Keys for Effective Project Management

Concept Phase

• Project Definition
- New Project Proposal
- Project Selection and Controlling Project Starts
- New Product Business Plan
- Product Definition - Critical Success Factors
- Project Scope Definition: Mission Statement
- Project Scope Definition: Deliverables
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 1: Preliminary Requirements
Gathering
- New System Request for Proposal (RFP)
- Project Request for Proposal (RFP)
- RFP for Training Program Development

• Project Team Startup
- Project Manager/Team Leader Selection
- Project Team Leader Description - Roles & Responsibilities
- Leadership and the Project Lifecycle
- PM Coaching Guidelines
- Project Coaching Check-in Calendar and Worksheet
- Action Item List Formats

Initiation Phase

• Project Definition and Requirements
- Project Scope Definition: Vision Document
- Project Scope Definition: Statement of Work (SOW)
- Product Requirements Specification
- Software Requirements Specification
- Requirements Change Management Guideline
- Requirements Traceability Guideline
- Preliminary Design Review Meeting
- Project Vision Example: Defining a Software Release Life Cycle

• Team and Communication
- Team Roles and Responsibilities List
- "Sweet" Team Building Suggestion
- Responsibility Allocation Matrix
- Task Responsibility Matrix
- Project Escalation Process Guidelines
- Software Release Team Member Glossary
- Communications Plan
- Training Needs Assessment Guidelines
- Milestone Table with Driver Tasks
- Collaborative Milestone-Driven Planning Process
- Personality Types Impact on Team Interactions
- Project Team Rewards and Recognition Guideline

• Planning, Scope and Tradeoffs
- Development Project Plan
- Software Project Plan
- Project Alternatives Tradeoff Table
- Project Flexibility Matrix
- Product and Project Risk Assessment and Mitigation Tables
- Plan Development: Task Identification - Work Breakdown Structure
- Plan Development: Task Assignment and Deliverables
- Plan Development: Logical Relationships/Dependencies
- Plan Development: Task Duration
- Plan Development: Project Schedule and Critical Path
- Plan Development: Optimizing Project Plan Tradeoffs
- Discontinuance End-of-Life Planning
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 1: Preliminary Requirements
Gathering
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 2: Scope Definition
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 3: Planning and Negotiation
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 4: Release Plan Refinement
- Marketing Plan
- Project Overview Test Plan
- Beta Test Plan
- Communications Plan

• Scheduling, Costs, and Estimating
- Department and Project Level WBS Example
- Scheduling Checklist
- Resource Leveling
- Estimating Process and Methods
- Pete's Estimating Laws
- Project Budgets
- Software Release Life Cycle WBS

Execution Phase

• Ongoing Planning
- Software Release Life Cycle Overview
- Introduction to Software Release Trains
- Integration Plan
- Software Bug Fix WBS
- Maintenance Planning Guidelines and Plan Outline
- Discontinuance End-of-Life Planning
- Marketing Plan
- Localization Guidelines

• Specifications
- Interface Protocol Document
- Software Requirements Specification

• Tracking and Status
- Phase Signoff Process
- Milestone Table with Driver Tasks
- Tracking with Visible Deliverables
- Tracking Example – Small Project
- Change Control Form
- Issue Resolution Status Report
- Guidelines - Completion Criteria
- Software Integration Checklist
- Project Status Reports

• Reviews
- Review Checklists: Detailed Design Review
- Review Checklists: Critical Design Review
- Review Checklists: Final Design Review
- Coding Review Guidelines

• Testing
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 5: Development Tracking
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 6: Integration
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 7: System Test
- Software Test Transfer Forms

Approval Phase

• Test Planning and Execution
- Project Overview Test Plan
- QA and Beta Test Manager Job Descriptions
- Software Unit Test Plan
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 8: Internal Testing (Alpha)
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 9: External Testing (Beta)
- Software Test Transfer Forms
- Master Test List
- Beta Test Plan
- User Acceptance Test Plan
- Customer Acceptance Checklist and Signoff

• Completion Criteria/Checklists
- Release decision process
- Software Quality Release
- End of Approval Phase Checklist

Delivery Phase

• Project Completion
- Software Release Life Cycle Phase 10: Delivery
- Project Cancellation

• Close-out Activities
- Project Closeout Meeting Agenda
- Lessons Learned Survey
- Lessons Learned Meeting Agenda
- Lessons Learned Meeting Report







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