The Next MUST Read Book

After Reinventing Project Management, the next book that is a "Must Read" is IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results, Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross, Harvard Business School.
    Much of the confusion around project management in the IT business starts when the concept of Governance is skipped.

• Who gets to decide what to do?
• Who gets to decide what done looks like?
• How can these decisions be connected with the business strategy?
• How can we tell we're making the right decisions?

    Coupling IT Governance and Reinventing Project Management into a three stage process lays the foundation for project success

1. Governance - what are the rules for managing the IT department in its quest to provide value to the organization?
2. Request to Project - what projects shoudl be done for the business? Who gets to participate in these decisions? How can we "Guard the Front Door of IT," so the resources and capabilities in place today can deliver value for tomorrow?
3. Project to Delivery - once the portfolio of projects is defined (project selection using some form of portfolio management), how can they be assured to complete on-time, on-budget, and deliver the promised business value?

    This is the role of the Program Management and Project Management professionals in IT. All the smoke mirrors, and magic beans of project management must address these questions first before any credible discussion can take place about the specifics of managing any one project to its successful conclusion.

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