Project Management The spectrum of innovation in IT project management Published on 18 May 2009 - Revised on An interesting article that I came across on tech republic by Rick Freedman There’s a constant lively debate in the IT project management community about methodologies. Light or heavy, agile or predictive, canned or self-developed, PMBOK or Prince2; project managers can debate these questions ad infinitum, and then come back for more. As I discussed last week, the debate over balancing rigor with speed and flexibility also continues. Some project managers advocate following strict Project Management Institute (PMI) principles even for the smallest projects; others insist that qualified technicians should be able to manage their own efforts, and project managers should focus on team leadership and client relationships. Rather than argue these well-worn points, let’s explore one key criteria that drives the selection of a project approach: innovation. The broad spectrum Most projects fit into a broad spectrum of innovativeness. On one end of the spectrum is the most mundane, repetitive project a project manager might be asked to undertake, such as a desktop migration to a new application revision. Calling this project mundane does not imply that it’s without risk, or that it doesn’t require management; even the most routine project can be fraught with unknowns. For these sorts of projects, many project stakeholders and sponsors expect to see minimal project overhead and assume that, since you’ve done it so many times before, it will follow a preconceived plan and approach. On the other end of the spectrum is the truly innovative engagement; the attempt to take a creative idea (often as nebulous as a hunch) and turn it into a concrete deliverable that is invented as the project proceeds. Across this spectrum are projects with various degrees of novelty. Some projects are trying new combination's of elements that we know work well in isolation, and other projects extend the functionality of existing products in creative ways. Rate this article: No rating Print Arjun Thomas Arjun is a consultant with expertise in areas like Strategy and Operations within the field of Knowledge Management, Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media. He is an Architecture and Design Specialist with expertise in the area of Knowledge and Enterprise Portals and Web 2.0 tools and services. He has a background of implementing large scale Social Networking and other Web 2.0 tools that are now being used rather extensively to promote Knowledge Management within most organizations. Full biography Full biography Arjun is a consultant with expertise in areas like Strategy and Operations within the field of Knowledge Management, Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media. He is an Architecture and Design Specialist with expertise in the area of Knowledge and Enterprise Portals and Web 2.0 tools and services. He has a background of implementing large scale Social Networking and other Web 2.0 tools that are now being used rather extensively to promote Knowledge Management within most organizations. x Contact author Linked In
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