Just as is the case in other industries, project management in IT is crucial in ensuring the project is concluded on time and within budget. To achieve success in your IT project, you should pay attention to the following:
1. Project Planning
IT personnel tend to jump straight into the implementation phase of the project without paying attention to the project planning phase. Project planning is important since it allows you to define the overview, objectives, scope, risks and assumptions, approach, organization, cost, and time duration of the project at hand. Once all these areas are covered, implementing the project is easier and has specific deliverables to be met.
2. Create a Project Workplan
A project work plan outlines what needs to be done, by who, when and by what time. If you have a work plan from a similar project done in the past, you can use that as a template for preparing one for the current project. A detailed work plan does not only outline the items mentioned, but also allocates the resources to be used for each task.
3. Project Management Procedures
These should be detailed upfront and those responsible for overseeing implementation of the project identified. IT project management procedures cover scope change, communication procedures, management of issues, risk and quality management, among others. At this stage, all stakeholders should know how they are playing into the project and what is expected of them to make the project a success. Clients should be identified of project management procedures at this stage so that they know what to expect. IT helpdesk support services come in handy in getting issues to be handled by the correct team or individual.
4. Monitoring and Evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation looks at the project as a whole. It ensures the project is on schedule and sticks to budget. If there are any changes or issues faced, they can be dealt with as they arise. If monitoring and evaluation is not done, it is impossible to track the progress of the project. Ideally, the workplan should be reviewed on a daily basis and updated accordingly. You should also ensure unnecessary spending is stopped so that there will be enough resources to last the duration of the project.
5. Guarding against Scope Creep
Scope creep occurs when small scope changes occur over the course of the project but scope management procedures are not called into action. Consequently, these small changes major new functions and deliverables are added to project timelines, impacting negatively on the whole project. As a project manager, you have to guard against scope creep at all costs.
6. Building Effective Teams
For your project to be successful, effective team building is necessary. Building effective teams for implementation of projects not only looks into the technical expertise of the team, but also into team and performance culture, a shared vision, and shared team processes. The whole team should be aligned to the vision of the project and work towards seeing its completion. One critical component of coming up with effective teams is having IT helpdesk support services.
7. Mastering Technology and Content
In IT, knowledge and expertise is critical in delivering a high quality program or product. The technical aspect of the project should be clear to every team member. They should be aware of quality assurance procedures, and be knowledgeable in the use of IT architecture and infrastructure for implementation of the project. Without this mastery and perfect synchronization of the skills and knowledge brought on board by the team, you may have a talented team but still fail in project delivery.
Conclusion
IT project management, is a must especially for large projects, to be completed on time and within budget. Consequently, all the aspects discussed above are critical in successful implementation of IT projects.
