Managing IT personnel and projects is challenging and requires identifying technical staff with the right qualifications, organizing effective communication with stakeholders, and securing appropriate funding. A project manager must analyze user needs, processes affected by the new system, and determine the appropriate technology. They must also manage expectations, address political opposition, and educate management on costs. Key factors for success include user involvement, management support, clear requirements, a work plan, testing, and behavior modification for management and users with incremental changes and positive reinforcement.

1. Compiled By : Pramit Kumar Sah MPH 2nd semester 2016-18 @ PSPH Page 1
Managing IT Personnel and Projects
Overview
Managing information technology (IT) personnel and projects is a challenging undertaking.
A public health manager charged with developing and implementing a new information system
must identify and recruit technical staff and consultants possessing the right kinds of educational
qualifications and experience.
In addition, the project manager must organize the technical team and use effective strategies for
communication with every stakeholder, including company management, users of the proposed
new system, and IT personnel assigned to the project.
Along the way, the project manager must secure appropriate funding, analyze current processes,
identify user needs, manage the expectations of every stakeholder, address the inevitable political
opposition, analyze processes to be affected by the new system, determine the appropriate
technology to be employed, and educate management about the costs of the proposed new
system.
Although IT projects have a history of very high failure rates, there are strategies that a project
manager can use to help insure project success.
Through use of such tools as rapid prototyping, a project manager can identify user needs and
involve users from the beginning in the project.
Through a careful review of business processes, a project manager can define the appropriate
technology to be applied.
Finally, through knowing and recognizing the characteristics of successful and unsuccessful IT
projects, a project manager can minimize the probability that the IT project will fail.
Introduction
Managing IT personnel and projects is a challenging undertaking.
A public health manager charged with developing and implementing a new information system
must:
identify and recruit technical staff and consultants with right kinds of qualification and
experiences
organize the technical team and use effective strategies for communication with every
stakeholder, including company management, users of the new system and IT personnel
Secure appropriate funding, analyze current processes and identify user needs
mange the expectation of every stakeholders and address the inevitable political opposition

2. Compiled By : Pramit Kumar Sah MPH 2nd semester 2016-18 @ PSPH Page 2
analyze processes to be affected by the new system
determine the appropriate technology to be employed, and educate management about the costs
of the proposed new system
Managing IT Personnel
Successful IT projects depend greatly on a project head’s ability to:
1. Identify computer expertise
2. Recruit right people
3. Communicate with technical personnel
4. Hire consultants appropriately
5. Organize technical team
1. Identifying computer expertise
Requires the identification and selection of the right people to perform the work
Requires a manager to determine whether candidates for project team position have the
right computer expertise
Key factors to look for identifying computer expertise
Key factors to look for identifying computer
expertise
Factor Relevant characteristics
Education in
computer sciences
Bachelors level: possession of programming skills, knowledge of
database design, experience with project tools
Masters level: all skills of bachelors level plus completion of at least
one major IT project
Doctoral level: all skills of masters level plus development of a
significant new approach to solving a computer science problem;
primary emphasis is on research
Certification: indicate possession of expertise with regard to
specific products and systems
Experience Should be related to current task
Should be relevant to role the candidate will perform on the project
team
Should indicate cooperative service on a project team
References Should be multiple
Should include inquiry about the success of projects on which the
candidate has worked

3. Compiled By : Pramit Kumar Sah MPH 2nd semester 2016-18 @ PSPH Page 3
2.Recruiting
• Offering competitive compensation levels is important in attracting high quality
personnel, but it is not the only tool to attract them
• Tools related to a candidate’s career development and lifestyle are also extremely
important
• Offering a candidate a desirable work environment such as nice office space, good
equipment can attract good people
3. Communication with technical personnel
Manager should communicate effectively with technical personnel
Manager should be familiar with the basic terminology of information systems
Manager must insist on clear explanations of technical terms from technical personnel
Technical personnel should be able to explain what they are doing in plain English
4. Hiring consultants
If a manager does not understand what he/she is being told and cannot get clear
explanation, it is time to hire a consultant
When there is a very specific issue or question that is beyond the expertise of an in-house
staff, it is time to bring in a consultant.
Important to interview potential consulting candidates same like as potential full- time
staff hire.
The references provided should be checked carefully
Task to be performed must be well defined and clear to consultants
5.OrganizingTechnical Teams
Small interdisciplinary teams are most effective for handling IT projects
Technical team should include users, program staff, managers, and technical personnel
A team manger should consider the input of all team members, and specially of potential
users of the system to be developed
Communication strategies such as holding regular meetings, making frequent e-mail
contact, issuing progress reports regularly, and locating team members in close proximity
to facilitate informal contact should be utilized
Managing IT Projects
A basic concept in IT projects is the “triangle” relationship of the three key elements of
time, features, and budget.
The relationship of time, features and budget is interdependent.
Not one of the elements of time, features, and budget of IT projects can be changed
without affecting another element.

4. Compiled By : Pramit Kumar Sah MPH 2nd semester 2016-18 @ PSPH Page 4
Interrelations of IT project time, features
and budget
Project component Impact of component increase or decrease
time If increased, will increase budget and may allow increase in system
features
If decreased, will reduce budget but also reduce system features
features If increased, will increase both project time and budget
If decreased, will reduce both project time and budget
budget If increased, may increase features and reduce project time
if decreased, will increase project time and reduce system features
Managing IT projects includes:
1. Managing expectation
2. Involving users
3. Communicating project benefits
4. Rapid prototyping
5. Managing political challenges
6. Securing funding for an IT project
7. Managing change created by a new system
8. Using technology appropriately
1. Managing Expectations
IT project manager must:
Promise only what can be delivered and deliver what is promised on time
be very cautious about making commitments
Educate higher management in the process of system development
Estimate – time and budget
Understand what can be done and how fast it can be accomplished
Estimate better future progress and therefore do a better job of managing expectations
2. Involving users

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Give the users meaningful involvement from the inception of the project to its completion
Involvement of users not only serves to solve real user problems, but also fosters a sense
of ownership of the system
Involve users rather than supervisors of the system
Establish steering committee composed of users, managers and the system developers
3.Communicating project benefits
Deliver real benefits to higher levels of management and the real users
The benefits of new system should include improvement of the work flow of users
Providing small benefits to the intended users early in the project development cycle is
extremely helpful in securing user participation
4.Rapid prototyping
Quick development of a nonfunctional test version of the ultimate system for discussion
and review by users
Aids in the requirements specification process by presenting users with a framework that
captures the current level of understanding of their needs
Minimizes risk by making very incremental investments in system developments to
refine the requirements
5.Managing political challenges
Overcome the inertia – the desire to maintain the status quo- that is inherent in
organizations
Understand who will benefit from the failure of a new system development and to work
to minimize those benefits of failure
To gain acceptance of a new system, ensure job placement for any person whose position
will be adversely affected by the new system
6.Securring funding for an IT project
Recognize inadequate funding usually is a manifestation of political opposition within the
organization
Project manager should understand if decision makers are not willing to pay for new
system, they do not really want it
It is also important for a manager to educate senior management about the true costs of
information systems
7.Managing change created by a new system
A key element is changing employee behavior
The more rapid the change, the more the discomfort increases
Behavior modification is a key part of system development
Intermittent positive reinforcement is one of the most powerful tools for behavior
modification

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Respect the affinity that users have with the old system
8.Using technology appropriately
Recognize that technology does not solve all problems
A careful review of business processes helps to define where technology can best be
applied
Merely automating inefficient process is not a good business strategy
Simply reengineering processes may eliminate the need for automation and reveal new
and different information system needs
Reasons Projects Succeed
User involvement
Management support
Skilled, experienced project managers
Clear requirements statement
Comprehensive work plan
Sound development methodology
Prototyping
Extensive Testing
Paradigm for Success
Behavior Modification
– management
– users
Minimize increments of change
Use intermittent positive reinforcement
– provide real benefits to users
– what they want, NOT what you want
Managing IT - Summary
Know what you are doing
Use competent personnel
Use rapid prototyping to ensure user involvement
Assess and respond to political challenges
Know when to avoid technology

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