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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Planning

Why, What, How?

Planning a project is where the Project Manager must bring together the complete understanding of the project's requirements with a deep understanding of all the elements that are required to conduct a successful project. In many ways, it is the center-piece for the Project Manager's skills. Of course, it all counts for nothing unless it leads to a successful project!

Planning, estimating & resourcing - available as a PowerPoint slide Planning, estimating and resourcing may be viewed as separate issues, but they need to be conducted in parallel as they directly affect each other.

* Planning is the definition of work to be done, including resource requirements, dependencies and timing.
* Estimating is the calculation of the amount of time and effort that will be required per type of resource for each part of the work to be done.
* Resourcing is the allocation of actual resources (usually the project's workforce) to the plan.

The availability of resources will always be limited. Resources may be required in greater quantities than are available or have competing demands on their time. It may be necessary to make compromises or move work between different potential resources to make best use of the resources available. As these practical adjustments are made, there will inevitably be an impact on the duration and timing of tasks. It may also affect the project's predicted costs.

Here are some of the key issues in deciding what approach to take:

* top down or bottom up?
* all in one go or exploding detail in stages?
* fully detailed or streamlined / summary?
* one plan or several sub-plans?
* automated scheduling or manual scheduling?
* activity, process, deliverable, outcome, or milestone-focused?






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