Project Management Archives - Foster Institute

Three secrets about managing IT pros

Mike Foster — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:00:46 +0000

Of course, you know the solution to managing IT pros, both in-house and out-sourced, should be somewhere between “Give them free range” and “tie their hands.” Here are three key points perhaps nobody has told you before:

Discern wants from needs—just be sure you are making an informed decision. For example, you may think that IT just wants that new server, but taking care of your six year old server may be more expensive than buying a new one.

Be Realistic—You may want IT to totally revamp an old application or perhaps an old infrastructure that is left over from the other guys. Be sure you provide IT the time and resources to add this to their schedule.

Reward Properly—Rather than saying “good job” when IT fixes something, ask them, “What will you do to prevent this next time?” Stop paying outsourced IT consultants an hourly rate. How long it takes to accomplish a task or solve a problem is irrelevant. Paying them by the hour incentivizes them to learn on the job at your expense.

Please post your comments on this blog.

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Keep IT projects on schedule–part three

Mike Foster — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:00:39 +0000

A PERT chart will show which steps in an IT project cannot be delayed without delaying the entire project.

The last two blog entries were about IT professionals creating a simple Work Breakdown Structure and a calendar representation called a Gantt chart. The whole point of project management is to help IT keep projects on track. Just as important, if the project experiences a delay, IT will be able to give you an updated project completion date.

In this case, a diagram is worth a thousand words so please look at these examples:

The simplest form of a PERT chart is circles for each step, with the name of the step and the estimated duration. Draw arrows that connect the paths related to dependencies such as:

This step must finish prior to the next step starting
This step can start at the same time as another step
Both of these steps must complete before the next step starts

For example:

The most useful part, to me anyway, of a PERT chart is that you can identify the critical path. To find the critical path, first identify how many paths you can take from the start to the finish. Then, for each path, add up the duration of the steps. If there are 4 paths, you may end up with durations of, for example:

Path 1 duration: 12 days (Task 1’s duration plus task 3’s duration)
Path 2 duration: 11 days (Task 2’s plus Task 3’ durations)
Path 3 duration: 10 days (Task 4’s duration)

In this case, path 1 is the critical path because if there is any delay at all in path 1, the entire project will be delayed. The other paths contain slack time so they can experience delays if necessary.

Be sure to read my two most recent blog entries about the Work Breakdown Structure and the Gantt chart.

Please post your comments on this blog.

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Keep IT projects on schedule–part two

Mike Foster — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 04:00:50 +0000

Simple project management basics will help your IT professionals keep you informed about the ahead or behind schedule status of projects, with current predicted finish dates.

The last blog entry was about IT professionals creating a simple Work Breakdown Structure—WBS—of the steps needed to complete a project. The next step after a WBS is to create a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart puts the WBS on a calendar.

The first step is to add more information to the WBS:

Estimated duration for each step.
Dependencies such as “the prior step must be completed before the next step can start” since some steps can be started simultaneously.

Then, software can calculate the estimated start and stop dates for each step, and then overlay that information on a calendar.

Here are two examples of Gantt charts:

The third item in this three-part series will be about the PERT chart.

Please post your comments on this blog.

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Keep IT projects on schedule–part one

Mike Foster — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:00:18 +0000

One of the most frequent complaints senior executives have about IT professions is that their projects are always behind and over budget.

This one really surprises me. Face it—most IT professionals have never been introduced to the basics of project management.

The first part of this three-part series, which you may want to forward to your IT professionals, discusses a WBS. In its most basic form, the Work Breakdown Structure is a list made up of steps needed to complete a project. The steps are listed mostly in order and there are designated milestones.

The next item in this three-part series will be about the Gantt chart.

Please post your comments on this blog.

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