1st Edition
IT Best Practices Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects
Consistent success does not happen by chance. It occurs by having an understanding of what is happening in the environment and then having the skills to execute the necessary changes.
Ideal for project, IT, and systems development managers, IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects details the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to succeed in bringing about large-scale change. It explains how to incorporate quality methods into the change management process and outlines a holistic approach for transformation management.
Detailing time-tested project management techniques, the book examines management skills with a focus on systems thinking to offer a pragmatic look at effecting change. Its comprehensive coverage spans team building, quality, project methodology, resource allocation, process engineering, and management best practices. The material covered is validated with references to concepts and processes from such business greats as Dr. Deming, Jack Welch, and Henry Ford. Readers will learn the history behind the concepts discussed along with the contributions made by these great minds.
The text supplies an awareness of the factors that impact performance in today’s projects to supply you with the real-world insight needed to bring about large-scale change in your organization. Although it is geared around change, most of the concepts discussed can be directly applied to improve efficiencies in your day-to-day activities.
Introduction
Acquiring Knowledge
Content Material
Management Best Practices
Negotiation
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Ability to Influence the Organization
Communication
Meetings for Informational Purposes
Meetings to Sell an Idea or Get Approval
Meetings to Gather Information
Improving Management Best Practice Disciplines
Bad Management Practices
Summary
Five Disciplines of System Thinking
The Effects of Management on Subordinates
Management Types
Manager of Maintenance Work
Technical Manager
Project Manager
System Resource Manager
Crisis Management
Jack Welch and Management
Robert Greenleaf and Servant Leadership
Management Wrap-Up
Business Model
High-Performance Teams
HPT Member Classification
HPT Characteristics
High-Performance Team Life Cycle
Quality
Introduction to Definition of Quality
Generalist versus Specialist
Tasks Grouping and Quality
Reporting Quality and Performance
Measuring Quality and Performance
W. Edward Deming, Father of Quality
Continuous Quality Improvement
Theory of Constraints
Process Engineering
Lean Management
Six Sigma
Workplace Efficiencies and Distraction
Internet
Instant Messaging
Controlling Workplace Inefficiencies
Getting Started for the Workday
Technology
Contractors
Contractors for Knowledge
Contractors for Filling a Resource Void
Using Contractors Successfully
Overseas Contractors
Defects
Effects of Defects
Causes of Defects
Knowledge Acquired So Far
Project Selection Criteria
Project Characteristics
Successful
Challenged
Failed
Law of Cause and Effect
Identifying the Cause
Effects of Project Failure
Controlling Failure
Project Methodology
Project Phases
Documentation
Phases
Initiate
Analyzing (Solution Scoping)
Design
Development
Testing
Summary of Testing Steps
Implementation
Postimplementation
Factors That Affect Projects
Project Estimates and Staffing
Project Methodology
Scrum
Extreme Programming (XP)
Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
Study
Functional Modeling
Design and Build
Implementation
Feature-Driven Development Method (FDD)
Develop Overall Model
Build Feature List
Plan by Feature
Design by Feature
Build by Feature
Cowboy Development Method
Learning about Spiral
Linear Project Management
Linear Waterfall—Crashing the Timeline
Law of 20–80
Linear versus Spiral
Spiral Strengths
Spiral Weaknesses
Linear Strengths
Linear Weaknesses
Working Environment
Project Management Improvement
Scope and Integration
Time
Communication
Human Resource Allotment
Quality
Risk
Leadership
Communication
Negotiating
Problem Solving
Influencing the Organization
Decision Making
Project Sizes and the Amount of Form and Art Needed
Small Project Characteristics
Resources
Areas Affected
Documentation
Simple Design and Development
GOOD: Project manager leads the project
BEST: Technical manager or leader leads the project
Medium Project Characteristics
Resources
Areas Affected
Documentation
Design and Development
BAD: Technical manager or leader leads the project
GOOD: Project manager is assigned without a technical lead or technical manager
BEST: Project manager leads with a technical lead assigned
Large Project Characteristics
Resources
Areas affected
Documentation
Complex and Difficult Design and Development
BAD: Project manager leads the project with a technical lead assigned
Summary
Never Assume, Always Validate
Conclusion
Index
Biography
Tom Witt has a B.S. in mathematics, with a minor in coaching, from the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. He has worked in the information technology (IT) environment for almost 30 years. Early in his career, he moved into management for 14 years before entering the project world, in which he has held the titles of office automation manager, project manager, technical manager, technical lead, architect, and system analyst. Most of Tom’s experience has been in the insurance industry in addition to three years in the magazine fulfillment business and three years at an institute of higher education.
Tom has worked on a wide range of projects; he has been a part of the development of new mainframe systems, new web systems, and vendor-purchased imaging systems and system remote workers across the country as well as part of a small team that reengineered a business division for a major insurance company. Many of the projects on which Tom has been involved have affected changes—as many as 200 different systems—throughout the entire enterprise. Tom has acquired knowledge not only through personal experiences but also from outside sources such as external consultants, seminars, books, and a personal network of people. More importantly, he was put into many different types of project and situations that allowed him to apply the many different concepts and knowledge acquired to see the results from a front-line perspective.
