Another Project War Story - Managing Aggressively Led Business Projects

 As an IT Project Manager you are asked to take control for the delivery of a project which has seemingly already been defined by the business sponsor or business team. As you apply your professional approach to project initiation and specifically, start to undertake some due diligence you find out pretty quickly that all is not well. 

Then comes the challenge to meet with the business to explain that despite their seemingly good work to date and  enthusiasm to get things moving there is a whole set of issues that need to be properly addressed if the project is to be successfully delivered.

Common Problems that the Business Team fail to Identify:

·        Role of a sponsor: set out for the sponsor how they will support the project through the various project  stages

·        Establish an appropriate procurement contract with the supplier and ensure references are taken and ideally site visits are made to customers who are working with a similar solution  

·        Identify and name the available business and IT resources required to deliver all stages of the project

·        Create a solution architecture document which will act as a ‘blueprint’ and allow all IT partners to understand their role in the delivery of the solution

·        Invest in detailed requirements gathering workshops which will include the key business users and the suppliers both external and internal. Ensure the sponsor is involved in the gap analysis workshop so that key decisions can be made about delivery options

·        Commit time to documenting business processes

·        Run business led roadshows or conference room pilots to ‘socialise’ the emerging solution and to build user commitment across your organisation

The above guidance is most applicable in organisations where the business teams are driving projects and where the IT department is being treated as an internal supplier. Although I would always advocate that the business owns the project they must do so with due respect to the support and guidance being provided by the IT department.