Blue Sky? 98 Questions for the IT Project Manager by Charlie Close SMASHWORDS EDITION PUBLISHED BY: Charlie Close on Smashwords Blue Sky? 98 Question for the IT Manager Copyright © 2011 by Charlie Close charlieclose.com @CharlieClose Smashwords Edition License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work. Table of Contents Dedication Introduction: Why Should You Read This Book? Blue Sky? About the Author Books by Charlie Close Visit Charlie Dedication For Kathy. Introduction: Why Should You Read This Book? This is not a book of answers. It’s a book of questions. As an IT project manager, it’s your job to understand the goals of your project and help your team reach them. I can’t give you advice on how to do that. I don’t know anything about your project and in my experience most problems have more than one solution. So: you’re on your own. However, I have noticed that the best project managers I have worked with are worriers. They are ALWAYS asking questions. They know they don’t know everything, and they know that what they don’t know could be the thing that hurts the project or it could be the next big opportunity. Therefore I have prepared a book of questions to ask yourself. To help you worry. If you are not a worrier, use the questions in this book to start practicing. If you are already a worrier, here are a few more questions to add to the list. Worry about these too. Go ahead. You’re welcome. I said a moment ago that I can’t give any advice. That’s not completely true. You’ll find that the questions here are not profound and abstract. They are narrow and specific. Here’s the one suggestion in this book: if you want to take care of the big things, start by taking care of the little things. Blue Sky? Is the Sales organization selling the product you’re building? Is the client making plans for the new campaign without consulting you? Does anyone on the team know how the legacy system works? Do you have every team member’s personal phone number? Do you know what time zone all your team members are in? [...]... plan for “acquire new hardware” include time to install and troubleshoot it? Is the business analyst writing requirements clearly enough for the developers to understand them? How does the video conferencing equipment work? Do you personally understand the requirements? Can you get the guy to move from the other team to your team in time for it to help your project? Has the technical team tested ALL the. .. analyst going to learn the system? Would this bar chart look better in red-green-yellow or orange -blue- pink? Can you find a place for the visiting consultants to sit near your team? Who will be conducting interviews for the new team members? Do you really need to add three new people to the team at the same time? Should you review the expense report before you pass it up the line, or is it probably fine?... to attend the conference in two months? When is Ramadan this year? Could you recruit people from your rivals if you set up an espresso stand outside their building? Have you seen the director’s budget plan for your project? How do you know whether the web site will integrate with the database if they’re being developed separately? Has the domain name been acquired yet? Are the vendor’s security safeguards... before the end of the fiscal year? Are there any holidays between now and the deadline? How long is nine story points going to take? Has the director signed off on the new servers yet? How are you going to answer the oldest team member’s request for a refrigerator by his desk? Have you checked whether people from the other team will be available to work with your team when you need them? How is the . Blue Sky? 98 Questions for the IT Project Manager by Charlie Close SMASHWORDS EDITION PUBLISHED BY: Charlie Close on Smashwords Blue Sky? 98 Question for the IT Manager Copyright. asking questions. They know they don’t know everything, and they know that what they don’t know could be the thing that hurts the project or it could be the next big opportunity. Therefore I. Book? This is not a book of answers. It s a book of questions. As an IT project manager, it s your job to understand the goals of your project and help your team reach them. I can’t give you advice