Introduction to Project Management

Information Technology
Project Management,
Seventh Edition
 Project Management Course details
 10 lectures and tutorials
 1 session will be a revision session to help you with your coursework
 Assessment – one course work (70% of total marks)
 1 session will consist of a discussion by YOU in groups of 3/4 (30% of
total marks).You will be given a project to imagine that you are doing
and then you will need to discuss with me how you would go about it.
 Lecturer Details - Richard Johnson QM364
available between 3 and 5 on Thursday in office

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Course Contents
1. Intro/What is Project Management? What makes a good Project
Manager?
2. Organisational Strategy and Project Life cycle
3. Stakeholder Management – the key to success
4. Importance of time
5. What makes project management risky and what to do about it!
6. How to deal with issues
7. Communication
8. Understanding the need for financial control
9. Ensuring that the project is containable (scope)
10. Testing in I.T. projects
11. How to avoid delivering rubbish!
12. Modern approaches to Project Management – Agile!
 Why are I.T. Project Managers needed?
 Brainstorm some reasons why they are needed

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 Why are I.T. Project Managers needed?
 To enable improvement in business processes
 Greater efficiency
 Better service to customers
 Better information to managers

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 Why are I.T. Project Managers needed?
 To successfully implement projects
 Need to understand the business case of a project
 Need to understand the expected outcomes this is crucial; the key
is to constantly think what will the end result be, not what the
process is
 Need to appreciate views of all impacted Stakeholders dealing with
stakeholders and getting that right is probably the most crucial
aspect of project management
 Need to successfully plan each stage of a project
 Need to understand the risks associated with the project

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 Role of the Project Manager?

?
People Technology
Stakeholders
Customers Hardware
Suppliers Software
Managers Networks
Developers Databases
Users

An agent of Change
Business
Strategy
Products
Organisation
Costs/Profits
7 Legal Requirements
Information Technology Project Management
 What skills do YOU think a P.M. needs?

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 Skills of the Project Manager
Inspiring Shared Vision
Good communicator
Integrity
Enthusiasm
Empathy
Competence
Ability to Delegate
Cool under pressure
Team building skills
Problem solving skills
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Information Technology Project Management
 What is a Project?
“A project is a unique set of co-ordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points,
undertaken by an individual or team to meet specific objectives within defined time, cost and
performance parameters as specified in the business case.” (Office of Government Commerce)

"A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.“
(Project Management Institute)

“A temporary endeavour, having a defined beginning and end (usually constrained by date but can
be by funding or deliverables) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives usually to bring
about beneficial change or added value.” (Wikipedia)

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 Some Common Characteristics of Projects
 Instruments of change
 Non-routine
 Unique
 Temporary with defined start and end dates
 A defined amount of resources
 Carried out by people who don't normally work together
 Intended to achieve a specific outcome
 Frequently risky and involving uncertainties
 Composed of inter-dependent activities
 Contrast with Business operations
Ongoing
Repetitive
No End Date
Keeping the organisation going

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 How to be a brilliant project manager
 You must always succeed – a challenge when 70% of projects do not succeed!
 Recognise that the responsibility for success, or failure, is YOURS!
 Enjoy the work – its is challenging, interesting, varied.
 Recognise that above all project management is a people job

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 Projects through History
 Mega projects of the last 4,500 years include:
 The Giza Pyramid in Egypt (2550 BC)

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 Projects thru History
 Mega projects of the last 4,500 years include:
 Great Wall of China (221 – 206 BC)

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 Projects thru History
 Mega projects of the last 4,500 years include:
 The Colosseum in Rome (72 – 80 AD)

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 Projects thru History
 Mega projects of the last 4,500 years include:
 Gothic Cathedrals of Europe (12th to 16th century)

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 Projects thru History
 Mega projects of the last 4,500 years include:
 Taj Mahal at Agra (1631-1653)

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 Projects thru History
 Mega projects of the last 4,500 years include:
 Trans Siberian Railway (1891 – 1916)
 Panama Canal (1904 – 1914)
 Mainly Buildings and infrastructure
 Drivers were political, commercial, religious factors
 Led by Architects, Engineers, Technicians, Generals with “project management” skills
 Modern Project Management emerged in the 20th century

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 What is Project Management?
 Generally accepted that modern project management emerged in the 1940s/1950s
 Why?
 Advent of computers
 Massive scale of change

 Google Project Management Definition now and you will get over 26 million results

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 What is Project Management?
 Numerous methodologies and tools to improve chances of success (e.g. PRINCE2)
 Project Management is big business today but despite this, projects still go wrong....

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 How Project Management shocked
the cosy corporate world!
 From silos and distrust to team collaboration and trust!
 From hierarchies to egalitarianism

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