Question

IT Project Management

Book: IT Project Management 9th, Chapter 3 Question 1 part

Explain in details what type of activities occur before initiating a project.

Answer 1

Before we initiates a project, we should know about the every possible outcome on any phase of the project. So, instead of stuck in between the project its better to being prepared for every possible outcome comes in.

For that we should know about the useful task to do before initiation:

• Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints
• Identify the project sponsor
• Select the project manager
• Develop a business case
• Discuss with project manager the process and expectations for managing the project
• If necessary, divide the project into smaller projects

Now start with the main five process involves in IT project management and those are-

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring and Controlling
• Closing.

Discussed in detail:

All projects have a finite budget; the customer is willing to spend a certain amount of money for delivery of a new product or service. If you reduce the project's cost, you will either have to reduce its scope or increase its time.

As the saying goes, 'time is money', a commodity that slips away too easily. Projects have a deadline date for delivery. When you reduce the project's time, you will either have to increase its cost or reduce its scope.

Many projects fail on this constraint because the scope of the project is either not fully defined or understood from the start. When you increase a project's scope, you will either have to increase its cost or time.

Make sure project sponsors understand how critical they are to project success and Clarify the project sponsor's role & responsibilities like specially if they're new to the role, your project sponsor may not fully realize what’s expected of them, or what their relationship is to you as the project manager. And if they don't understand their role, there's no way they can fill it successfully. A good sponsor smooths the way for timely decisions and access to resources so that the project manager can run the day-to-day without hitting a wall at every turn. But sponsors also maintain objectivity, keeping in mind the big picture of how the project fits into larger business goals and the overall direction of the company.

Meet regularly to your sponsor and establish good communication habits early on so that it's easy fro him to deal with that.

Choosing the right Project Manager is essential to project success. Choose wisely and you dramatically improve the chances that your next project will come in on-time, on-budget and with the anticipated results. When choosing a Project Manager, some criteria to consider include:

• Experience in managing projects
• Ability to dedicate the time necessary for project success
• Attention to detail
• Obsession with achieving objectives on-time and on-budget
• Ability to communicate, orally and in writing
• Skills and experience managing and influencing people including those who are not direct reports
• Ability to juggle multiple responsibilities
• Flexibility—Tenacity—Patience

The purpose of the business case is communication. Therefore, each section should be written in the parlance of the intended audience. The business case brings together the benefits, disadvantages, costs, and risks of the current situation and future vision so that executive management can decide if the project should go ahead. When writing a business case keep the following in mind:

• the document should be brief and convey only the bare essentials,
• make it interesting, clear and concise,
• eliminate conjecture,
• describe your vision of the future,
• demonstrate the value and benefits the project brings to the business, and
• keep the number of authors to a minimum to ensure consistent style and readability.

So finally, these are the useful tasks (discussed above) you can do before initiating a project.

Now you are ready to work on your own project and keep these things in your mind.

Thank You!