IT Project Management: Challenges and Best Practices

Introduction

Project management is an important activity that deals with organizing the tasks, processes, and activities involved in developing and implementing projects across various fields. This activity requires significant knowledge and experience in order to properly manage diverse projects. Intensive practice in the field has produced several project management models that can be applied in accordance with the objectives of each project.

Project management presents a series of problems and challenges that project managers and their companies must address. Some of these problems can be attributed to incorrect scheduling, planning, and estimation of costs, project duration, or required resources. Other problems are determined by external factors that significantly influence the evolution of the project. Some of these factors can be anticipated by project managers so that strategies can be developed to counteract their effects.

Project Management Fundamentals

There are several different models for the development and implementation of projects. These models vary in accordance with the activity the project addresses, its objectives, and the resources it requires. Some of these models focus on the planning phase, while others focus on implementation.

The development of a project begins with understanding its context, in order to properly evaluate the resources involved and the objectives it must address. In addition, the company developing the project must evaluate what it stands to gain from the activity. The success of the project relies on the resources it requires; therefore, the company and the project management team must assess necessary resources and identify sponsors.

The objectives of the project involve a thorough analysis of several subjects, even when those objectives appear quite general. This means the project must be thoroughly documented in order to develop the basis on which scope, goals, and objectives can be established. The scope of the project must therefore be clearly defined. It is also important that the management team identifies the criteria that define success, which proves useful during the evaluation step when determining whether the project has met its objectives.

There are several factors that must be considered during this step. For example, the project team must identify constraints that could affect the project. The project deliverables must be tangible and measurable, and must align with the objectives of the stakeholders affected by the project. To simplify development, it is recommended to include all variables of great importance to the project. Roles and responsibilities are also established by the project management team at this stage.

The planning of the project is one of its most important steps and includes several activities: defining objectives, determining the work breakdown structure, estimating time and costs, organizing the schedule, optimizing resource allocation, and analyzing potential risks while developing strategies to counteract their effects.

The next step involves obtaining permissions for the project. These procedures vary significantly between countries and across fields. Some fields require relatively little effort to obtain authorization, while others — such as construction or oil and gas projects — require substantial effort to secure the necessary approvals.

The implementation step consists of monitoring, analyzing, and correcting the activities established in the preceding steps. It is also important to report the evolution of the project frequently. This ensures better management of problems that might affect the project's progress (Kerzner, 2009).

Managerial Challenges in IT Projects

The evaluation of the project is equally important. During this step, each phase of the project is assessed and feedback is provided to team members. The objective of this step is to identify significant aspects that affect the project in question.

There are numerous managerial challenges that influence the development and implementation of large IT projects. Small projects can also experience difficulties, but the significance of these problems is generally proportional to the size and objectives of the project.

The lack of clarity regarding the project's scope is one of the most critical problems affecting project efficiency. Decisions made throughout the project are based on its scope, and evaluation criteria are also established from it. This is important because scope represents the agreement between the project team, the customers, and the sponsors. When the parties involved in these discussions are unable to achieve sufficient clarity, they struggle to establish the project's objectives. Numerous surveys conducted by companies focused on improving project management skills have revealed that many project teams are unable to identify the scope of their projects (BIA, 2010).

Furthermore, project teams often do not recognize this problem until they encounter difficulties that affect project activities. When this occurs, the management team must analyze the implications and establish a clear scope. To ensure clarity, the scope statement must be approved by sponsors and all other relevant parties.

Another challenge project managers must address is the modification of organizational priorities. The current business environment generates changes that affect company operations, meaning that organizational priorities influencing project development and implementation may shift accordingly. Strategic changes implemented by a company's management team can also alter the objectives established for ongoing projects. The project manager generally lacks the authority to prevent these modifications and can only develop strategies to reduce their impact.

This situation leads to related problems, such as the improper management of project changes. Even when a project's scope and objectives are clearly established at the outset, it may become necessary to modify some of those objectives in response to environmental requirements — which in turn affects resource planning. In such situations, it is recommended that the team be informed promptly about modifications and that the project manager works with the team to redesign the schedule accordingly. It is important that team members understand the necessity of these changes to ensure the project continues to evolve successfully.

Projects also suffer from insufficient project management skills. Not all managers are equipped to properly manage certain types of projects, and in such cases companies must invest in staff training — for both employees and managers alike. Project management requires a distinct skill set compared to other forms of management, and these skills are developed through targeted training programs (IT Business Edge, 2011). Project sponsors must also receive training, as practice in the field has shown that sponsors need to understand their role in the development and implementation of the project. Their training programs differ from those designed for managers.

Another important challenge is the improper allocation of resources. Projects must be developed using limited resources, and in some cases the resources required are not properly estimated, meaning their allocation fails to meet the needs of certain activities. It is therefore recommended that resource allocation established by the project team be performed under the supervision of specialized companies or experts.

Conclusion

The proper handling of managerial challenges in large IT projects depends on several factors. One of the most important is teamwork: the efficiency and productivity of team members ensure the successful development and implementation of projects and their strategies.