Category: Project Management

Welcome to Tech2Exec’s Project Management category, your resource for the latest trends and insights tech executives need. Discover information on methodologies like Agile and Scrum and tools like Asana and Trello to boost team collaboration. Our expert analyses tackle challenges faced by tech leaders, offering guides and case studies to help you manage projects in today’s fast-paced world. Each article provides detailed knowledge and actionable strategies to keep you ahead. Whether improving workflows or implementing new solutions, our advice is tailored for tech leaders striving for excellence. Stay tuned for updates and insights to empower your leadership.

Design Thinking in IT Projects

Tech execs using Design Thinking in IT projects offers many benefits. Design thinking empathizes with end-users, defines problems, ideates solutions, prototypes, and tests them. It prioritizes understanding user needs and designing solutions accordingly.

Design thinking is applicable across industries, extending beyond IT. Successful companies have adopted design thinking in their projects to provide innovative, user-centric solutions. Here are some benefits of incorporating design thinking into IT projects:

Improved User Experience: By focusing on understanding the needs and pain points of end-users, design thinking helps in creating a better user experience for IT products or services. This results in increased user satisfaction and customer retention.
Increased Innovation: Design thinking encourages creative thinking and brainstorming, leading to the generation of new ideas and solutions. This allows for continuous improvement and innovation in IT projects.
Cost Savings: By involving end-users in the design process, potential issues can be identified and addressed early on, saving time and resources in the long run. This also helps in avoiding costly rework or redesigns later on.
Better Problem Definition: Design thinking involves empathizing with end-users to truly understand their needs and pain points. This leads to a better problem definition, which is crucial in finding the right solution.
Collaboration and Teamwork: Design thinking promotes collaboration and teamwork as it involves multiple stakeholders from different backgrounds coming together to work towards a common goal. This helps in breaking down silos and fostering a culture of innovation.
Alignment with Business Goals: Incorporating design thinking into IT projects ensures that the end product is aligned with the overall business goals and objectives. This leads to better outcomes and a higher return on investment.

Design thinking brings a human-centered approach to IT projects, leading to innovative, user-centric solutions that drive business success. By involving end-users throughout the design process, IT teams can create products and services that truly meet customer needs. This boosts user satisfaction and contributes to overall business growth.

Value of Project Management – you need a true Project Manager

Some tech execs complain about the value of project management and the high cost of the PMO. They claim that they don’t see the value, and the cost outweighs the benefits. Sadly, in some cases this is true. PMO’s need to keep emphasizing their value, and project managers (PMs) need to understand that they are “the PMO.” Whatever the PM does, the person receiving the service equates their work to the PMO. For better or worse.

“The PM is the PMO.”

So why do some tech executives feel that PMs are expensive overhead?

It comes down to the philosophy of the PMO (and the overall organization), i.e., the background of the PM’s hired by organization. Some organizations feel that a PM is a project plan tracker. They help build project plans, do status updates, and ensure that deliverables are produced. While this may be part of project management, these tasks do not define a PM and their role.

Successful PM’s have strong relationship, negotiation, presentation and leadership skills.

They have years of experience leading projects of all sizes and complexity. That experience has allowed the PM to see and understand risks. They are able to identify risks and issues before they blow up and impact the project. Their ability to apply remediation actions prior to the client stakeholders seeing the problems makes them successful PM’s.

Not everyone agrees with my definition of a PM.

But from my perspective, I want a very senior leader running my projects, which is what I consider PMs to be. The odds of success with a person who has years of experience leading is higher than with a person with years of experience managing plans.

In summary, the value of project management should not even be a question. A PM is a crucial role in any organization, especially in the tech industry. PMs are responsible for overseeing and executing projects from start to finish, ensuring that they are completed on time, within budget, and with high quality results. While there may be varying opinions on what exactly defines a PM, one thing is for sure – having a strong leader at the helm of a project greatly increases its chances of success.

Click here for a post on how to make projects successful at a distance.

Managing Distributed Teams

As a tech executive, leveraging the multi-geo location model is crucial for the success of any project. While managing a team in a single location presents its own challenges, working with teams spread across multiple locations offers the significant advantages of a global presence and access to diverse talent pools. However, effectively navigating and harnessing the power of distributed teams requires strategic planning and execution.

To address the challenges that arise from distributed teams, it is essential to establish clear roles and interactions within the project team, which includes vendors and the Business Unit. One of the common issues faced is the overlapping of tasks, leading to disruptions and timeline challenges. Miscommunications often result from unclear responsibilities, which can derail the progress of the project. Therefore, defining roles, responsibilities, and developing a robust communication model is crucial. While cultivating a collaborative team culture is essential, ensuring balanced leadership levels within the team is also advantageous. It is important to have one individual accountable for defining and ensuring that roles and responsibilities are well-understood by all team members.

To effectively manage distributed teams, prioritize the following activities:

Foster an open communication environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and concerns.
Actively update and maintain a status dashboard, ensuring all relevant parties have input and access to current information.
Set firm deadlines for decision-making and consistently adhere to them to prevent delays.
Ensure subject matter experts are utilized to their fullest potential and are involved at the appropriate stages of the project.
Hold knowledge transfer sessions when new team members are onboarded, and plan for these sessions as part of the project schedule.

Formalizing project commitment across the team is essential.

A well-executed project plan goes beyond just a schedule; it requires commitment across various disciplines. Without this commitment, team leads may prioritize their department’s tasks without considering interdependencies with other teams. To ensure clarity and alignment, all team leads should review and approve the plan, which includes the risk register, role assignments, and the work breakdown structure. The project plan should reflect a collective agreement of all those responsible for execution. Shared responsibility fosters a cohesive approach to achieving project goals.

Planning projects with multiple working units necessitates a team-wide understanding of key assumptions about the future.

Project teams often make assumptions without validating them with other stakeholders, which can lead to misaligned expectations. It is critical for project management and the team to actively raise and validate these assumptions together throughout the project lifecycle. Verified assumptions should be formally documented in project records to ensure transparency and accountability.

Remember the importance of regular communication.

Often, project teams aren’t naturally inclined to communicate with each other, which can create silos and hinder progress. During project planning, prioritize effective communication by involving all stakeholders early in the process. Develop a comprehensive written communication plan to facilitate successful information exchange and alignment of expectations with project goals.

In summary, the key to successfully managing distributed teams and achieving project success lies in strategic planning, clear communication, and collaborative execution. By addressing these areas, tech executives can effectively lead their teams to deliver successful outcomes in an increasingly global and interconnected world.

Click here for a post on tracking and monitoring employees.

Tech Strategy – Developing a Project Charter

In a prior post we discussed the important topic of building a strategy. As a tech executive, it’s crucial to not only develop but also deeply understand your strategy, even if a specialized team is creating it for you. This understanding allows you to direct the project’s course effectively and make informed decisions. A fundamental element of any project, including strategy development, is the project charter. The project charter is a guide outlining objectives, scope, and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is aligned and focused on the same goals.

The Project Charter Comprises:

Objectives: Clearly define the project’s primary purpose and its overarching goals. Identify previous work, research, or experiences that can boost the project’s success and explain how to integrate them into the current strategy.
Critical Success Factors: Establish the rules of engagement, including key performance indicators and measures of success. Identify the key conditions, resources, and support needed for the strategy’s success, highlighting the importance of stakeholder involvement and commitment.
Scope: Clearly delimit the range of activities and coverage that the strategy will encompass. Focus on identifying specific deliverables and processes, while utilizing existing data and capabilities to refine these elements. This ensures alignment with the project’s objectives and resource availability.
Governance: Outline the detailed planning process, including the team structure, roles, and responsibilities. Describe the collaboration, communication, and decision-making methods used for effective planning and execution, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Methodology: Document the framework that will guide the project from inception to completion. Specify the steps, phases, and milestones to achieve success, highlighting best practices or industry standards to follow throughout the project.
Deliverables: Clearly describe the expected deliverables, including their characteristics, quality standards, and intended outcomes. Explain how these deliverables connect to the methodology and processes, ensuring each aligns with the project’s goals.
Timeline: Provide a comprehensive timeline that details the project’s phases, key milestones, dependencies, and durations. Explain the scheduling rationale, highlighting critical paths and timing risks, to ensure stakeholders understand the activity sequence and timing.

The charter helps manage expectations by clearly outlining the objectives, roles, and responsibilities of everyone involved.

The charter is an excellent collaborative document for all stakeholders, serving as a reference point to ensure alignment. By developing a shared vision as a team, members can contribute their expertise, significantly enhancing the chances of success. This collective understanding helps to prevent misunderstandings and fosters a sense of unity and commitment toward the project’s goals.

Click here to see the technology strategy framework page.