The Magic of IS Project Management:
Revealing the Masters’ Secrets
Kathy Schwalbe, Ph.D., PMP
May 2, 2000
PDS 2000
schwalbe@augsburg.edu
www.augsburg.edu/ppages/schwalbe1
Expert Revelations on How to Succeed
in Project Management
2
Tricks to Avoid
3
Examples from the Field
4
Personal Secrets
5
Expert Revelation #1: Alignment
• Projects are much more likely to
succeed if they align to organizational
needs and goals
• “Aligning information systems to
corporate goals has emerged as the
number one concern over the last five
years in surveys of information systems
executives”*
*Strassmann and Bienkowski, “Alignment of IT and Business:
Keys to Realizing Business Value,” ABT Corporation, 9/29/99
6
Why Firms Invest in IT Projects*
Reason for Investing in IT Projects
Supports explicit business objectives
Has good Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
Supports implicit business objectives
Has good Net Present Value (NPV)
Has reasonable payback period
Used in response to competitive systems
Supports management decision making
Meets budgetary constraints
High probability of achieving benefits
Good accounting rate of return
High probability of completing project
Meets technical/system requirements
Supports legal/government requirement
Good profitability index
Introduces new technology
Rank Based on Overall
Value of Projects
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
*Bacon, James. “The Use of Decision Criteria in Selecting Information Systems/
Technology, Investments, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3, September 1992
7
Trick to Avoid #1:
“Because IT’s There!”
8
Expert Revelation #2: Leadership
• The majority of characteristics of
effective project managers are
managerial in nature
• Project managers must be able to lead
and manage and have necessary
technical skills
9
The Most Significant Characteristics of
an Effective Project Manager*
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leadership by example • Stands up to upper
management when
Visionary
necessary
Technically competent
• Supports team
Decisive
members
Good communicator
• Encourages new ideas
Good motivator
*Zimmerman and Yasin, “A Leadership Profile of American
Project Managers,” Project Management Journal, March 1998
10
Trick to Avoid #2
Making your best
technical person the
project manager
11
Expert Revelation #3:
User Involvement
• The number one reason why IT projects fail is
a lack of user input (CHAOS, 1995)
• There are several ways to increase user
involvement
– Have users lead or co-lead IT projects
– Have a senior manager outside of IT sponsor and
champion IT projects
– Put star users on the project team and co-locate
users and developers
– Provide interim deliverables that users can
understand on a regular basis
12
Checklist for User Involvement*
• Do I have the right user(s)?
• Did I involve the users(s) early and
often?
• Do I have a quality user(s) relationship?
• Do I make involvement easy?
• Did I find out what the user(s) need?
*Standish Group, “Unfinished Voyages,”1996
13
Trick to Avoid #3:
Thinking IT knows
what’s best
14
Expert Revelation #4: Senior
Management Support
• Experts agree that you need senior
management support for projects to be
successful
• Senor management can (or cannot) provide:
– Adequate resources
– Quick approval for unique project needs
– Cooperation from people in various parts of
the organization
– Mentoring on leadership issues
15
What Helps Projects Succeed?
Pinto and Slevin*
• Clear project mission
• Top management
support
• Good project
schedule/plan
• Good client
consultation
Standish Group**
• User involvement
• Executive
management
support
• Clear statement of
requirements
• Proper planning
*Pinto and Slevin, “Critical Factors in Successful Project Implementation,”
IEEE, February 1987
**The Standish Group, “CHAOS,” 1995
16
Trick to Avoid #4:
Assuming it’s okay
if senior managers
and users don’t
protest too much
17
Expert Revelation #5:
Clear Project Purpose
• Having a clear mission or purpose and a
clear statement of requirements are
crucial to project success
• It’s much easier to get project approval
and lead a project if you understand the
underlying reason for it, even if it the
specs are not crystal clear
18
Defining and Selling “Way Cool Projects”*
• Challenge 1: Futzing with the structure
and specifics of a given task…until it
becomes a “way cool project”
• Challenge 2: Selling that “way cool
project.” Great project management—in
the real world!—turns out to be mostly
a sales game. I.e., getting all sorts of
folks to support you, help you, give you
their very best!
*Peters, Tom. Reinventing Work: The Project 50, 1999, p. 12
19
Trick to Avoid #5
Faking coolness
20
Expert Revelation #6:
Communications
• Being a good communicator is an
essential project management skill
• Master project managers are great at
listening, persuading, explaining, and
discerning the best way to
communicate with different
stakeholders
• Project managers must be “astute”
21
80% of Problems…
• “Eighty percent of the ‘problems’ in
workplace or personal relationships are
really not problems—they are
misunderstanding”*
• “I’ll pay more for a man’s ability to
express himself than for any other
quality he might possess.” Charles
Schwab
Wetherbe, James and Bond. So What’s Your Point? 1996, p. 3
22
Trick to Avoid #6
Over-relying on reports,
web sites, or other
formal communications
23
Expert Revelation #7:
Plan and Replan
• Proper planning is key to project
success; remember that the purpose of
project plans is to guide execution
• Project plans must be tailored to the
needs of each particular project
• Be flexible when changes occur and be
ready to update plans accordingly
24
Planning is a “Quadrant II” Activity*
• Using Stephen Covey’s time
management matrix, quadrant II
activities are important but not urgent
• Quadrant II activities include planning,
prevention, relationship building, and
recognizing new opportunities
• Highly effective people, including
project managers, focus on Quadrant II
activities
*Covey, Stephen, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1990
25
Trick to Avoid #7
Taking shortcuts
to planning
26
Expert Revelation #8:
Execute, execute, execute
• The most important job of a project
manager is to get the job done
• Project managers must balance scope,
time, and cost goals
• If you can’t deliver results, you can’t
meet or exceed stakeholder needs and
expectations
27
Why CEOs (and Project Managers) Fail
• Bad execution is the main reason why
CEO’s are “booted”*
• Bad execution means not getting things
done, being indecisive, and not
delivering on commitments
• A good plan, strong leadership, good
communications skills, team building,
etc. all help with execution
Charan and Colvin, “Why CEO’s Fail,” Fortune, June 21, 199928
Trick to Avoid #8
Not focusing on results
29
Expert Revelation #9:
Team Building
• Project managers must foster an
environment for teams to thrive
• Some experts suggest
– Hand picking your project team
– Focusing on goals and outcomes to
promote teamwork
– Establishing team-based rewards
– Creating a fun work environment
– Providing a quiet work space!
30
Trick to Avoid #9:
Assuming smart people
work well in any
team situation
31
Expert Revelations #10:
Structure
• Most people like and need structure to
guide projects
• Using a clear and consistent approach
to project management helps projects
succeed
32
Project Management Maturity Model*
1. Ad-Hoc: Disorganized, chaotic project management
(PM) processes; low success rate
2. Abbreviated: Some processes in place, but project
success is largely unpredictable
3. Organized: Standardized, documented process and
systems; more predictable success rate
4. Managed: Management collects and uses measures of
effectiveness of PM; more uniform success
5. Adaptive: Feedback from the PM process and from
piloting innovative ideas and technologies enables
continuous improvement; success is the norm
*Enterprise Planning Associates, 1998
33
Trick to Avoid #10
Winging it too often
34
Example from the Field: Northwest
Airlines’ ResNet*
*A full case study on ResNet is available in Schwalbe’s Information
Technology Project Management text, Course Technology, 2000 35
ResNet Background
• ResNet is the main reservation system
used today by Northwest Airlines
• From 1993-1997, Northwest Airlines
worked on three distinct projects to
develop and install ResNet on over 3,000
workstations in nine different cities
• ResNet was a huge success in terms of
meeting scope, time, and cost goals and
exceeding stakeholder expectations
36
The Master’s Secrets on ResNet
1. Alignment: The main reason for funding ResNet
was to stop losing money on the call centers
2. Leadership: Peeter Kivestu, then a marketing
director, led all three ResNet projects
3. User Involvement: Sales agents did a lot of the
coding for the ResNet interface
4. Senior Management Support: The VP of
Reservations provided the vision for ResNet
5. Clear purpose: Focused on increasing direct
sales and reducing call handle time to save
money
37
The Master’s Secrets on ResNet
6. Communications: Peeter and his team used
varied, innovative ways to communicate
7. Plan and Replan: The project team created and
followed realistic plans
8. Execute: The entire ResNet team focused on
meeting project goals
9. Team building: Peeter hand picked key team
members and provided a fun work environment
10. Structure: Everyone knew that milestone dates
had to be met
38
Peeter’s Expert Advice
• Have clear project goals. It is human
nature to want to achieve goals
• Create a fun working environment to
promotes buy-in, creativity, and
teamwork. Use themes and special
events to make projects fun and
memorable
• Set realistic milestone dates and stick to
them. Missing dates causes too much
chaos
39
Kathy’s Personal Secrets
• Have passion for your projects
• Provide challenge, creativity, and fun on
IT projects along with structure
• Clearly define what the main
stakeholders really mean; be astute
• Create an open, learning environment
and mentor future project managers
40
Final Thought: Remember that we all
influence our future leaders!
Scott Schwalbe –
Future Governor?
41