This page provide basic suggestions for organizing projects and how the various tools and templates on this site may be helpful.
Projects have different requirements, depending on their size. Assess the size of your project and its specific requirements here.
View a matrix of responsibilities for projects of various sizes, and tools and templates to help with those steps here.
Begin any project by identifying the desired outcome. Capture, as clearly as possible
Identify a named requestor or sponsor able to verify what you’ve captured. As you discuss your project with your sponsor you will want to further clarify the following:
The point of this activity is to capture the sponsor's expectations in writing so that there is no confusion surrounding what is to be done. Even for small projects, the Project Description Sheet (PDS) can be used to remind you of areas to discuss and clarify. You may skip sections not relevant to your project, and take note of items to be defined later.
Once you know what is to be delivered, gather your technical team to determine how to complete the expected work.
Gather input and requirements from stakeholders to ensure the solution addresses the needs and expectations of those who will be using it.
You’ll want to think about project communication: who needs regular updates, how often, and in what format. Every project is different.
Discuss decision making: who should be included in making key project decisions. Small projects often need little more than quick conversations between a few key people, while large projects may require involvement from stakeholder committees or governance boards. A RACI chart may help.
Keep track of project progress on your project and inform interested parties with regular status updates. You will need to supply a way for project participants to keep you informed of completed tasks or issues and prepare participants for upcoming activities. You will also want to establish a spot (such as a shared Google folder or Box drive) for shared project documentation.
Regular communication is critical at this stage.
As the project progresses, take note of changes to scope, schedule and resources and discuss those with your project team and sponsor, since they may require adjusting project costs, milestones or completion dates. Unintentional scope creep is most easily prevented by clearly documenting the original goals and noting when and why adjustments occur during the course of the project.
Projects are a temporary activity with a defined end. Avoid never-ending projects by documenting agreed-upon scope changes and regularly reviewing the project completion criteria established in the project planning phase.
When your project is completed, review the list of project objectives with the sponsor and project team to verify that they have been met or to obtain agreement about any items left incomplete. Transfer ownership of any ongoing support and maintenance to support teams and service owners, as appropriate. Use the project completion template to remind you of each step to take.
Finally, you will formally close the project, capture key learnings and celebrate the contributions made by the project team. A project retrospective survey will help with this activity.
The IT project management group is happy to help project managers, and we maintain the project section of this web site. Please contact us if you have questions about managing a project or project information on this site.