IT project managers' role in aligning initiatives with organizational strategy

IT Strategy

Why a Project Must Contribute to an Organizations' Strategy Direction

The ability to galvanize together diverse and often conflicting resources, departments with different goals and agendas, and senior management that often capitulates based on the diverse needs of shareholders is one of the most valuable traits of successful IT project or programme managers. The role of the IT project or programme manager is at the center of keeping value chains unified and progressing towards the delivery of profitable products and services to customers (Hansen, Birkinshaw, 2007). The strategic direction of a firm is defined in how insightful the decisions a programme manager are and how effective they are in getting complex tasks done through department and individual orchestration (Sauer, Reich, 2009). Being able to keep a strategic context of IT project and initiatives in focus relative to the broader strategic direction of their enterprises is critical if IT programme managers are going to move their companies closer to attaining their most challenging objectives (Snowden, Boone, 2007).

The Programme Manager's Contribution To Strategic Direction

The lack of leadership and chaotic nature of the Y2K and ERP projects in the TechMedia project illustrate how a lack of IT project and progamme management skills doom a project before it gets off the ground. The litany of problems that the project has from the lack of ownership at the C-level of TechMedia, to the inconsistent leadership at the steering committee level, lack of unifying vision, and no clarity of how the ERP and Y2K projects are unified all illustrate how big of a void are left when not project or programme managers are in place that take ownership. The TechMedia debacle also further illustrates just how critical contextual project management expertise is and how essential it is for managing long-term, highly complex projects (Snowden, Boone, 2007). Implicit in the TechMedia case study is the exceptionally unbalanced teams as well, with just 1 person and half the time of another dedicated to change management tasks and 34 on the technical side. This fact alone underscores how project and programme managers must have a clear context of a project well before it begins to ensure a balance of skill sets on the project team. At the most fundamental level however, the TechMedia case study shows how a lack of awareness and insight into how project and programme managers are responsible for galvanizing all elements of an organization together to deliver a common strategic direction (Hansen, Birkinshaw, 2007).

TechMedia's unfortunate series of events caused by massive confusion over the fundamental scope, resource mix and decision to pursue a massive, monolithic ERP system that would prove too unwieldy to manage anyway further illustrate the valuable contributions project and programme managers make to the strategic direction of companies. The project or programme manager is much like a compass that keeps pointing "true north" of a given project or initiative, ensuring its alignment with the broader strategic focus of the enterprise. The role of the project or programme manager is to continually seek to keep its value chain aligned with and supporting the profitable operation of the enterprise as well (Hansen, Birkinshaw, 2007).