IT best practices : management, teams, quality, performance, and projects

Consistent success does not happen by chance. It occurs by having an understanding of what is happening in the environment and then having the skills to execute the necessary changes.

Ideal for project, IT, and systems development managers, IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects details the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to succeed in bringing about large-scale change. It explains how to incorporate quality methods into the change management process and outlines a holistic approach for transformation management.

Detailing time-tested project management techniques, the book examines management skills with a focus on systems thinking to offer a pragmatic look at effecting change. Its comprehensive coverage spans team building, quality, project methodology, resource allocation, process engineering, and management best practices. The material covered is validated with references to concepts and processes from such business greats as Dr. Deming, Jack Welch, and Henry Ford. Readers will learn the history behind the concepts discussed along with the contributions made by these greatnbsp;minds.

The text supplies an awareness of the factors that impact performance in today's projects to supply you with the real-world insight needed to bring about large-scale change in your organization. Although it is geared around change, most of the concepts discussed can be directly applied to improve efficiencies in your day-to-day activities.

Author Notes

Tom Witt has a B.S. in mathematics, with a minor in coaching, from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He has worked in the information technology (IT) environment for almost 30 years. Early in his career, he moved into management for 14 years before entering the project world, in which he has held the titles of office automation manager, project manager, technical manager, technical lead, architect, and system analyst. Most of Tom's experience has been in the insurance industry in addition to threenbsp;years in the magazine fulfillment business and threenbsp;years at an institute of higher education.

Tom has worked on a wide range of projects; he has been a part of the development of new mainframe systems, new web systems, and vendor-purchased imaging systems and system remote workers across the country as well as part of a small team that reengineered a business division for a major insurance company. Many of the projects on which Tom has been involved have affected changes--as many as 200 different systems--throughout the entire enterprise. Tom has acquired knowledge not only through personal experiences but also from outside sources such as external consultants, seminars, books, and a personal network of people. More importantly, he was put into many different types of project and situations that allowed him to apply the many different concepts and knowledge acquired to see the results from a front-line perspective.

Chapter 1 Introduction	p. 1
Acquiring Knowledge	p. 7
Content Material	p. 8
Chapter 2 Management Best Practices	p. 11
Leadership	p. 14
Negotiation	p. 16
Problem Solving	p. 217
Decision Making	p. 26
Ability to Influence the Organization	p. 28
Communication	p. 33
Meetings for Informational Purposes	p. 34
Meetings to Sell an Idea or Get Approval	p. 35
Meetings to Gather Information	p. 35
Improving Management Best Practice Disciplines	p. 42
Bad Management Practices	p. 49
Summary	p. 51
Chapter 3 Five Disciplines of a Learning Organization	p. 53
Chapter 4 The Effects of Management on Subordinates	p. 57
Chapter 5 Management Types	p. 63
Manager of Maintenance Work	p. 65
Technical Manager	p. 67
Project Manager	p. 70
System Resource Manager	p. 72
Chapter 6 Crisis Management	p. 77
Chapter 7 Jack Welch and Management	p. 85
Chapter 8 Robert Greenleaf and Servant Leadership	p. 93
Chapter 9 Management Wrap-Up	p. 97
Chapter 10 Business Model	p. 99
Chapter 11 High-Performance Teams	p. 105
Defining High-Performance Teams	p. 105
HPT Member Classification	p. 106
HPT Characteristics	p. 110
High-Performance Team Life Cycle	p. 113
Chapter 12 Quality	p. 121
Introduction to Definition of Quality	p. 121
Generalist versus Specialist	p. 122
Tasks Grouping and Quality	p. 125
Reporting Quality and Performance	p. 126
Measuring Quality and Performance	p. 128
Chapter 13 W. Edwards Deming, Father of Quality	p. 133
Continuous Quality Improvement	p. 143
Theory of Constraints	p. 145
Chapter 14 Process Engineering	p. 147
Chapter 15 Lean Management	p. 155
Chapter 16 Six Sigma	p. 163
Chapter 17 Workplace Efficiencies and Distraction	p. 167
E-mail	p. 167
Internet	p. 171
Instant Messaging	p. 172
Controlling Workplace Inefficiencies	p. 173
Getting Started for the Workday	p. 174
Chapter 18 Technology	p. 177
Chapter 19 Contractors	p. 187
Contractor Behavior	p. 187
Contractors for Knowledge	p. 188
Contractors for Filling a Resource Void	p. 189
Using Contractors Successfully	p. 191
Overseas Contractors	p. 192
Chapter 20 Defects	p. 199
Effects of Defects	p. 199
Causes of Defects	p. 201
Chapter 21 Knowledge Base for Project Work	p. 205
Chapter 22 Project Selection Criteria	p. 207
Chapter 23 Project Characteristics	p. 21J
Project Success versus Failure	p. 413
Successful	p. 213
Challenged	p. 214
Failed	p. 214
Law of Cause and Effect	p. 215
Identifying the Cause	p. 216
Chapter 24 Effects of Project Failure	p. 219
Chapter 25 Controlling Failure	p. 223
Chapter 26 Project Methodology	p. 227
Chapter 27 Project Phases	p. 237
Documentation	p. 237
Phases	p. 240
Initiation	p. 241
Analysis (Solution Scoping)	p. 243
Design	p. 245
Development	p. 247
Testing	p. 248
Summary of Testing Steps	p. 250
Implementation	p. 251
Postimplementation	p. 252
Chapter 28 Factors That Affect Projects	p. 255
Project Estimates and Staffing	p. 255
Chapter 29 Spiral and Linear Project Methodology	p. 261
Spiral Project Methodology	p. 261
Scrum	p. 266
Extreme Programming (XP)	p. 267
Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)	p. 271
Study	p. 272
Functional Modeling	p. 272
Design and Build	p. 273
Implementation	p. 273
Feature-Driven Development (FDD) Method	p. 274
Develop Overall Model	p. 274
Build Feature List	p. 275
Plan by Feature	p. 275
Design by Feature	p. 275
Build by Feature	p. 276
Cowboy Development Method	p. 276
Learning about Spiral	p. 278
Linear Project Management	p. 284
Linear Waterfall-Crashing the Timeline	p. 287
Law of 20-80	p. 288
Linear versus Spiral	p. 294
Spiral Strengths	p. 294
Spiral Weaknesses	p. 295
Linear Strengths	p. 296
Linear Weaknesses	p. 297
Working Environment	p. 299
Chapter 30 Project Management Improvement	p. 303
Knowledge Areas of a Project	p. 304
Scope and Integration	p. 307
Time	p. 308
Communication	p. 308
Human Resource Allotment	p. 309
Quality	p. 309
Risk	p. 310
Leadership	p. 310
Negotiation	p. 311
Problem Solving	p. 311
Decision Making	p. 312
Influencing the Organization	p. 312
Communication	p. 313
Leadership of the Different Project Phases	p. 314
Project Sizes and the Amount of Form and Art Needed	p. 315
Small Project Characteristics	p. 316
Resources	p. 316
Areas Affected	p. 316
Documentation	p. 316
Simple Design and Development	p. 316
GOOD: Project manager leads the project	p. 317
BEST: Technical manager or leader leads the project	p. 317
Medium Project Characteristics	p. 317
Resources	p. 317
Areas Affected	p. 318
Documentation	p. 318
Design and Development	p. 318
BAD: Technical manager or leader leads the project	p. 319
GOOD: Project manager is assigned without a technical lead or technical manager	p. 319
BEST: Project manager leads with a technical lead assigned	p. 319
Large Project Characteristics	p. 320
Resources	p. 320
Areas Affected	p. 320
Documentation	p. 320
Complex and Difficult Design and Development	p. 320
BAD: Project manager leads the project with a technical lead assigned	p. 321
BEST: Project manager leads the project with a technical manager assigned	p. 321
Never Assume, Always Validate	p. 325
Chapter 31 Conclusion	p. 329
Bibliography	p. 331
Index	p. 333
Author Biography	p. 345

Available:*

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents