WILLIAM G. SMITH & ASSOCIATES INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SEMINARS AND CONSULTING "CLEANING UP THE WORLD'S DATA MESSES"

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE IRM ENVIRONMENT

Under the IRM approach, a "development project" is dramatically diffferent than a traditional "IS system development project". An IRM development project begins where the Enterprise Conceptual Models and the Implementation/Migration Plan have ended: no gathering of requirements, no feasibility study, no cost/benefit analysis, no project scope definition are needed - all that has been completed before any development project begins! And, an IRM development project may be building some database(s), and/or some program code, and/or some technology, or any combination thereof, while dismantling and replacing old legacy system artifacts (data, code or technology). This seminar describes a new development project paradigm which must accompany the IRM approach to development. Sharp contrast is drawn between the traditional 'system' development project, and a project to develop sharable information resources.

Besides the aforementioned differences, the history of IS "system development" projects is littered with aberrations and failures. Pathetically, most IS projects begin with an acronym, a deadline, and a budget - but no clear idea whatsoever of what is to be built. A major objective of this seminar is to ensure that IRM project managers are well equipped to carefully, rationally, realistically and professionally plan the work to be done, based on the known deliverable(s) of the project. The "deadline" is established after the plan is laid, resources are applied to the work, and time is carefully and realistically estimated using historical, statistically valid estimating metrics.The project manager then spends his/her time assigning, motivating, supervising, organizing, measuring, controlling and communicating to ensure that the work is done properly and according to plan. If the project begins to veer from the plan, the project manager adjusts as necessary - either resources, or the plan. Particular emphasis is placed on project planning and the disciplined use of PERT/CPM techniques for planning, measuring and controlling the project. Leadership qualities and skills, project management tools and an extensive workshop round out the course. This seminar will radically change (improve) the way projects are managed in your environment.

TOPICAL OUTLINE

• IRM Background Concepts
  • IRM Approach vs. "Dis-integrated Systems" Approach
  • Building Shared Information Resources vs. Building a "System"
• The Development Life Cycle in the IRM Environment
  • Ten Major Ways Development Projects are Different in the IRM Environment
• General Principles of Project Management
  • IS Projects; Why They Fail
  • The Project Box: Scope, Quality, Resources, Time
• Project Management Functions
  • Project Planning: Form, Content and Use of the Project Plan
    • Example Form/Content of a Good Project Plan
    • The PERT Network: The Heart of the Plan
      • Breaking Down the Work into Well-Defined Tasks and Deliverables
      • Constructing a Network Based on Deliverable Precedence
      • Estimating Resources by Category for Each Task
      • Loading/Assigning Resources to Tasks
        • Nature of Work and Loading of Resources on Tasks
        • Different Loading Strategies
      • Refining Resource Estimates Based on Specifics
      • Estimating Time and Developing the Realistic Schedule
        • Difference Between Time and Resources
        • Converting Resource Estimates to Time Estimates
      • Optimizing the Plan
        • Options when the Box Doesn't Fit
      • Estimating Costs
    • How to Develop Better Estimating Practices and Metrics
  • Project Organizing
    • Principles of Effective Organization
    • Different Roles on the IRM Development Project
    • Project Organization in the Larger Context of the IRM Organization
  • Measuring: Tracking Progress
    • The Laws of Measurement
    • What, When and How to Measure
    • Interpreting and Using Measurements
  • Controlling: Keeping Things Moving
    • Initiating
    • Motivating
    • Keeping Control
      • Work Release
    • Correcting, and How to Do It
  • Communicating: Establishing, Maintaining, and Utilizing Effective Communication Mechanisms for Managing the Project
    • Different Communication Mechanisms
    • When and How to Use Each
• Leadership: Manage Things; LEAD People
  • Principles of Leadership
  • Dimensions of Leadership Style
  • Characteristics of Great Leaders
  • Developing Personal Leadership Qualities
• Workshop - Project Planning

DURATION: 5 days

TARGET AUDIENCES: (recommended maximum number of attendees - 25)

• CIO, IS/IRM Management
• Development Project Managers
• Prospective Project Managers
• All participants and prospective participants in IRM development projects

PREREQUISITES: none