The Magic of IS Project Management Revealing the

The Magic of IS Project Management: Revealing the Masters’ Secrets Kathy Schwalbe, Ph. D. , PMP May 2, 2000 PDS 2000 schwalbe@augsburg. edu www. augsburg. edu/ppages/schwalbe 1

Expert Revelations on How to Succeed in Project Management 2

Tricks to Avoid 3

Examples from the Field 4

Personal Secrets 5

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 6

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 7

Trick to Avoid #1: “Because IT’s There!” 8

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 9

The Most Significant Characteristics of an Effective Project Manager* • • • Leadership by example • Stands up to upper management when Visionary necessary Technically competent • Supports team Decisive members Good communicator • Encourages new ideas Good motivator *Zimmerman and Yasin, “A Leadership Profile of American Project Managers, ” Project Management Journal, March 1998 10

Trick to Avoid #2 Making your best technical person the project manager 11

Expert Revelation #3: User 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 12

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 13

Trick to Avoid #3: Thinking IT knows what’s best 14

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 15

What Helps Projects Succeed? Pinto and Slevin* • Clear project mission • Top management support • Good project schedule/plan • Good client consultation Standish Group** • 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 16

Trick to Avoid #4: Assuming it’s okay if senior managers and users don’t protest too much 17

Expert Revelation #5: Clear Project Purpose • Having a clear mission or purpose and a clear statement of requirements are crucial to project success • It’s 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 18

Defining and Selling “Way Cool Projects”* • Challenge 1: Futzing with the structure and specifics of a given task…until it becomes a “way cool project” • Challenge 2: Selling that “way cool project. ” Great project management—in 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 19

Trick to Avoid #5 Faking coolness 20

Expert Revelation #6: Communications • 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” 21

80% of Problems… • “Eighty percent of the ‘problems’ in workplace or personal relationships are really not problems—they are misunderstanding”* • “I’ll pay more for a man’s ability to express himself than for any other quality he might possess. ” Charles Schwab Wetherbe, James and Bond. So What’s Your Point? 1996, p. 3 22

Trick to Avoid #6 Over-relying on reports, web sites, or other formal communications 23

Expert Revelation #7: Plan 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 24

Planning is a “Quadrant II” Activity* • Using Stephen Covey’s 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 25

Trick to Avoid #7 Taking shortcuts to planning 26

Expert Revelation #8: 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 can’t deliver results, you can’t meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations 27

Why CEOs (and Project Managers) Fail • Bad execution is the main reason why CEO’s 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 CEO’s Fail, ” Fortune, June 21, 1999 28

Trick to Avoid #8 Not focusing on results 29

Expert Revelation #9: Team 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! 30

Trick to Avoid #9: Assuming smart people work well in any team situation 31

Expert Revelations #10: Structure • Most people like and need structure to guide projects • Using a clear and consistent approach to project management helps projects succeed 32

Project Management Maturity Model* 1. Ad-Hoc: Disorganized, chaotic project management (PM) processes; low success rate 2. Abbreviated: Some processes in place, but project success is largely unpredictable 3. Organized: Standardized, documented process and systems; more predictable success rate 4. Managed: Management collects and uses measures of effectiveness of PM; more uniform success 5. Adaptive: Feedback from the PM process and from piloting innovative ideas and technologies enables continuous improvement; success is the norm *Enterprise Planning Associates, 1998 33

Trick to Avoid #10 Winging it too often 34

Example from the Field: Northwest Airlines’ Res. Net* *A full case study on Res. Net is available in Schwalbe’s Information Technology Project Management text, Course Technology, 2000 35

Res. Net Background • Res. Net is the main reservation system used today by Northwest Airlines • From 1993 -1997, Northwest Airlines worked on three distinct projects to develop and install Res. Net on over 3, 000 workstations in nine different cities • Res. Net was a huge success in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost goals and exceeding stakeholder expectations 36

The Master’s Secrets on Res. Net 1. Alignment: The main reason for funding Res. Net was to stop losing money on the call centers 2. Leadership: Peeter Kivestu, then a marketing director, led all three Res. Net projects 3. User Involvement: Sales agents did a lot of the coding for the Res. Net interface 4. Senior Management Support: The VP of Reservations provided the vision for Res. Net 5. Clear purpose: Focused on increasing direct sales and reducing call handle time to save money 37

The Master’s Secrets on Res. Net 6. Communications: Peeter and his team used varied, innovative ways to communicate 7. Plan and Replan: The project team created and followed realistic plans 8. Execute: The entire Res. Net team focused on meeting project goals 9. Team building: Peeter hand picked key team members and provided a fun work environment 10. Structure: Everyone knew that milestone dates had to be met 38

Peeter’s 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 39

Kathy’s 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 40

Final Thought: Remember that we all influence our future leaders! Scott Schwalbe – Future Governor? 41