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–>Mark Roman, CIO at University of Victoria
How do you choose the project management tools you use?
First we defined our information systems governance process. Our next step was to define the link between our project management process and our enterprise decisions.
How do you determine the leadership involved on a given project?
Our governance process determines who initiates, funds and manages projects. These roles include sponsorship, ownership and management.
What are the biggest challenges you face in delivering IT projects on time and on budget?
None. Time, budget, specifications, and quality are variables, not constraints. We keep all constituents and stakeholders aware of the dynamic nature of the project trade.
How do you access the value of project management tools to your organization? Do you use any formal process?
Several handcrafted tools and some purchased tools have been used to create an enterprise interest in our project management office. As an information systems organization we have begun to offer project management services to the broader organization for any project.
What kind of projects might offer an opportunity to use Web 2.0 tools?
None. There are many fine products, but they do not adequately address our methodology.
C.P. Senechal, CTO at AXIA Computer Technics
How do you choose the project management tools you use?
We are a very experienced development shop with considerable project management experience. We choose tools that conform to our methodology and reject tools that force us to change how we conduct the management of our projects.
How do you determine the leadership involved on a given project?
In a word, experience. We assign novice or limited-experience staff members small projects following a training period where they are assisting more experienced project managers. In addition, experienced project managers provide oversight and mentoring to junior project managers.
What are the biggest challenges you face in delivering IT projects on time and on budget?
Function creep is the biggest problem we continually encounter. Hence, considerable time is spent managing the client, sometimes more so than managing project delivery.
How do you access the value of project management tools to your organization? Do you use any formal process?
We use three fundamental techniques: First, use of an extablished methodology, always tailored to the needs of the project. Second, conduct periodic project status reviews, usually monthly, but also use weekly reviews for projects whose critical paths are at risk. Third, we use post-project reviews to determine what went well and what problems were encountered that might require adjustments to our methodology. Project staff are the most critical project resource and we employ work breakdown structures with tasks that rarely exceed two weeks, so project completion progress can be based on objective measures rather than subjective criteria. This also enables us to “reward” staff on their progress and contribution(s) to the project. We find a “happy” staff is key to having a successful project (as long as we can keep functional creep in check!).
What kind of projects might offer an opportunity to use Web 2.0 tools?
None. There are many fine products, but they do not adequately address our methodology.
