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IT project management is no joke.
Among PM roles, it’s easily one of the most demanding and involves seriously high stakes.
Why? Because IT projects are complex and expensive.
Switching between software. Migrating servers. Onboarding new users to a platform.
These are the sort of projects likely to experience overrun because they involve so many people. Specifically, stakeholders that don’t understand the steps involved.
In this guide, we’ll break down the best practices for IT project managers and what they need to know to better manage their team.
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What is IT project management?
IT project management is the planning and execution of information technology-related initiatives for an organization. This includes software, hardware, security, and infrastructure.
What does an IT project manager do?
IT project managers organize and oversee all things tech, communicating with departments and stakeholders to ensure any project's successful rollout.
Some big-picture responsibilities of an IT project manager include:
Managing software rollouts, updates, and replacements
Researching and anticipating system changes
Addressing potential security risks and data breaches
Upgrading networks and infrastructure
Evaluating company-wide (and individual) IT-related requests
Not only do successful project managers oversee all of the above, they do it all while keeping in touch with everyone involved in the project.
Generally, the PM side of IT project management takes priority over the "IT." IT project managers are charged with ensuring that projects are completed as efficiently as possible — a vital objective given that, on average, 11.4% of an organization's resources are wasted due to poor project management.
Translation? It’s more important for IT project managers to excel at organization and communication versus being an all-knowing tech wizard.
As a result, mastering project management methodologies like waterfall, agile, and scrum, is integral to moving projects forward when juggling so many tasks and relationships.
What are the 5 stages of an IT project?
Every project can be broken down into phases. For IT projects, the project management lifecycle consists of the following five phases:
Initiation: This phase begins with defining the project's objective. From there, a detailed project proposal must be created.
Planning: Planning out the project's scope, creating a project plan, setting a budget, and allocating resources.
Execution: Where the final deliverable is developed, with development teams working on their assigned tasks.
Monitoring: Throughout the execution phase, project managers must closely monitor the project's progress, keeping tabs on the project's cost, quality, and risks.
Closure: Following up with the customer/client/stakeholders once the project is delivered, (seeing what worked and what didn’t), setting up support teams, and creating training resources for the product's end-users.
Common IT project management methodologies
Today, there are so many different project management methodologies for PMs to choose from that it can sometimes be hard to know which aligns with your agency's project goals. Below, we'll touch on a few of the common methodologies — but for a more in-depth discussion, check out Teamwork.com's guide to project management methodologies.
Waterfall: The most traditional approach to project management, the waterfall methodology entails completing tasks in a linear, sequential order. Like its real-life namesake, progress flows in one direction with the waterfall methodology, with teams fully completing each stage of the project before moving on to the next.
Agile: The agile methodology is designed to eliminate some of the constraints of the traditional approach to project management. It gives teams the freedom to revise and adapt projects throughout the development process rather than waiting until the project is completed to review and amend.
Scrum: The scrum project management methodology is a subset of agile project management. With the scrum methodology, projects are split into short cycles known as "sprints." These sprints typically last one to two weeks, with project teams reviewing their performance following each sprint and adapting as needed before starting the next one.
Hybrid: The hybrid methodology combines the waterfall and agile methodologies. With the hybrid methodology, projects are planned using the waterfall methodology and executed using the agile methodology.
What are the biggest challenges of IT project management?
It’s well-documented that many IT projects experience overruns and missed budgets. So, where do IT projects usually go wrong? What can PMs do to nip problems in the bud before they turn into major issues?
Mastering resource allocation in IT project management
Resource allocation is a responsibility for all project managers, but it can be especially challenging in IT project management.
The process of distributing people, finances, and technology is tough enough when the deliverables are tangible and the parameters known from the outset. But often in IT projects neither is true: the deliverables are ones and zeroes, and the final outcomes may not be known at the start.
IT project managers, then, must navigate the complexities of resource allocation with agility, making adjustments and reallocations throughout the course of the project.
Time management
Maximizing team efficiency is an ongoing challenge in IT project management: IT PMs must grapple with the constantly changing nature of software development.
Iterative development, ephemeral feature sets, and a need to begin building without every detail settled all complicate efficiency and time management on software teams.
Managing remote teams
Remote teams have become common across all industries where the practice is possible, but IT teams remain the most likely to be partly or fully remote. To give just one example: Flexjobs rounded up 20 companies that have shifted to permanent remote work, and every single one of them was in IT and software.
Remote teams may be possible, but they aren’t always working well together. They can face additional difficulties with communication, mutual understanding, and team-building. The IT project manager must navigate this environment, helping team members get to know and trust one another despite physical distance.
Handling project scope changes
Because the end goal is often not known at the outset of software development projects (and several other IT categories), scope changes are inevitable. Still, they can be a significant threat to project success if not managed.
IT project managers must navigate a delicate balance between stakeholder and client requests with the project’s objectives and constraints (time, budget, and resources).
How to get more done with IT project management software: Best practices for success
If you’re tired of living in Microsoft Projects or feel that your planning isn’t where it needs to be, we’ve got you covered.
Ideally, you need an IT project management tool that’s easy to use, collaborative, and allows you to practice your project management methodology of choice.
And that’s where Teamwork.com comes in.
To wrap things up, let’s look at a few IT project management best practices that our platform enables:
Stay in touch with real-time status updates
Timely communication means that projects never stall and you have a constant pulse on your team’s progress.
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Whether it's through team chat or updates via Kanban boards, tools empowering real-time communication mean you and your team don’t have to wait around for answers. Instead, you can create a communication culture that eliminates bottlenecks and keeps project participants in the loop.
Consolidate your team’s communication and document all of it
It's important to consolidate and document the entire project life cycle — from the initial proposal to the end result.
Developing an internal communications strategy is a game-changer for busy teams that struggle with deadlines and accountability. With a tool like Teamwork.com, each step of project progress is presented visually and easy to understand at a glance.
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For IT teams working with clients, it's even more essential to streamline communication by knowing where the request came from in the first place. Teamwork makes it easy to see who's making the request — your team or the client.
Use schedule breakdowns and forecasts to monitor milestones
Speaking of visuals, having an actual roadmap of your project progress is helpful for managing both your expectations and those of your stakeholders.
For example, Gantt charts ensure more accurate projections as you understand whether you’re on track to hit your deadlines (see below). These sorts of data visualization tools are perfect for reporting progress to the rest of your team.
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Teamwork.com’s multiple project views mean that both you and your teammates can keep track of their schedules the way they see fit.
Kanban view? Gantt chart? Calendar? Task list? It's totally up to you.
Stay on target with resource, budget, and individual time-tracking
From money spent and available resources to who’s been doing what on any given project, Teamwork.com allows you to monitor all of these data points in real time.
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This is huge not only for accountability's sake, but also to understand whether or not you’re at risk for an overrun or budget issues.
You can also keep an eye on your teammates' progress to ensure that no one is overworked, overloaded, or burnt out. With Teamwork.com, you can encourage balanced work across projects to keep employees happy and productive.
Upgrade your approach to IT project management with Teamwork.com
Being a top-tier IT project manager means mastering the arts of organization and communication. That’s because IT projects don’t slow down. Between the projects themselves and the people they impact, you have to constantly be on your toes.
With so many moving pieces to oversee and relationships to manage, anything you can do to streamline your processes and communication is a huge plus. That's where Teamwork.com's powerful project management software comes into play. With Teamwork.com, you can streamline team communication, organize project workflows, and stay on top of project progress like never before.
To see for yourself how Teamwork.com empowers improved IT project management, sign up today for free!
More resources for IT service providers and MSP's:
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