. all
  help with execution

Charan and Colvin, Why CEOs Fail, Fortune,
June 21, 1999
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Trick to Avoid 8
Not focusing on results
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Expert Revelation 9Team Building

• Project managers must foster an environment for
  teams to thrive
• Some experts suggest
• Hand picking your project team
• Focusing on goals and outcomes to promote
  teamwork
• Establishing team-based rewards
• Creating a fun work environment
• Providing a quiet work space!

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Trick to Avoid 9
Assuming smart people work well in any team
situation
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Expert Revelations 10Structure

• Most people like and need structure to guide
  projects
• Using a clear and consistent approach to project
  management helps projects succeed

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Project Management Maturity Model

• Ad-Hoc Disorganized, chaotic project management
  (PM) processes low success rate
• Abbreviated Some processes in place, but project
  success is largely unpredictable
• Organized Standardized, documented process and
  systems more predictable success rate
• Managed Management collects and uses measures of
  effectiveness of PM more uniform success
• Adaptive Feedback from the PM process and from
  piloting innovative ideas and technologies
  enables continuous improvement success is the
  norm

Enterprise Planning Associates, 1998
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Trick to Avoid 10
Winging it too often
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Example from the Field Northwest Airlines
ResNet
A full case study on ResNet is available in
Schwalbes Information Technology Project
Management text, Course Technology, 2000
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ResNet Background

• ResNet is the main reservation system used today
  by Northwest Airlines
• From 1993-1997, Northwest Airlines worked on
  three distinct projects to develop and install
  ResNet on over 3,000 workstations in nine
  different cities
• ResNet was a huge success in terms of meeting
  scope, time, and cost goals and exceeding
  stakeholder expectations

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The Masters Secrets on ResNet

• Alignment The main reason for funding ResNet was
  to stop losing money on the call centers
• Leadership Peeter Kivestu, then a marketing
  director, led all three ResNet projects
• User Involvement Sales agents did a lot of the
  coding for the ResNet interface
• Senior Management Support The VP of
  Reservations provided the vision for ResNet
• Clear purpose Focused on increasing direct
  sales and reducing call handle time to save money

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The Masters Secrets on ResNet

• Communications Peeter and his team used varied,
  innovative ways to communicate
• Plan and Replan The project team created and
  followed realistic plans
• Execute The entire ResNet team focused on
  meeting project goals
• Team building Peeter hand picked key team
  members and provided a fun work environment
• Structure Everyone knew that milestone dates
  had to be met

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Peeters Expert Advice

• Have clear project goals. It is human nature to
  want to achieve goals
• Create a fun working environment to promotes
  buy-in, creativity, and teamwork. Use themes and
  special events to make projects fun and memorable
• Set realistic milestone dates and stick to them.
  Missing dates causes too much chaos

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Kathys Personal Secrets

• Have passion for your projects
• Provide challenge, creativity, and fun on IT
  projects along with structure
• Clearly define what the main stakeholders really
  mean be astute
• Create an open, learning environment and mentor
  future project managers

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Final Thought Remember that we all influence
our future leaders!
Scott Schwalbe Future Governor?