The idea that project management is reaching into every aspect of business may well have been true five years ago, but PM is no longer the new kid on the block - it has become a well entrenched discipline. Chris Wilkins, CEO of business systems solutions provider DVT, says the fundamentals of PM have remained the same, but the nature of the process, the skills required and the personality profile of project managers has definitely matured.
The current focus in business on reducing IT spend has ensured that each project is carefully scrutinised in terms of the significant costs it will incur for the company. This has seen a major reduction in the number of IT projects initiated each year. The slowdown in the industry over the past two years has resulted in massive benefits for a sector that was rife with failed projects and unrealistic price tags. The biggest complaints have come from listed IT solutions specialists who made unrealistic promises to unsuspecting shareholders.
The benefits of good project management are numerous: the average project team is highly skilled and unlikely to carry passengers; there are fewer projects to work on in the industry, which means a greater chance of success for those initiated into the discipline; the business is watched closely, so problems are identified early on; and projects are generally smaller than they used to be, so are more predictable.
In the past, project managers had to deal with excessive demands from businesses intent on spending more than ever on IT solutions. Every new idea that proposed IT as a primary enabler, such as the Internet, was eagerly snatched up and presented to the board as another opportunity to jump aboard the technology gravy train. As with any industry characterised by excessive and easily available cash, there was a steady influx of people that had neither the skills nor the temperament to work at the intense levels that these projects demand. True delivery experts were extremely difficult to find. Many project managers were not even equipped to recognise an excellent business analyst or technology specialist. Project managers often ended up recruiting and employing staff for their own projects.
It stands to reason that reduced spend and a reduction in the number of semi-skilled or opportunistic individuals in the IT industry has changed the nature of project management.
For a start, the average project is smaller than its ambitious predecessors. Reduced budget, smaller teams and incremental delivery of small pieces of work mean that the average project manager cannot merely lean on process or rely on assistance from a large team of other skilled professionals. They often have to contribute as a specialist, a personal motivator, and a skilful negotiator while keeping a suspicious client at arm`s length and shielding a small development team from unrealistic demands.
Smaller projects also mean faster delivery. The contract project manager has found that there are no longer one to two year projects that roll on with seemingly endless budgets. Nowadays, non-delivery is spotted quickly, contracts are only for short spells, and the business watches pace of delivery and associated costs very closely.
Project managers therefore need to know what they are doing right from the start. Firstly, deliverables should be useful and contribute to the overall project objective. For example, there should always be a reason to create a new document, whether to illustrate business rules to business people or depict screen navigation and data relationships for developers. Secondly, a low ceremony approach with the focus on people, skills and management by objective will always win over an intensely methodology-driven or high ceremony approach that manages process. Thirdly, assuming that project teams now comprise highly skilled individuals, understanding the strengths of each individual and how they best work together becomes critical to fast, painless delivery.
Project managers have also learned to manage business expectations. Their role is to inform the project sponsor that technology is usually a secondary enabler and that the business should embrace technology to meet operational business objectives. They must therefore put themselves squarely behind the business objective and beat a straight line to the specific business benefit identified when the project started.
Project managers need to be trained and experienced, more focused on getting the job done than getting the process completed, have strong interpersonal skills and have the background to understand business analysis and software development. There are always exceptions, and many excellent IT project managers have business backgrounds with no specific IT training.
Ironically, just when the genuine IT specialist is becoming indispensable, the enthusiasm for turning high quality developers and business analysts into project managers to ensure career progression seems more prevalent than ever. It is important to consider that technologists are required to focus on specific problems for long periods of time with limited interaction, business analysts are constantly required to source diverse information while balancing business and technology needs, and project managers are expected to fix their eyes on delivery that matches spend with benefit.
This brief summary of skill diversity illustrates how different these jobs are. We can only hope that in the future, value and recognition will be attached to each role on an equitable basis.
Project managers in 2004 deliver smaller projects, have close professional relationships with team members, demonstrate a detailed understanding of analysis and software development, developed their skills over time across a range of projects, have some formal project management training, and are prepared to take responsibility for their projects.
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