Successful Projects; It's not Rocket Science

September 16, 2009 from ProjectTimes –“There is no worse person to be than the project manager at the end of a failed project. As an IT project manager, I have experienced that feeling and I can tell you it's not nice. IT projects are particularly difficult to manage. In fact there really aren't any IT projects, just projects that have elements of IT in them…”

180 View (written by Lawrence Young) – This article talks about the issues that affect the success, and the usual lack thereof, of IT projects. The author talks about the reality that ‘IT projects are particularly difficult to manage. In fact there really aren't any IT projects, just projects that have elements of IT in them.’

The article further states (with which we couldn’t agree more) that ‘avoiding the common pitfalls of IT project management is not rocket science-it is simply a case of taking some sensible measures’.

The article provides practical advice on how to avoid making the five most critical mistakes when managing IT projects, which require the project manager to:

1. Provide appropriate support for the project
2. Get users involved
3. Stop scope creep
4. Manage expectations
5. Ensure that project participants ‘understand the lingo’