A new survey from FMI Corp has highlighted the need for companies to have good project management processes if their Project Managers are to perform well. Company procedures, culture and attitudes are more important than the individual skills of PM's in influencing the success rate of projects.

Planning, leadership and communication skills ranked highest in the survey, as the key markers of top performers within the field, alongside the ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders. Technical expertise ranked among the lowest on the list of requirements for effective Project Managers.

For a review of the survey, follow the link here to CONTRACTOR.mag.com.

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Should IT projects be considered a cost or an investment ? Here, David Rae of Accountancy Age, makes the case for linking IT spending to business growth and company strategy, and assessing its worth against these rather than traditional measures such as ROI or IRR.

Often, the benefits delivered by an IT project are non-financial and intangible, but real nevertheless. One example is the increased goodwill from a company's employees in greater opportunities to work from home flowing on from the installation of a new converged network. In a similar manner, a project's impact on customer satisfaction also needs to be taken into account when assessing its value to the organisation.

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This piece by Meredith Levinson in CIO focuses on Project Management by using a classic change management methodology, getting away from an over-emphasis on software and technology and echoing a theme already developed on Get Somebody Now. Implementing formal methodologies is meaningless unless accompanied by a change of culture across the organisation, so that all stakeholders understand exactly what and where IT's role is, and their own contribution to a successful IT project. Meredith's 8 steps are

1) Identify current project success rates and publish those metrics to your IT staff so they're aware of shortfalls.

2) Set and communicate your new expectations for good project management. This may include redefining project success.

3) Provide leadership training to all managers to boost their confidence, improve their credibility with the business and prepare them for the challenges that come up over the course of projects.

4) Train staff in any new project management methodologies you're implementing.

5) Communicate new methodologies to business users, and make sure they're on board with new processes and procedures. If they don't adopt them, you won't be successful.

6) Foster joint accountability between project managers and functional managers by getting them to work together more closely on a daily basis.

7) Monitor and report on the progress of projects to hold people accountable for completing projects successfully.

8) Encourage project managers to communicate better and more frequently with project sponsors and stakeholders by evaluating them on the business value their projects provide rather than solely on whether their projects are completed on time and within budget.

For the article in full, follow the link here  

As Get Somebody Now has repeatedly emphasised, Project Management skills make up a key competency for IT contractors, most of whose work takes the form of projects in one shape or another. In spite of this, effective project management still remains an elusive goal for many organisations in the IT sector. 

Here, Tom Mochal of Tech Republic outlines the five key causes behind project management failures. Tom highlights the need for a commitment to culture change and the dedication of adequate resources to make this happen, including the time to plan projects properly in advance. 

A common problem is confusion on the part of senior management as to what PM involves, thinking it can be reduced to a software tool. But, 'that is not where the value of project management lies. Instead, project management is about skills and discipline. It's about applying proactive processes and best practices. It's about using common and understood templates'.

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