We are making progress on developing “IT staffing Templates”. The purpose of this project is to develop rules of thumb or models with which we can help others outside of IT (mainly HR practioners) understand IT staffing needs. As part of this process we have focused on Project Managers, and are trying to further validate and enhance the following rules of thumb that we have discovered for IT Project Managers,:

• Note – this example appears relevant for medium sized shops only at this point. We are however, trying to validate scale variables and add other dimensions to the “template”.

• Ideal Candidate Background – Senior IT Project Manager – Under general direction, responsible for all aspects of the development and implementation of assigned projects, and provides a single point of contact on those projects. Usually reports to a Project Planning Manager, Information Systems Executive, and/or Functional Area Manager
  • 12 to 15 years  (so if someone has more than 15 years, then their input is not required, may it should read at least 12 years of experience)  of IT and project management experience
  • Technical experience in a large application development shop
  • Has consulted on IT projects in multiple organizations/settings – with major involvement in both programming and project management
  • Direct experience with technical application(s) involved (or ability to get that exposure quickly)
  • Personal style/Drivers – capable logistics manager, but with hands-on problem solver mentality
  • Strong user interface capabilities – works well with clients (almost ‘salesy’ – good affinity and influencing skills )
  • Certifications are a plus, but alone do not always define abilities

• Project Manager general scope
  • Project is scoped up front – team and end users
  • Rule of thumb – For approximately 750 hour project with technical staff of 2, project probably requires around 150 project management hours
    • Team building, developing work plans, technical and analytic oversight, quality assurance guidance
  • Project management responsibilities for jobs of above size generally break down to 1 to 2 days of elapsed time per week if client is not overly needy. “Needy” can have several dimensions, all of which absorb time, but let’s estimate normal to be roughly 2 hours in formal team or client update meetings per week.
  • Rule of thumb - Look for another Project Manager when current one exceeds 70% time utilization (in this case that would probably occur at about 5 similar projects or roughly 3500 project hours. Note - Client “neediness” – excess reporting, education, rework, testing, etc is most common “excuse” for reduced Project Manager capability.

We are looking for your input on the following.

1. Do these guidelines  (when you say guidelines is this relate to the Project Manager general scope, if so then guidelines should be changed to say Project Manager general scope)  resonate with others familiar with IT project Management?
2. If so, How do we scale these guidelines  (maybe  guidelines need to be changed to some other word) up or down for larger or smaller (or more or less complex) projects?
3. Are there other units of measure commonly in use that help identify the need for an additional Project Management Resource?
4. Are there other units of measure commonly in use that help identify various skill levels of Project Manager?

Please send your response to myself at mikehamilton@matthewsyoung.com. In return for your kind participation, you will receive a summary of the research. Thank you for your participation!

Mike Hamilton

Senior Consultant

Matthews, Young - Management Consulting 

mikehamilton@matthewsyoung.com

Office - 919-644-6962