Project Managememt within the Commonwealth-A Personal Experience

 
  
Posted by:
Abdellatif Lahlali, SAI Project Manager, Information Technology Division

In order to understand the role of Project Management within any organization, one must revert back to defining what constitutes a “Project.”  Since the Project Management methodology used at the Information Technology Division (ITD), better known as CommonWay, is aligned with the PMI (Project Management Institute), we’ll use the definition outlined in PMI’s PMBok (Project Management Book of Knowledge).

“A Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.”

Every project is unique due to what is commonly known as its Triple Constraints: Scope, Schedule, and Budget. It is essential for each constraint to be well defined for any project to succeed, and it is the day-to-day management of this basic triangle of constraints that is critical to any project success.  Project Management is the application of modern management techniques and systems to the execution of a project from start to finish,

In my particular case, I am the Project Manager (PM) for the Shared Application Infrastructure (SAI) Project within ITD.  The SAI Project is one of many in the ITD - Capital PMO Portfolio of Projects.  The scope of this project, as well as its basic schedule and budget, are a part of an investment brief that is currently in the execution stage

So what does a PM do?

The PM uses a set of skills, techniques, and proven methodologies to manage the delivery of those pre-determined goals stated in the Triple Constraints, with an eye for quality, and the ultimate objective of satisfying the customer.
 
The specific job description of the PM depends on many variables, such as the nature of the organization and its needs, the scope of the project, and its current stage.  However, for a brief summary we can revert back to PMI which splits the Tasks of the PM to 5 major processes:

“Initiation, Planning / Design, Execution, Monitor / Control, Closing”

Again, since ITD’s CommonWay Methodology is closely aligned with PMI, the list of processes defined above is quite similar within ITD.  Hence, the PM is heavily involved in all these processes from project start to finish.  The only variables remaining are the nature of the organization, the scope of the project, and at what stage the PM is engaged in the lifecycle of the project.

In my particular case, I come from the private sector, and was engaged by ITD a few months after the start of the SAI Project at the tail end of planning and design and the beginning of execution. 

So what are the most common tasks performed by the PM at this stage of the SAI project, within ITD?
They can be summarized as follows:

• Tracking / helping to resolve Issues, Action Items, and Risks, Dependencies and Key Decisions that affect the Project
• Maintaining / Updating Project Plan / Schedule Tracking
• Maintaining constant communications between Project Team members; and Agencies involved in the Project to help in planning for implementation
• Coordination with all Stakeholders; including Agencies and their Partners
• Reporting on Project Status, and any changes to the Scope, or Schedule of the Project
• Scheduling deployments and preparing processes for hand over to operations / Close out
• Maintaining overall Project deliverables aligned to the PMO objectives in Scope and Schedule

How different is being a PM within ITD than it is in the Private Sector?

The most common aspect of being a PM in any organization is the fact that PM work involves a substantial amount of responsibility with very little authority.  In some organizations, especially in the Private Sector, the PM is actually defined as the person with “ultimate responsibility” for the successful delivery of a single or multiple projects.  In the case of ITD, this responsibility is divided between a few individuals, and even different departments, so the basic role of the PM is more of a communicator and expeditor for a single Project.  Another major difference is the pace at which projects are managed in the Private Sector vs. ITD.  It is not unusual for projects in the private sector to be on-going 24 hours a day / 7 days a week, especially if they involve overseas implementations and virtual project teams.  While within ITD, the majority if not the totality of PM work is confined to a single time zone and completed within daytime business hours.

So what is particularly special about being a PM within ITD?

The most satisfying aspect is the fact that I get to meet and work with a variety of professionals from fields who come to work everyday intent on trying to improve the way ITD does business by developing new SW applications or simply helping out other agencies with their daily IT challenges.  ITD happens to be at the nucleus of the Commonwealth with numerous ITD Projects having a direct effect on how IT and Technology serves those State Agencies and their customers at large who are all constituents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

 Prepared by:

Abdellatif Lahlali, PMP
SAI Project Manager
ITD-Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Alan Washington]

I have found that team and previous projects are the most effective ways to validate IT designs. When you have a great group of core team members things always go a lot smoother and most of the kinks get worked out very early in the process.