IT projects can be daunting, especially to the novice. It's relatively easy to propose a solution, but much more difficult to implement the desired performance levels on time for the right price. This list will help IT pros bring organisation, professionalism, and goal-oriented progress to the projects they manage.
1. Get professional
IT projects historically have a negative reputation for being over budget, late, and poorly implemented. Having a professional individual in charge of the project can add great organisation and credibility to your efforts. If your project is of a size where a project manager role can be used, go for it.
Working with a Project Management Institute (PMP)-certified individual will greatly enhance the effectiveness of your software projects. The PMP is also a good benchmark across all project management disciplines and is a big credibility booster when a project integrates with non-IT individuals, external customers, business partners, or part of a larger project.
2. Identify the leadership roles
Having individuals responsible for specifics metrics of the project is important. This should be done in a way that puts capable individuals in roles that are best suited for their talents but that doesn't overwhelm individual team members. IT projects often put too much emphasis on the technical contributions of a small number of individuals -- or even just one person -- and effectiveness is limited when these resources are maximised during the project cycle.
You should also ensure that individuals in charge of specific areas of the project do not hoard responsibility. For example, a person or small group may make great contributions to the progress of the project in regard to overall systems performance, not using so much time for the project (when working from a fixed-price/hours amount project), and getting finished ahead of schedule. But these efficiencies may come at the price of this individual or group not updating project documentation or ensuring revision control with authoritative instances of documents or code and possibly missing "the little things" in the project.
Individuals with leadership roles within the project can ensure that the project follow-through is done according to the required standards. Examples of this include roles such as Technical Lead, Project Lead, or Documentation Lead. These leadership roles can provide checks and balances in the event that a person becomes reassigned unexpectedly or leaves the organisation. The continuity chain can be made stronger by tighter integration across individuals for progress points and ensuring the administrative follow-through of the project.
3. Focus on scope management
Scope management is one of the most important aspects of IT projects, and it's the team's responsibility to make sure that any scope changes are introduced in the correct forum. The project process should include procedures for making a scope change proposal.
It's also important to ensure that the official mechanism for project documentation maintains robust revision control, because scope can change functionality requirements and thus change the documentation that accompanies a project. In the event that a scope change is backed out, proper revision control will ensure that the original functional levels are available from a documentation standpoint.
4. Create the project definition or charter
Having the project clearly defined can pave the way for all subsequent aspects of the project to be implemented correctly. A well-defined project definition and corresponding processes gives the project a strong foundation.
The project definition will define an agreed-upon performance baseline, costs, efforts required, expected functionality, implementation requirements, and customer requirements, and it identifies the individuals and organisations involved in the project. Project definitions that include specific technology details on how a task is to be accomplished will benefit all stakeholders of the project.
5. Identify the risks
IT projects can incur risk in unique ways, as IT projects make frequent use of vendors, consultants, and contractors. For example, if your organisation contracts Acme IT Services to assist your IT staff in its upcoming Active Directory and Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP Professional client migration, you may face the risk that Acme IT Services could go out of business, get a "more important" client, or do an inferior job.
Each element of risk -- resources, schedule, performance, cost, etc. -- should have assessments performed. These tasks are usually delegated to the project manager or individual most closely associated with that role. Periodic risk assessments and tracking are due diligence of the project process. Risks manifesting themselves in the project cycle should have recourses as well. For example, if Acme IT Services leaves your project for another client, ensure that there are recourses to working with this agency.
