Project Management Essentials: Success & Pitfalls
Project Management Foundations
An interdependent set of activities geared towards a specific purpose and with a set duration.
Achieving Project Success
Successfully completing a project means meeting objectives within technical specifications, cost, and time constraints.
A set of goal-oriented projects is called a program, and a set of programs forms a plan.
Key Project Dimensions
Technical Aspects
- Applying the expertise of each work area, adhering to the work methods and requirements (know-how) that each profession imposes.
- Possessing adequate knowledge to solve the problem at hand or perform the assigned work.
- The importance of this technical aspect should not overshadow other elements involved in project realization, which also contribute to its significance and complexity.
Human Dynamics
- A project is a complex web of relationships, bringing together a large number of sometimes competing interests.
- Differences often arise, such as between the project manager and the customer or supplier.
- Disputes between departments can occur when allocating available resources, especially when multiple projects run in parallel within the organization.
Management Imperatives
- Often underestimated because it is not as dramatic or visible as other elements.
- It is, however, the catalyst that ensures other elements function properly.
- Project success largely depends on effective direction or management.
Common Project Error Sources
Errors are often attributed to:
- Requirements: 56%
- Design: 27%
- Programming: 7%
- Other: 10%
Requirements Challenges
- Exaggerating system scope.
- Developing ‘monstrous’ systems.
- The ‘just in case’ mentality.
- Underestimating complexity (‘easy’).
- Constant new requirements.
- Late-stage requirements.
- Lack of request stability.
- Insufficient user involvement.
- User unpreparedness.
- Inadequate report reviews.
- Poor acceptance processes.
- Lack of institutional experience.
- Ignorance of the subject matter.
Navigating Project Crises
Signs of Project Crisis
- High error levels in resource and deadline estimation.
- Poor quality in specification, analysis, and design tasks.
- Excessive efforts devoted to system maintenance.
- Inflexible development processes.
- Difficulty managing change.
- Slow, labor-intensive, wild, and unpredictable development processes.
- Poor communication between analysts and end-users.
- IT projects exist in a market-driven, chaotic (time-to-market), and human-centric world.
People-Related Project Issues
- Lack of motivation.
- Mediocre personnel.
- Uncontrolled problem employees.
- Blind trust in deliverables.
- Adding staff to a late project (Brooks’s Law).
- Crowded and noisy offices.
- The ‘only you’ syndrome (single point of failure).
- Friction between clients and technical teams.
- Unrealistic expectations.
- Lack of an effective project champion.
- Insufficient stakeholder participation.
- Policy considerations overriding development needs.
- Illusions of control or progress.
Process-Related Project Issues
- Overly optimistic planning.
- Insufficient risk management.
- Subcontractor failures.
- Inadequate planning.
- Abandoning planning under pressure.
- Time loss in the ‘fuzzy front end’ (analysis paralysis).
- Skimping on initial activities.
- Inadequate design.
- Insufficient quality control.
- Inadequate management control.
- Premature or too frequent convergence.
- Omitting necessary tasks from estimates.
- Planning to ‘catch up later’.
- Fragmented programming.