I have been an IT project manager for 4 years with 5 years in software development. I will be posted to participate in a new project within the organisation. This project is all about business reengineering process. I do not have knowledge in this area and I take this as a challenge and learning experience. My contribution will not be from IT's perspective but from the business's perspective. You can say that this is a department transfer. Most of my entire projects which I handled in the past, I got involved right from the very beginning of the project life cycle. However, this time is not the case. The project started late last year. Can someone advised me what do I need to do in order for me to hop onto the project so that eventually I can become a contributing team member. I don't want to fail as this is my first project from a career switch.
My suggestion is to review the project requirements so you know what the customer wants from the business, functional, and user persepctive.
Next, review the project objectives to be sure all requirements are matched to objectives. Ask a LOT of questions of your SMEs at this point. Educate yourself in the project planning and implementation strategy that has been used so far. Learn about the objectives, the technology, what is in scope and what is out of scope.
Depending on what the project is in its lifecycle, you might not get a chance to contribute, but you can learn everything possible. You are there to manage the team, control the project, and guarantee project success...not accomplist project tasks. Let your resources do that, you should lead and manage them.
There are all kinds of good books on Process Re-engineering if you want to become a SME and project contributor.
Manage the schedule, costs, issues, change, quality, risk, resources, and the scope...that should keep you busy! Saving Changes...
Mike Cooper PMPPrincipal Project Manager (retired, sort of)| New England Project ServicesWestford, Ma, United States
Anonymous, you don't mention if you are managing the project or not. If you are (and probably if you are not), then you will probably be given some "grace period" as you settle in to learning about the situation. At some point, assuming you are managing the project, you will need to take ownership of the plan, and make it your own. Note carefully when and how this occurs. Up to that point you might be able to challenge the plan, but sooner or later people will assume it is "your" plan. You imply that you are a team member rather than a project manager, I think the same principles apply. What does this tell us? Get up to speed quickly and as soon as you are, behave with confidence as a constructive team member. As John notes, ask lots of questions. Keep asking them. And then keep asking them. Even when you are contributing to the max. Always stay in touch with the business drivers for the project, the user needs, etc. Saving Changes...
Here's what would do (1) go to Amazon.Com and do a search on Business Process Reengineering (BPR), (2) carefully read the reviews of the various BPR books, (3) buy 1, 2, or 3 books, (4) read the BPR books you bought and continue to ask questions and get smart on BPR once you got the basics down, like methodology just for starters. Saving Changes...
Being from the IT side of projects, I will make some assumptions.
1 You are familiar with managing time, scope, cost, quality, and other project management functions (depending upon you school of thinking)
2 You are familiar with a common IT Waterfall development life cycle (Analyse, Desing, Build, Test, Implement).
As you look at this project, there is a good chance you will see similar activities happening. They will probably be under different names, but the activiites will be there. For example there maybe an activity to document the process... This is the design. From the process, you may need to write develop procedures, templates or other tools. This build. Running through them in a pilot group is testing...etc
I agree with other comments:
Ask Questions. Read. Ask more Questions. Be part of the team. Be confident about it.
Keep these in mind also: a Focus on the process first, then the tools to support it. b Who will benefit and how will you prove it c Process change means changing behaviour and change doesn't always come easy d Enjoy the opportunity
Since you have been in the software side as a project manager, I will assume that your company is some form of software company and that you are transferring to the project initialization side of the house.
I would recommend that you take a short class in Business Administration or read a book on business management to update yourself on the terminology that you wil encounter.
As a software project manager, your focus had to be limited to the present product and its shipping date.
If you are now with the development team, you will also need to develop a broader vision in terms of direction. Get information on the vision of the sponsor and what he/she feels is the end goal.
At the same time, find out what the others on the project feel about the vision. Whether or not you are the project manager, your best contribution may be in steering the project to that vision. Saving Changes...
