Understanding the Importance of Good Project Management in IT

There are a lot of approaches to choose from when it comes to an IT-related development project. Many companies now turn to agile and methods like CI/CD as a way to speed up iterations of apps and services. Others stick with waterfall as a way to maintain complete control over their development projects.

One thing is true: project management is important. Regardless of the IT projects you are running, having clear and concise project management methods come with its benefits. What are those benefits exactly?

Clear Development Objectives

Good project management requires you to have clear development objectives in mind – and in writing – before you even begin the project. Having clear objectives is a fantastic way to make sure that the entire development project and activities related to it are aimed towards a common set of goals.

Defining clear development objectives, however, isn’t always easy. In fact, many development projects suffer from issues because their objectives aren’t clear enough. As a project lead, you can avoid these issues by making sure that the objectives are clear from the beginning.

Agreeable Plan

Having clear project objectives leads to the next benefit, which is a clearer plan on how to achieve them. It is nearly impossible to create a plan that works for the project specifically when the goals you are trying to achieve aren’t clear.

Creating a project plan also means you can be more meticulous with the project timeline and schedules. Since you know the things you need to achieve in advance, you can clearly map out when (and how) you will achieve those objectives and get everyone on board.

A Stronger Team

Do you know that team members perform better when everyone is on the same page? Of course, you do! Good project management is one of the key ingredients to optimizing your team, especially when there is a lot of pressure to manage.

The best project managers always make sure that everyone understands the objectives and the plan on how to achieve them before starting a project. When everyone is on the same page, better solutions to any challenge you may face along the way are always within reach.

Better Project Management System

There are countless tools you can now use to manage projects like a pro. Kanbanize is amongst those Kanban tools where you have a wide choice of options to help you optimize your work process. Regardless of the tools you use, knowing what needs to be done allows you to choose the right tools to incorporate.

Better tools are also good for the workflows within the project itself. The use of the right project management system allows for the entire project to be more seamless and efficient. You will even be able to find ways to optimize the project further down the line.

Strict Cost Management

Missing a deadline isn’t the only big problem you may face as a project manager. Having a project exceeds its initial budget can also be a nightmare, particularly when you are trying to stay lean and efficient at the same time.

Stricter cost management isn’t possible unless you budget for the project before starting it. Budgeting for a project isn’t possible if you don’t have a clear action plan in mind. See how these elements affect each other?

Change Management

That brings us to the next benefit: better change management. Even with the best plan and the most detailed budget, things can still change along the way. Change is inevitable, so you want to prepare for some degree of changes when planning for the project.

The next part of the equation is managing change as the project progresses. Deviations should not prevent team members from completing their tasks. More importantly, you must be able to control the changes that need to be implemented (and the ones that don’t) effectively.

Improved Learning

Every project is a learning opportunity for everyone involved. If team members cannot learn new things while working on a project, there is something wrong with the way the project is managed. In fact, the business can learn a lot from the projects it handles.

Kanbanize, for instance, allows for more accurate estimation and project management based on past projects. The more you use the Kanban tools, the more you can learn about how to best organize future projects. Before you can learn in an effective way, however, you need the following.

Continuous Evaluation

The last major advantage of good project management is better project evaluation. Rather than waiting until the end of the project to do a thorough evaluation, you can begin evaluation workflows as you progress through the project itself.

The result is continuous improvement, not just for the project, but for the team and the business as well. With today’s IT landscape being incredibly competitive, being able to continuously improve yourself with every iteration – every project – is exactly the competitive advantage you need to succeed.