Chapter 6 - Organizing IT projects

Abstract

Information Technology Project Management (IT PM) is an iterative process. It's also true that in many instances, IT PM steps occur concurrently or out of order. For instance, it's possible that during the high-level definition stage, additional project definitions and data are also developed. While there is a logical flow to the IT PM steps, in the real world things an ideal order is not to be followed always. The key is to properly define and organize an IT project before starting to actually do the work of the project, whenever possible. In this chapter, project detail is developed including elements— such as priorities, specifications, user requirements, and project infrastructure, and so on. Project processes and procedures, when well-designed, help in reducing IT project team stress by providing simple, easy-to-use processes, procedures, and tools to help them in managing the project workload. Consistent processes and procedures help everyone perform at a higher level, but there is a limit. Creation of processes and procedures that simply get in the way of getting work done should be avoided. Feedback from the team during the definition of processes and procedures and when the project is underway must be encouraged. It is important to define only as many processes and procedures as are helpful. This varies from project to project and from company to company.