I prepared a one hour webinar for a select group of interested project management professionals and wanted to share the presentation and info here. I’ve spent the last 20 years managing IT related projects and have learned a thing or two and would love to help others to succeed and avoid some common mistakes. I also recorded a podcast on the subject which takes you through the slides and the process.
Assumptions
You have already decided on your lead candidate
System is critical, needs to be validated, or is a major project
Right-size planning based on project scope and criticality
Time spent planning on the front end will always pay off later in the project
Project Charter
Authorizes project
Details business need addressed by project
Defines scope of project
Project team and estimates
Deliverables
High level timeline
Budget
High level communications plan
Assigns project manager
Signed by executive sponsor, business sponsor
Project Document
Further details the project
Project scope
Project objectives
Acceptance criteria
Assumptions
Functionality
Data migration
Project management and timeline
Deliverables by project stage
Ground rules
Team members, roles, responsibilities
Communication management
Issue management
Project change control
Project risks and mitigation
Other project requirements
Signed by all project team members (internal/external)
Project Plan
Work with the vendor to create a detailed plan (they will push back)
Confirm responsibilities: vendor versus customer
Vendors only care about their deliverables
Confirm internal resource availability
Confirm organizational commitment with managers
Take holidays and vacations into account
Use it to drive the project document and the statements of work
Make sure all assumptions are taken into account
It will be wrong as soon as it is saved but you have to start somewhere
Agreements
DO NOT SIGN UNTIL THE PROJECT IS PLANNED
Service statements of work should be detailed
Service statements of work should include assumptions
Get the vendor to commit to resources during planning
Vendors may try to ‘bait and switch’
ONLY AFTER THE PROJECT IS FULLY PLANNED AND THE KICK OFF DATE AND RESOURCES CONFIRMED SHOULD AGREEMENTS BE SIGNED
Preparing for Kick Off
Get everyone on board with their roles before kick off
Re-confirm executive level commitment
Vendor project team members should be a part of the kick off
Kick off should be a formality and to begin team formation
The project kicks off AFTER planning
Scheduling or attending a live webinar
While the above gives you a framework and some guidance, the devil is in the details. If you want to hear more of the details, feel free to listen to the Piloting Your Life podcast episode and/or reach out to me at Terri.Mead@Solutions2Projects.com.