IT Project Management can seem daunting – especially if you’ve never done it before. Here are our top 5 tips to help you get started!
5 Tips for IT Project Management
Tip 1: Carefully Select an IT Project Manager
Deciding to work with an IT project manager and selecting that manager are two of the most important choices you’ll make at the start of an IT project.
The right IT project manager will help the project flow smoothly and finish on time with the desired deliverable. An ill-suited IT project manager, on the other hand, could make completing the project successfully even more difficult.
It’s worth taking your time to make sure you choose an IT project manager who fits in well with the rest of your team and is qualified to lead the project.
Tip 2: Choose the Right Team
Choosing the right people to make up the rest of the team working on any given IT project is also incredibly important. Each IT project will require slightly different skills, so you’ll want to build a team that has all the necessary skills and is capable of working well together. Understanding your team will also help you delegate tasks effectively.
Tip 3: Avoid Scope Creep
Scope creep is the term for when the requirements of a project increase over the lifestyle of that project. If you initially needed to produce one deliverable, for example, you may find that by the end of the project you need to provide five. It’s often caused by key stakeholders modifying their requirements or possible miscommunications.
Avoid scope creep as much as possible by clearly defining the scope of the project at the outset, including all project boundaries. The project manager should stand their ground as much as possible to resist inflated project scope. Limiting the number of stakeholders to the project can help cut down on scope creep, as well.
Tip 4: Pick the Right IT Project Management Method
There are several different project management methods that are popular for IT project management. One of the most popular methods is Agile. It’s a flexible approach that can help guide your team through the phases of the IT project.
The waterfall method is another option for managing your IT project. It offers less flexibility than Agile and customers only get to interact with your product once the project is complete. That said, the benefit of the waterfall method is that it helps structure projects that involve tasks that must be completed in a specific order. You only move on to the next step in the waterfall method after successfully completing the previous step.
To choose the right project management method, you’ll have to consider the details of your IT project and team.
Tip 5: Try Project Management Software
Project management software can go a long way toward ensuring the success of IT projects. There are many different project management tools that can help the project manager track progress and assign tasks, so don’t hesitate to take advantage of some that work for you.
Closing Thoughts
Managing IT projects can be difficult, but these tips should help make it much easier. If you want to learn more about technology that you can use to help manage IT projects, reach out to us!