Project management

Topic 1Introduction

Why do projects fail?• Business case is not valid• Lack of quality control

– Product not acceptable• Outcomes not clearly defined• Lack of communications with stakeholders

– Product is not what they wanted• Roles and responsibilities not adhered to

– Poor decision making and control• Poor Estimates of time and costs

– Time and money overruns• Lack of planning

– Poor scheduling• Lack of control over progress

– Status of project not clear

Confusion for team members

• How much responsibility?• How much authority?• How much accountability?

Guiding principles• A project is a finite process with a definite

start and end• Projects always need to be managed in order

to be successful• All parties must be clear about:

– Why the project is needed– What should be achieved– How to achieve the expected outcome– What the responsibilities are of each role

Benefits of using a method• A single common structured method

– Is repeatable and teachable– Builds on experience– Ensures everyone knows what to do– Early warning of problems– Proactive not reactive– Controlled management of change– Active involvement of all stakeholders

Prince™ 2 standard• Projects IN Controlled Environments• Standard used for all government information

system projects in UK• Defacto standard used extensively for all

projects in UK and internationally• Developed from PROMPTH Simpact Systems

and established by CCTA in 1989• Widely used in Australia in IT environments

– Government and corporate

Benefits of Prince™2

• Controlled use of resources• Effectively manage risk• Proven best practice• Common language for all team members• Formal recognition of responsibilities within a

project• Focus on what the project is to deliver: why,

when and for whom

Terms• Business Case

– Used to define the information that justifies the setting up, continuation or termination of a project. It answers the question ‘Why should this project be done?’. It is updated at key points throughout the project.

• Customer– Used to represent the person or group who has commissioned the work

and will be benefiting from the end results• Product

– Used to describe everything that the project has to create or change. This can be physical items such as building a network or creating a software program or intangible things such as culture change and public perception

• Supplier– The group that is providing specialist resources and skills to the project or

is providing goods and services to create the project outcome• User

– The person or group who will use or operate the final product. In some situations, the customer and the user may be the same group