Tailor IT project management processes to fit your projects

Right-size PMBOK for all of your IT projects.
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Major Business Pain Points

  • Lack of upfront project planning can result in IT projects going over budget and time, resulting in poor stakeholder satisfaction and a widespread perception that IT is not delivering value.
  • While getting better at project management is the key, it’s common for organizations to overshoot and adopt best practices that far exceed their current levels of process maturity. This results in an excessive overhead that time-strapped project managers and teams typically can’t sustain for very long.
  • While it’s important that best practices be understood, it’s equally true that best practices aren’t always the best fit. These frameworks commonly set unrealistic expectations for resource-constrained IT departments, and in their clinical approach, fail to address the day-to-day challenges that project managers face on the frontlines.
  • A right-sized approach to your project management processes works best. Take what you need from those formal frameworks, and then tailor a process that’s going to work for your organization and for the variety of projects that come your way.
Tailor IT management processes to fit your projects-Pain Points

Recommendations

Key Points

  • Lightweight is often just right. A lightweight approach to project management process suffices for the vast majority of IT initiatives. Establish different tiers of PM rigor to ensure that you’re not weighing down potential quick wins in too much process and that you’re applying the right amount of rigor to more complex, high-risk initiatives.
  • Apply the right tools to the job. Your project management processes will succeed or fail based on the quality of your artifacts and how they are applied. Build an actionable project management toolkit that can accommodate projects of all sizes and that will help facilitate optimized communications with project stakeholders.
  • Put your processes in context. Project management doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If your project management practices don’t inform effective decision making, then your investments in process discipline will be all for nothing. Develop processes that provide a gateway to the “big picture” and help facilitate effective portfolio management practices.

Approach

Tailor IT management processes to fit your projects-Recommendations
  • The right amount of upfront planning is essential to improving project throughput and closure. Right-sized initiation and planning rigor will provide more reliable scope statements, more well-rounded requirements definition, and increased executive buy-in and engagement.
  • Investing in formal project execution processes is critical for projects of all sizes. Rigorous project execution processes will result in more successful projects that deliver greater value to the organization at a lower cost.
  • Consistent and repeatable processes will not only help reduce errors and inefficiencies during project planning and execution, but they will also improve collaboration and communication between project managers and IT decision makers. This will help facilitate better visibility into the big picture of all the organization’s project activity.
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Methodology and Tools

Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should tailor project management processes to your projects, review the methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

  • Tailor IT Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Executive Brief
  • Tailor IT Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phases 1-5

1. Lay the groundwork for project management success

Assess the current state to set the right amount of project governance and define levels of projects for which right-sized PM methodologies will apply.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 1: Lay the Groundwork for PM Success
  • Project Management Triage Tool
  • COBIT BAI01 (Manage Programs and Projects) Alignment Workbook
  • Project Level Definition Matrix
  • Project Level Selection Tool
  • Project Level Assessment Tool
  • Project Management SOP Template

2. Build a lightweight project management process for small initiatives

Optimize project management processes for small projects to increase project throughput and the processes’ effort-to-value ratio.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 2: Build a Lightweight PM Process for Small Initiatives
  • Level 1 Project Charter Template
  • Level 1 Project Status Report Template
  • Level 1 Project Closure Checklist Template

3. Establish a standard process for initiating and planning medium-to-large projects

Develop fully-featured initiation and planning processes.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 3: Establish Initiation and Planning Protocols for Medium-to-Large Projects
  • Project Stakeholder and Impact Assessment Tool
  • Level 2 Project Charter Template
  • Level 3 Project Charter Template
  • Kick-Off Meeting Agenda Template
  • Scope Statement Template
  • Project Staffing Plan
  • Communications Management Plan Template
  • Customer/Sponsor Project Status Meeting Template
  • Level 2 Project Status Report Template
  • Level 3 Project Status Report Template
  • Quality Management Workbook
  • Benefits Management Plan Template
  • Risk Management Workbook

4. Establish a standard process for executing and closing medium-to-large projects

Develop fully-featured execution and closing processes.

  • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 4: Develop Execution and Closing Procedures for Medium-to-Large Projects
  • Project Team Meeting Agenda Template
  • Light Project Change Request Form Template
  • Detailed Project Change Request Form Template
  • Light Recommendation and Decision Tracking Log Template
  • Detailed Recommendation and Decision Tracking Log Template
  • Deliverable Acceptance Form Template
  • Handover to Operations Template
  • Post-Mortem Review Template
  • Final Sign-Off and Acceptance Form Template

    5. Implement your project management SOP

    Develop rollout and training plans, implement the new methodologies, and track metrics.

    • Tailor Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects – Phase 5: Implement Your PM SOP
    • Level 2 Project Management Plan Template
    • Project Management Process Costing Tool
    • Project Management Process Training Plan Template
    • Project Management Training Monitoring Tool 
    • Project Management Process Implementation Timeline Tool (MS Project)
    • Project Management Process Implementation Timeline Tool (Excel)

    All resources on this page are provided to Cyber Leadership Hub members under license from third parties including Info-Tech Research Group Inc, a global leader in providing IT research and advice.