Roles and Responsibilities

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What is a Project?

A project is a temporary endeavour. It has a defined beginning and end and is undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives which are designed to bring about beneficial change or added value.

The temporary nature of projects is in contrast to business as usual (or operations)work . In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management (Project Management).

In essence the Infrastructure PM’s role is the overall responsibility for the successful planning, execution, monitoring, control and closure of a project.

There are numerous obstacles to this, including; resourcing, time, budget and scope creep (undefined boundaries). A project manager should successfully manage all of these elements to ensure quality.

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Resourcing (cost)Most IT departments do not possess dedicated resources to execute project work in isolation from BAU activities. An Infrastructure PM would therefore employ matrix management to ensure the correct resourcing (both internal and external to the organisation) is in place to successfully deliver the project. The issue of resourcing is critical, since most IT department cannot employ a team of contractors to carry out the project work due to financial constraints. This is clearly where an Infrastructure PM can reveal their worth; Securing resources for a project and managing those resources to produce viable output is critical to project success.

TimeClosely linked to the issue of resourcing is the question of time. Projects by definition are temporary arrangements and often need to be accomplished in short time frames to allow resources to be released back to BAU activities. If individual Team managers were to operate in silos in trying to achieve project success, it is likely they would fail to deliver the overall project on time. The Infrastructure PM’s role should ensure that all teams are working to defined milestones. The Infrastructure PM is responsible for defining the timeframe for the full project lifecycle (or where this is imposed, they are responsible for communicating the timeframe and delivering the project within that timeframe).

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ScopeThe scope is the definition of the deliverable output of a project. By design projects exist to produce output that is of value or enhances the worth of an organisation. This means that there will always be stakeholders (often from the business) involved and they will all want to realise value from the project. The Infrastructure PM role should work with all concerned stakeholders to establish the deliverables of a project. Once the project deliverables have been defined it is the Infrastructure PM who should communicate these via the business case. It is important for the Infrastructure PM to consider:

•Business processes that will be affected.•Business departments/sites that will be affected•Business data that will be changed•Business applications that will be changed•Technologies that will be changed Additionally it is a critical aspect of Infrastructure project management to guard against scope creep. Stakeholders (and often non-stakeholders) will attempt to squeeze more from a project or attempt to steer it in a new direction. The Infrastructure PM guards against this and ensures focus is maintained on the defined project deliverables (unless of course broad consensus dictates a change in the scope). QualityThe project manager’s triangle depicted on page 3 shows the relationship between time, cost, the scope and quality. The Infrastructure PM ensures that the defined quality of each output is achieved whilst adhering to time and cost constraints. Additionally the project manager organises quality reviews to ensure that output is of the desired standard. This is essential in signing off work packages and therefore closing stages of a project or the project itself.

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Infrastructure Project Manager - Roles and Responsibilities

An Infrastructure PM ensures quality delivery by managing time, cost (including resources) and deliverables. It is in the management of these elements that an Infrastructure PM’s skills are required. There are six main areas where the requirement for an Infrastructure PM role becomes self evident:

•Business Case development•Planning•Reporting (communication)•Chairing Project Board•Work Package assignment•Managing and reporting risk

The Business Case It is the responsibility of the Infrastructure PM to produce a Business Case that: •Defines the objectives of the project.•Spells out the benefits of undertaking the project (will the project realise any benefits?)•Indicates the impact of the project on other areas of the infrastructure/organisation.•Defines risk early on and offers mitigating actions to minimise the risk.•Defines the project budget. The business case underpins the entire project and the Infrastructure PM needs to ensure that everyone has subscribed to the project definition contained within the business case.

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Planning It almost goes without saying that one of the Infrastructure PM’s main roles is planning. Successful planning is the cornerstone of successful project delivery. An Infrastructure PM should work with technical team leads and line mangers from project initiation and throughout the various project stages to ensure all outputs are defined and therefore resourced and executed correctly. Organising and chairing planning sessions (workshops) are the responsibility of the Infrastructure PM . An Infrastructure PM may choose to employ product based planning (for example) to establish all the necessary elements required to produce a defined output.

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Reporting (and recording) This is one of the Infrastructure PM’s prime responsibilities. Projects often involve interested parties (stakeholders) from both the business and the IT Department, as well as external organisations or individuals. The Infrastructure PM needs to ensure that all stakeholders are communicated with in an effective and concise manner that has been agreed up front. This would normally take place via a Project Highlight report which is made available at predetermined intervals and reflects the current status of the project (both in terms of works completed and monies spent) as well as indicating any important future works. Additionally any issues or risks can be communicated in this report, although this would be supplementary to reporting those more effectively elsewhere. The Infrastructure PM would also be responsible for ensuring technical teams produce highlight reports to reflect their progress in delivering agreed output. The Infrastructure PM would also report via the Project Board if this was in place, as well as on an ad-hoc basis if required by senior management or stakeholders. Another responsibility of the Infrastructure PM is to ensure that the fundamentals of the project are recorded. This would generally involve the Infrastructure PM designing a ‘project area’ on the network where all project documentation is saved and made available for scrutiny. Typically the Infrastructure PM would be responsible for generating, maintaining and reporting on: •Risk and Issues Log•Project and Stage Plans•All Reports (Meeting Minutes, Highlight reports etc)•Communications Effective reporting (communication) and recording are two of the most important responsibilities of an Infrastructure Project Manager.

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Chairing Project Board One of the potential roles of an Infrastructure PM is to chair any Project Board meetings. Not all infrastructure projects will require this reporting mechanic and they may be more or less frequent depending on the complexities/status of the project they. If they are required the project manager should issue, in advance, a Project Board Meeting agenda, he/she should record all actions agreed in the meeting and should produce Project Board Meeting Minutes for distribution to all PB members and agreed guests.

Work Package Assignment The assignment of Work Packages to technical teams is an important role for the Infrastructure Project Manager. Work Packages define a collection of works that need to be executed to create a defined output. They are in essence a subset of a project and multiple work packages go to create the project output. The Infrastructure Project Manager would sit down with the technical team lead and relevant engineers in a short workshop and together they would produce a work package that defines: •The work package objective and description•All interfaces including configuration management requirements•The relevant Stage Plan•Responsibilities (inc. Reporting)•Delivery schedule and Product deliverables All concerned parties would sign off the work package and this would ensure consensus on what needs to be produced, by whom and by when. It also defines all communications required. The production of quality work packages is an example of where an Infrastructure PM can bring real value to a project.

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Managing and Reporting Risk The delivery of output in an agreed timeframe and within an agreed budget is an inherently risky business. All projects have associated risks and it is the role of the Infrastructure PM to act to manage risk throughout the project. Risk management is defined as the identification, assessment and prioritization of risk. The Infrastructure PM then works to create a strategy to manage the risk. This includes transferring the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk or accepting the risk. Reporting risk is the responsibility of the PM and should be completed from project initiation and throughout the project life cycle as necessary. As well as reporting the risk, the PM should record all risks, issues and dependencies in the appropriate logs.

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Infrastructure Project Manager Attributes In addition to the above responsibilities, the role of the Infrastructure Project Manager should effectively demonstrate leadership and ownership to ensure successful project delivery. Factual and anecdotal evidence confirms that many IT Projects fail to deliver on time and within budget.

Project leadership is all about shaping a team of diverse individuals (employees and contractors, some from different organisations) into a force that produces measureable project results.At a basic level the Infrastructure PM must be able to set the vision, define success, and determine the measurements of success. He/she must inspire, persuade, and lead the project team.Leading effectively is a critical competency because large IT projects often have a large resource pool representing different teams and job roles. These resources may see their tasks slightly differently and may not all be aligned with the project goals. Furthermore, the sheer number of issues and risks may make it difficult to zero in on those tasks that are most critical. Leading effectively means clarifying what is important and taking a stand to resolve important issues. It also requires driving hard on the right issues and confronting problems promptly. Finally, effective project leadership means being decisive and challenging others to make tough choices.

Influencing others is an essential competency for most projects, but especially for those with large project teams, numerous stakeholders, and different user communities. Influencing others means giving compelling reasons for ideas and suggestions and winning support from others, both within the project team and in the user and stakeholder community. It also requires the ability to negotiate persuasively and get others to take action.

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What can I bring to the role of Infrastructure Project Manager?

My overall aim as an Infrastructure Project Manager is to deliver excellence in projects. I strive to meet all requirements whilst exceeding expectation.

Projects do not get done but for a lot of hard team work. I am experienced at getting the best from the various technical teams and motivating people who have little visibility of the overall project. I have excellent communication skills and an understanding of the importance of delivering successful projects into the business. I am comfortable reporting to senior management and working with the Business to understand their requirements and translate them into viable infrastructure solutions.

Above all I am a dedicated professional with a proven track record and a willingness to strive towards more successful infrastructure project delivery.

Please visit Gary Clough Infrastructure Projects for more information on my Infrastructure Project Management experience.