The formality is designed to ensure that the project remains within the time, budget, scope, and quality constraints. Without formal processes, how does one ensure these things in a large project?
IT projects are particularly notorious for going poorly. I studied them extensively in grad school, and beyond that I've seen it happen myself--of course, not in *my* organization/department... :) John From: Ray [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 12:53 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: PMI PMP Certification I don't remember when it became necessary to have PM's. We used to just get 'er done. Now the formality of it seems to slow down the process. Of course, in my experience, it could just be lousy PM's working with lousy tech people. From: David Lum [mailto:[email protected]]<mailto:[mailto:[email protected]]> Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 9:29 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: PMI PMP Certification "Too many projects fail because technical people like to do technical work, and not project management." Hear hear. Part of my challenge here at %dayjob% is I love the technical challenges but dislike any kind of large multi-department project management. I love being the technical lead in a project but want very little to do with the PM portion. I'm Grog. Want me to plan a tribal move and figure out the best place to move and coordinate everyone? Don't ask me. Tell me what area to go hunt so we can eat during and after the move and I'll make that happen and we will eat well. From: Ken Schaefer [mailto:[email protected]]<mailto:[mailto:[email protected]]> Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 8:50 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: PMI PMP Certification It is not the PMs job to decide whether something is technically possible or not. That comes down to the devs and architects. Whoever is the responsible dev (whether that be a senior or junior) states what is possible. If they are liars or incompetent and give the wrong info, then they shouldn't have a job in the first place. The PM needs to work with all the stakeholders to ensure that the project is successful. Writing code is 10% of a successful project in an enterprise environment. Whilst your "senior dev" may have more responsibility for making technical calls for the application, they don't have the expertise to handle the operational requirements, infrastructure requirements, network requirements, storage requirements, security integration (which all come from other technical towers), or typically the inclination to do all the project documentation (scope, deliverable, risks/issues, management reporting), or even write minutes or call meetings. Too many projects fail because technical people like to do technical work, and not project management. Many projects also fail due to bad project management. But IT has many cowboys and generally useless people, unlike more established industries. Cheers Ken From: Tigran K [mailto:[email protected]]<mailto:[mailto:[email protected]]> Sent: Tuesday, 2 August 2011 10:37 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: PMI PMP Certification The model you layout is exactly the problem. Contract dev from anywhere who doesn't have vested interest in the project or any oversight can be the single deciding factor for the project. No matter how good a PM is they can't tell if the project is going down the right path when it comes to development because they just don't understand. A Dev can tell a PM that some thing is impossible. The PM won't know how to question that Dev to see if it really is impossible or not. With my model a Dev Lead would be able to see problems before they come up and direct the project. And if you have a Tech Lead who knows how to do that. Somebody that doesn't code but directs instead then you don't really need a PM. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
