Project management can be a daunting task for even the most competent of managers. These scenarios are typically aimed at resolving a single issue, within a pre-determined and often hurried period of time with a team made up of individuals from across all functions or departments of the entity. Several projects, due to the magnitude of the undertaking, can take anywhere from several months to a couple of years and typically require significant capital outlays. Furthermore the risk of failure always exists. Entities can contribute huge sums of money, resources and time to a problem with no guarantee that a reasonable solution will be generated. At times, as seen through the “Zara: IT for Fast Fashion” Case, the success of the project in question is not just imperative for maintaining the current position within the industry but for ensuring the company’s survival in the future. In any case it is clear that project management is of extreme importance to all team members involved as well as the entity as a whole. With regards to IT project management, there are typically two types of team members; IT personnel and non-IT personnel. Unfortunately, both parties rarely agree on all issues. As mentioned in the case “Six Decisions Your IT People Shouldn’t Make,” the disconnect between IT personnel and non-IT personnel stems from the fact that non-IT individuals don’t understand information technology well enough to manage it in detail while IT individuals don’t seem to understand the very real business problems that the non-IT personnel face. From the start, these two adversarial mentalities can wreak havoc in a team orientated atmosphere. So the first step in initiating a successful IT project is to have both IT personnel and non-IT personnel agree to disagree with regards to department mentalities. It is imperative to the success of the project that both viewpoints are taken into consideration and that all team members share a common goal (successful project completion). What can be detrimental is if these fundamental differences are not addressed in the beginning and the team becomes segregated amongst departmental lines. Second, a specific timeline needs to be set where bench marks or milestones are used to assess progress. Uncertainty can exists in the larger and more time consuming projects and you need to have some a means of qualifying the level of work completed prior to moving on to the next task. Failure to do so can result in an end product that does not address the original problem. Third, all outside contributions need to be filtered so that there are not too many “chefs in the kitcthen.” Again, failure to address outside distractions / contributions can result in a disjointed final product. Finally, communication and organization are imperative to successful project management. A hierarchy needs to be constructed of both categories of team members (non-IT vs. IT) that can quarterback the overall project. Furthermore, multiple communication channels need to be established and maintained so that each member of the team is informed of their cohort’s responsibilities, accomplishments and actions.
With regards to IT project management, there are typically two types of team members; IT personnel and non-IT personnel. Unfortunately, both parties rarely agree on all issues. As mentioned in the case “Six Decisions Your IT People Shouldn’t Make,” the disconnect between IT personnel and non-IT personnel stems from the fact that non-IT individuals don’t understand information technology well enough to manage it in detail while IT individuals don’t seem to understand the very real business problems that the non-IT personnel face. From the start, these two adversarial mentalities can wreak havoc in a team orientated atmosphere. So the first step in initiating a successful IT project is to have both IT personnel and non-IT personnel agree to disagree with regards to department mentalities. It is imperative to the success of the project that both viewpoints are taken into consideration and that all team members share a common goal (successful project completion). What can be detrimental is if these fundamental differences are not addressed in the beginning and the team becomes segregated amongst departmental lines. Second, a specific timeline needs to be set where bench marks or milestones are used to assess progress. Uncertainty can exists in the larger and more time consuming projects and you need to have some a means of qualifying the level of work completed prior to moving on to the next task. Failure to do so can result in an end product that does not address the original problem. Third, all outside contributions need to be filtered so that there are not too many “chefs in the kitcthen.” Again, failure to address outside distractions / contributions can result in a disjointed final product. Finally, communication and organization are imperative to successful project management. A hierarchy needs to be constructed of both categories of team members (non-IT vs. IT) that can quarterback the overall project. Furthermore, multiple communication channels need to be established and maintained so that each member of the team is informed of their cohort’s responsibilities, accomplishments and actions.