I’ve worked on many technology and telecom projects over the course of my tenure in the technology marketplace. Some of these projects were short term and included a handful of contributors. Some of the projects involved dozens of participants and millions of dollars. Shamefully, most of these projects weren’t managed using a formal project management methodology, but relied mostly on the experience of the project participants and a few tools for its success.

Project management has been practiced by people since ancient times. All major human endeavors that required the coordination of resources, materials and finances involved some level of project management even if it wasn’t recognized as such. For an excellent overview of the history of project management visit Wikipedia.

Everyone does project management; there is any number of home, personal, work tasks or events that we naturally organize into a project. Recently, I had an instructor who mentioned that in their home they have a defined project plan for Thanksgiving dinner; the plan documents who prepares what food and in what order, who sets the table and at what time, who carves the turkey, etc.

Formal project management is more than most people think. If you believe that project management just involves writing a project charter, or a task list, then you don’t you understand the depth and value of project management. A project charter is an important document, but should only summarize a project’s business goals and objectives, define the business case for the project and detail the authority given to the Project Manager to complete the project. A task list, activity list or work breakdown structure (WBS) is an important tool of project managers, but this tool doesn’t scratch the surface of what formal project management entails. Likewise, a Gantt chart is a tool used to display the status of project phases or activities, but project management done right is a lot more than a diagram.

What is project management? According to the Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org),

“Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the appropriate application and integration of the 42 logically grouped project management processes comprising the 5 process groups. These groups are: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing, and are illustrated in the diagram below. Managing a project usually includes: Identifying requirements, addressing the needs, concerns, and expectations of the stakeholders as the project is planned and carried out, balancing competing project constraints including, but not limited to: scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources, and risk.” Project Management Book of Knowledge, 4^th Edition.

 

Technology or telecom projects cannot be done right without the application of formal project management methodologies. Too many projects end up needing more time and or capital to complete than was expected because the project was poorly planned. Therefore, a formal project management method is required to conserve all resources associated with any specific project.

Project management software is available for different scales of projects. Using the correct PM software for the right project is analogous to using the right tool for the job at hand. For technology projects that are frequently executed and everyone knows their role, such as implementing a server farm, a simple Excel spreadsheet would suffice. However, for large, multi-year software implementations and/or transitions such as moving to a cloud-based environment, a more formal project management application would be needed.

Personally, after completing a 17-week certification course in project management at Colorado State University, I’m now studying to take PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam. While completing the course and working on the PMP exam preparation, I’ve been looking at how to best apply what I’ve learned to my job and the telecom projects I manage.

Look for part II of this post in which I detail some of my lessons learned and recommend a few tools and techniques that I find helpful to appropriately implement a formal project management methodology.

What have been your experiences with project management tools for IT? Share your positive and negative experiences so we can all learn together.