Project managers are always 100% honest about the status of their projects - of course. Nevertheless, it can be reassuring for the project sponsor and other senior managers to have independent verification that the project is as healthy as the project managers says it is.
Not all team leaders, project leaders or project managers are expert in project management. Having assistance available to guide them through their first big risk assessment or to advise them on what controls are appropriate for their project can be very useful.
It helps an organisation if all projects are adopting the same approach: all use the same names for documents (PDR? PDD? PID? TOR? Project Charter? - doesn't matter what we call it as long as we all call it the same thing) and all play by the same rules. Which does not mean imposing on small projects huge bureaucracy designed for large ones.
But who is going to ensure all projects follow the same rules? Who is going to guide inexperienced project managers? Who is going to conduct independent project health checks? Indeed, who is going to own and promulgate the organisation's project management rules and guidelines?
We'll call them "Project Support", though some organisations call them Project Assurance, Project Audit or even Project Office. The IT Project Management training course describes the role of Project Support, covers the sort of assistance they might offer to projects, explains how they conduct independent health checks and covers their role in writing/owning project management standards. Project Support also play a key role in ensuring all projects adopt good practice: buying an off-the-shelf set of project management standards and simply giving everyone a copy won't, on its own, do much to improve project management on the ground. The challenge is how actually to get team leaders, project managers and business participants to adopt best practice.
If you are someone charged with introducing a disciplined project management system into
your organisation, or you want to improve your organisation's project management
procedures, then this could be just the course for you.
The contents of the project management course is now available free online
enshrined in this
Project Management Book
Risk Management in I.T. Projects
The Tale of Three Project Managers
Towards a Project-Centric World
Quality Management in I.T. Projects
Project Management Proverbs, Saying, Laws and Jokes
So You Want To Be A Project Manager?
Project Management in the Public Sector
Copyright M Harding Roberts
www.hraconsulting-ltd.co.uk
Home Sitemap Contact Us Project Management Articles Project Management Book IT Project Management Course