How to stop government departments from flouting the basics of project management

摘要

Advice was once given to school examinees by a jovial examiner: "Do not on any account attempt to write on both sides of the paper at once." The equivalent in blindingly obvious advice for central government departments on how to prepare for and manage IT projects would be: ask the end-users at an early stage how they think they are likely to access and use a system, and act on what they say; do not go live with a system unless you are convinced it is fit for purpose; do not ignore the warnings of key stakeholders before going live; and do not set too little time to do too much. Finally, if all else fails, have a well-rehearsed fallback plan in case the system does not meet expectations.