The 10.5 Essential Steps of Successful IT Projects

Major IT projects are risky for any organization. It is the CIO’s responsibility to minimize the risk by ensuring that projects are managed effectively. This begins with a process framework encompassing these 10.5 essential steps.

1.  Make feasibility evaluations obligatory. Too often haste to get approval and begin a project causes management to pay minimal attention to this step, leading to unexpected problems. A required project-feasibility assessment should be performed for all IT projects. Although it may slow the approval process, it will help avert project failure. This analysis should include a list of preliminary architecture and design specifications and a project-management plan proposal, which enumerates assumptions, required resources, constraints and timelines.

2.  Designate a Project Sponsor who will declare clear project objectives. A clearly-identified project sponsor (PS) should be responsible for the success and overall project implementation. The PS should be charged with monitoring progress constantly and resolving issues that can impede rapid progress. The PS is supported by an executive group or committee that can serve as a forum for problem solving and escalated issues.

3.  Appoint a full-time Project Manager (PM). One individual with experience with similar projects should oversee the day-to-day management, execution, and delivery of the project.

Before going ahead with the IT project, the proposed timeline, cost and scope should be clearly defined and accepted by all potential participants. Failure to ensure that all stakeholders are in agreement can lead to confusion, wasted effort, needless duplication, and ultimately project failure.

4.  Give the Project Team real authority. The team should include interdisciplinary senior staff with sufficient analytical, technical, and project-related expertise to guide the project to a successful completion. The team should have access to enterprise resources needed to ensure the project conforms to enterprise standards and should have sufficient authority to control the activities and resources necessary to complete deliverables within the set time frame.

5.  Create a detailed Project Plan. A comprehensive Project Plan should be developed as a guide to all major activities such as project deliverables, timeline, roles of team members, key risks, and approval processes. The document should incorporate all formal written agreements with external and internal suppliers, resource owners, and end-users regarding their roles in the project.

6.  Secure committed staff resources. The PM should obtain formal written commitments from department managers to allocate time for their staff to work on the project; similarly, commitments need to be obtained from all assigned staff. Managers need to plan ahead to free up designated staff and resources, while continuing to meet daily operational requirements.

7.  Establish performance measures and report progress daily. To assess project performance, a specific set of performance indicators should be identified. Performance should be tracked at the task level by team leads and summaries presented to the PM, who in turn, will report progress to the PS. Discrepancies between expectations and actual performance should be discussed so contingency plans can be made as soon as possible.

8.  Take corrective action sooner rather than later. Resolve any performance variances quickly and decisively. If the problem cannot be eliminated, such as changes to budget, schedule, and deliverables, steps should be taken to mitigate negative effects by reassigning team members to provide additional support in areas where it is needed.

9.  Implement formal change-control mechanisms. All changes should be documented and incorporated into the Project Plan so that everyone knows when and why a change was made. Such documentation should include the date the change was made and its effect on the plan. Major changes that raise costs, substantially delay completion or redefine major deliverables should require written approval from the Steering Committee.

10.  Proactively manage risk. IT projects typically involve a number of significant risks and controversial issues that can prevent the team from moving ahead. Consistent and pro-active communication among project participants, stakeholders and end-users is required to mitigate against such internal risks. The PM should have a formal escalation process if serious roadblocks are encountered.

And last but certainly not least…

10.5.  Celebrate success. Each project milestone should be celebrated and communicated organization-wide to foster team coherence and promote values that are intrinsic to high performance.

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– Pierre Chamberland
Pierre Chamberland is the Chief Energizing Officer at Messaging Architects.