Project
Plan
(Instructions)
The Project Plan is an agreement among the project
team, the project sponsor and key stakeholders. It represents a common
understanding of the project for the purpose of facilitating communication
among the stakeholders and for setting authorities and limits for the project
manager and team. The project plan includes relating the project to business
objectives, and defining the boundaries of the project in multiple dimensions
including approach, deliverables, milestones, and budget.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
A. Executive Summary
Provide a brief
summary of the project using the Business Case as a basis for this text.
B. Business Objectives
1.
Business Need/Opportunity/Objectives
The business need/opportunity should be stated to provide an
understanding of:
§
What created the
need, or how the opportunity was recognized
§
The magnitude of
the need/opportunity
§ Contributing factors, such as workload increases or staff
reductions, and fiscal constraints
§ An understanding of the extent to which the need/opportunity
would be addressed if an appropriate alternative were implemented
Business
objectives can be stated as business measures, such as increasing profits by
20%.
2.
Product Description (Solution)
Describe the proposed solution and state how it meets the
business goals.
Project objectives describe the proposed solution and help
define how the project supports the business objectives. Include such things
as:
§ Solution description.
§ Benefits of doing the project. Benefits should link back to
the business need or opportunity.
§ The criteria by which the project will be deemed successful
by key stakeholders.
Examples:
§ Implementation of this new service will reduce operational
expenses by $200,000 per year.
§ This project will be successful if delivered within 10% of
the approved budget.
C. Project Description
1.
Scope
Includes:
Describe the functionality that is included within the
project.
Does
Not Include:
Describe the functionality or elements related to the
project that are not included
2.
Project Success Criteria
A core tenet of Project Management is that an objective is not 100% complete until the customer has accepted it as
complete. To ensure that all project objectives are accepted (i.e.
"signed-off on") as complete for your project, you need to define and
document the Project Success Criteria which provides the basis for measuring
the completion of project objectives. The first step taken when documenting
Project Success Criteria is to identify the objective(s). For each project objective
(or set of related deliverables) derived from the Project Scope use the
following table to identify the Completion Criteria and Measures of Success:
Project
Objectives
|
Completion Criteria
|
Measure of
Project Success
|
List each project objective here
|
For each objective, list the criteria which must be met to
ensure the customer signs off on it as 100% complete.
|
For each objective, list the standards that must be met to
ensure the customer signs off on the objectives as 100% complete.
|
See Appendix 1 for
completed example.
3.
Constraints
All projects have constraints, and these need to be
defined from the outset.
Are there any resource limits in terms of people or
equipment? Money? Time?
4.
Dependency Linkages
In some cases, one project may be dependent upon the
completion of tasks or activities in another project; this linkage needs to be
identified and its progress monitored.
5.
Organizational Impact
What
will the impact be on the organization, i.e. are business processes going to
change that will require retraining and/or communication to affected stakeholders?
Will this change impact other business processes upstream or downstream from
the existing process? Will this change increase costs to a department or the
university? Will this change impact other planned or active projects?
6.
Assumptions
Project assumptions establish the project environment and
provide a basis for effective planning and estimating. Generally, when
developing your list of assumptions consider these areas: Project Environment,
Scope, Quality, Time, Cost, Risk, Resources, Legal and Technology. See examples
below to complete a table of assumptions for your project.
Assumption
|
Description
|
|
The Vice Chancellor for ITS will be the sponsor
for the project and is committed to ensuring its success.
|
|
Since the technical staff has experience with
the technical environment, we do not anticipate any additional training being
required.
|
|
ITS does not have the Human Resources necessary
to implement the upgrade on its own.
We will contract for those resources through the project.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7. Roles and Project Stakeholders
The following role definitions are being
applied to the resources assigned to this project:
Role
|
Description
|
Responsible
|
Project
Sponsor
|
The Project Sponsor
acts as a vocal and visible champion for the project. The Project Sponsor establishes or
validates the goals and objectives for the project and provides oversight,
direction and support to the Project Leader.
He or she assists in the development of the project Business Case and
helps to define the project benefits, risks and criticality. The Project Sponsor assists in developing
project metrics and attends Advisory Board meetings and chairs the steering
committee if needed for large projects.
|
Who?
|
Project Manager
|
The Project Manager
is the person responsible for completion of the project. The Project Manager, along with the Project
Sponsor, develops the business case.
The Project Leader develops the project plan, identifies the resource
requirements and manages the completion of project tasks through the project
team. The Project Manager is
responsible for status reporting to the Project Sponsor and Project Advisory
Board, risk management, escalation of issues that cannot be resolved by the
team and making sure that the project stays on schedule and within budget.
|
Who?
|
Steering Committee
(if applicable) |
Provide assistance in resolving issues that
arise beyond the project manager’s jurisdiction. Monitor project progress and provide
necessary tools and support when milestones are in jeopardy.
|
Who?
|
Stakeholder
|
Key provider of requirements and recipient
of project deliverable and associated benefits. Deliverable will directly enhance the
stakeholders’ business processes and environment
|
Who?
|
Team Members
|
Project Team
Members provide support to the project through completion of tasks on time
and within budget. Project Team
Members are expected to understand the objectives of the project and tasks
they are assigned. A Project Team
Member attends meetings and actively participates in discussions; bringing
concerns and/or recommendations to the Project Leader. Project Team Members report dotted line to
the Project Leader and are accountable to the Project Leader for tasks
assigned. Some Project Team Members
may serve as Team Leads (depending on the size of the project), providing
task and technical leadership as well maintaining responsibility for a
portion of the project plan.
|
Who?
|
Other?
|
D. Project Phases
Planned Phases
Is this project going to be managed in phases? If yes,
describe the planned phasing strategy. For example, RFP issued (Phase
1), Pilot implementation (Phase 2), Full Rollout (Phase 3).
E. Project Schedule
1. Project Schedule
Include
a link to the project schedule or project activity list.
F. Project Controls
Typical project
controls are Risk Management assessment and mitigation planning and
monitoring, Issue Management, Change
Management, and Communication Management.
1. Risk Management
Risk planning is the process of deciding how to approach and plan the risk management activities for a project.
To ensure project risks are monitored and controlled through the
life of the project, during the Planning phase, the project team should create
the list of potential risks and the effect of the risk on the project. The
example outlined in Figure 1 should be used for capturing your risk list, risk
exposure, mitigation plan, contingency plan, and current risk impact.
This list should be kept up-to-date over the course of the project.
#
|
Category
|
Risk
|
Impact
|
Probability
|
Ranking
|
Mitigation Plan
|
Contingency Plan
|
List the risk
category.
|
List a short
description of the risk.
|
1 (Low) – 5 (High)
|
.1 - 1
|
Calculated based on
Impact and Probability
|
List the actions
that will be taken to attempt to prevent this risk from materializing.
|
List that actions
that will be taken in the event that the risk event does occur.
|
Figure 1
2. Issue Management
Project-related issues will be tracked, prioritized,
assigned, resolved, and communicated using the Project Issue Log. See Figure 2.
Issue #
|
Entry Date
|
Entered By
|
Category (N=Network, S=Security, A=Server/App,
T=Schedule, O=Other)
|
Issue Description
|
Priority (H, M, L)
|
Action Manager
|
Target Resolution Date
|
Status (U=Unassigned,
A=Assigned, C=Closed)
|
Description of Action Taken
|
1
|
Figure 2
Issues will be addressed with the Project Sponsor(s) and
communicated in the project status report.
3. Change Management
Project Scope
The purpose of the Change Management Plan is
to identify the process by which requested changes to the scope, schedule or
budget of the project will be addressed.
Following
are some general rules governing the change management process:
- All change requests should be submitted
on the Change Request Form which should be completed by the project
manager.
- The project manager will coordinate all
activity related to a change request.
- All change requests will go through an
impact analysis.
- As part of the impact analysis, resource
manager(s) will be consulted regarding commitment of resources.
- All change requests will be distributed
to the appropriate parties for information purposes as designated in the
Communication Plan.
- Change Request Approval levels are
defined in Section G of this document.
- Project team members will not commit to
changes or incorporate changes into project activities until the change
has been formally approved.
- Project sponsors will not commit to any
change to project objectives before the impact of the change is quantified
and approved.
- End users cannot approve change
requests.
- Any change request remaining in “on
hold” status at the end of the project will be addressed in the project’s
closing report.
- New change requests and change request
status will be included in the project status report.
If the
commitment of resources to perform an impact analysis on the change request
negatively impacts the project’s timeline, the project sponsors will be asked
to make a priority decision regarding the change request.
Project
Deployment
Project deployment
approval and scheduling activities will adhere to current ITS Change Management
procedures,
Change
Management procedure - 12-07-10.doc and Change Management form step by
step guide.doc. Both documents
are available for review at the following network location: J:\MYDEPT\ITIL|Change Management.
4. Communication Management
To ensure that communications on a project are clear, concise,
relevant and timely, creation of a detailed Communications Plan is required.
The Communications Plan describes the information that must be disseminated to
all of the project stakeholders to keep them regularly informed of the
project's progress. The plan outlines what information is to be shared, who it
is shared with and when the communication is distributed.
The Project Manager will take a proactive role in ensuring
effective communication throughout the project. The communications requirements
are to be documented in the Communications Matrix (see template example in Figure
3).
#
|
Purpose of Communications
|
Audience
|
Approving Authority
|
Vehicle of Communication
|
Frequency
|
Medium/Artifacts
|
Source
|
Delivered by
|
Date
Delivered |
Expected Result
|
Figure 3
G. Authorizations
This section sets out who has authority to approve scope
statement, authorize project changes, approve and accept project deliverables.
The Project
Plan will be approved by:
The Project Manager
The Technical Sponsor
The Business Sponsor
The Executive Sponsor
Project Changes will be approved by:
The Project Steering Committee
The Executive Sponsor
The Project Advisory Board
Project closure will be approved/accepted by:
The Executive Sponsor
The key Stakeholders
H. Project Plan Approval Form/Signatures
Project
Plan Approval Form
Project Name:
Project Manager:
The purpose of this
document is to document the initial planning efforts for the project. It is
used to reach a satisfactory level of mutual agreement between the project
manager and the project sponsors on the objectives and scope of the project
before significant resources are committed and expenses incurred.
I have reviewed the
information contained in this Project Plan and agree.
Role
|
Name
|
Signature
|
Date
|
Executive Sponsor
|
|||
Business Sponsor
|
|||
Technical Sponsor
|
|||
Project Manager
|
|||
The signatures of
the people above relay an understanding in the purpose and content of this
document by those signing it. By signing this document you agree to this as the
formal Project Scope Statement.
Appendix 1
Example – Project
Success Criteria
Project
Objectives
|
Completion
Criteria
|
Measure of
Project Success
|
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Implement
a new GL System
|
The new system provides:
|
The new system:
|
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Implement
a common set of processes
|
The new processes provide common:
|
The new processes enable branch officers to:
|
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Train
all staff in the new system and processes
|
The new processes provide common:
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All specified staff understand:
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