IT Project Management Lite
A quick start tool and guide to managing IT projects.
RETIRED CONTENT
Please note that the content on this page is retired. This content is not maintained and may contain information or links that are out of date.If your organization designates people as “project managers” but doesn’t allocate time to project management duties, you are at risk of:
- Cancelled and incomplete projects
- Disgruntled project workers
- Portfolio chaos
With a minimum-viable PMO strategy, organizations in this situation can attain:
- Fair and achievable process for time-strapped project workers
- The right balance of discipline and tools to drive projects to successful completion
- Improved portfolio visibility
Book Your Workshop
Onsite Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn’t enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our Project Workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a road map in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Preparation
The Purpose
- Define goals and success criteria.
- Finalize agenda.
- Gather information: update project and resource lists (Info-Tech recommends using the Project Portfolio Workbook).
Key Benefits Achieved
- More efficiently organized and executed workshop.
- Able to better customize and tailor content to your specific needs.
Activities: | Outputs: | |
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1.1 | Discuss specific pain points with regards to project manager allocations |
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1.2 | Review project lists, tools and templates, and other documents |
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1.3 | Map existing strategies to Info-Tech’s framework |
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Module 2: Make the Case and Assess Needs
The Purpose
- Assess current state (including review of project and resource lists).
- Discuss and analyze SWOT around project and portfolio management.
- Define target state.
- Define standards / SOP / processes for project and portfolio management.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Gain perspective on how well your processes match up with the amount of time your project managers have for their PM duties.
- Determine the value of the time and effort that your project teams are investing in project management activities.
- Begin to define resource optimized processes for zero-allocation project managers.
- Ensure consistent implementation of processes across your portfolio.
- Establish project discipline and best practices that are grounded in actual project capacity.
Activities: | Outputs: | |
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2.1 | Perform and/or analyze Minimum-Viable PMO Needs Assessment |
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2.2 | SWOT analysis |
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2.3 | Identify target allocations for project management activities |
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2.4 | Begin to define resource optimized processes for zero-allocation project managers |
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Module 3: Establish Strategy
The Purpose
- Select and customize project and portfolio management toolkit.
- Implement (test/pilot) toolkit and processes.
- Customize project manager training plan.
- Evaluate and refine toolkit and processes as needed.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Ensure consistent implementation of processes across your portfolio.
- Establish project discipline and best practices that are grounded in actual project capacity.
- A customized training session that will suit the needs of your project managers.
Activities: | Outputs: | |
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3.1 | Customize the Zero-Allocation Toolkit to accommodate the needs of your projects |
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3.2 | Test toolkit on projects currently underway |
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3.3 | Tweak project manager training to suit the needs of your team |
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Module 4: Train Your Zero-Allocation Project Managers
The Purpose
- Communicate project and portfolio management SOP to Project Managers.
- Deliver project manager training: standards for portfolio reporting and toolkit.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Equip project managers to improve their level of discipline and documentation without spending more time in record keeping and task management.
- Execute a successful training session that clearly and succinctly communicates your minimal and resource-optimized processes.
Activities: | Outputs: | |
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4.1 | Project Manager Training, including communication of the processes and standard templates and reports that will be adopted by all project managers |
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Module 5: Assess Strategy and Next Steps
The Purpose
- Debrief from the training session.
- Plan for ongoing evaluation and improvement.
- Evaluate and refine toolkit and processes if needed.
- Answer any remaining questions.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Assess portfolio and project manager performance in light of the strategy implemented.
- Understanding of how to keep living documents like the workbook and SOP up to date.
- Clearly defined next steps.
Activities: | Outputs: | |
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5.1 | Review the customized tools and templates |
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5.2 | Send relevant documentation to relevant stakeholders |
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5.3 | Schedule review call |
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5.4 | Schedule follow-up call with analysts to discuss progress in six months |
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