Delivering IT Projects
Managing Your Project
Project Managers add the most value to projects at the beginning. We:
- Make sure the scope of the project is well understood, with all parts included,
- Set up a plan, including staffing, tasks and budget,
- Work out the risks and how to deal with them,
- Set up processes to control the project,
- Make sure suppliers are engaged properly,
- Bring in experience from other projects to make sure lessons have been learned,
- Ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them, and when
After that, we work to keep the project on track, managing issues as they arise, keeping everyone focussed and informed, run control processes and make sure that team members have everything they need to do the best job they can.
Generally, Project Management takes 10-20% of the total budget for a project. If you have a team of 6, plus two suppliers, over a six month period, the Project Manager is likely to be full time, 120 days effort, and cost in the region of £60,000 at normal London rates.
If you, the manager responsible for the project in your company, are willing to work with me, we can reduce that amount dramatically. I will come and work with you for 3-4 days a week to start up the project. I will set up the project with you, establishing plans, engaging suppliers, setting up control processes, hiring contractors if necessary. Then, over the rest of the project, I will come back and work with you for 2-3 days a month to make sure that everything is on track, attend supplier review meetings with you, deal with major issues and help you to run the project smoothly.
On a six month project, that is likely to be 25 days of startup work, plus another 10-15 days for the rest of the project. At a total of 35-40 days work, that’s about a third of the normal project management bill, while still delivering 70-80% of the value of formal project management.
You will have to do a lot of the work. But your understanding of your company and the reasons for doing the project are crucial to its success, and it is easy to underestimate the work you’d have to do, even if you have a full time Project Manager. You will keep control, have a very clear idea of how the project is going, and learn a lot.
Availability
I am currently fully booked until the end of October 2008.
Please contact me if you have a project which needs to be delivered after then.