Role

Defining a Medium Sized project

1

Project Manager

Gather baseline information.

Look for all the information that may already be available for this project. This includes any previous project deliverables, memos, emails, etc. In many cases, before the project begins, the client must perform some type of high-level cost/benefit analysis or value proposition, although this might not be mandatory for these medium projects. All of this information should be gathered as a starting point for understanding the work to be done.

2

Project Manager

Determine the approval process.

Work with your manager and the project sponsor to understand the approval process for the Abbreviated Project Charter. For instance, determine whether the sponsor wants to approve the Charter before other stakeholders, or whether the sponsor wants to have the final approval after other stakeholders have reviewed the information. You should also determine people that actually have to approve the document versus those that should just receive a final copy. This is important for medium projects because they often are too small to require much sponsor and management oversight. Therefore, the deliverable approval process may be different than what you would expect of a larger project.

3

Project Manager, Key Stake-holders

Meet with the key stakeholders to define the work.

Meet with the appropriate stakeholders (managers, clients, team members, interested parties) and try to understand their perceptions of the work requested. Before you meet with the various stakeholders, make sure that you are familiar with the basic information that is required to define a project of this size. If you are not sure of the information to gather, you will not be prepared to ask the right questions. You can review the Abbreviated Project Charter deliverable template to see what is required. This information includes:

• Project Overview. State the purpose of the project and why it is being performed.

• Scope. There are two parts to the scope section – deliverables and boundary statements. For each deliverable, provide a high-level description. See 5.0.1 Defining Scope for more details. Scope can be defined in many ways but the focus for medium projects should be on the deliverables.

• Estimated Effort Hours. Estimate the effort required, and provide information on how the estimate was prepared. For further information, see 2.1.1 Build Schedule / Estimating.

• Estimated Duration.  Once the effort hours are known, you can estimate how long the project will take to complete (duration) based on an assumption of how many resources will be applied. If the start-date is known, the estimated end-date can be determined as well. For further information, see 2.1.1 Build Schedule / Estimating.

• Estimated Cost. Estimate the cost for labor based on the effort hours, and add any non-labor expenses such as hardware, software, training, travel, etc. For further information, see 2.1.1 Build Schedule / Estimating.

• Major Assumptions. There may be external events or conditions that must occur for the project to be successful. If it looks more than likely that these events will occur, they should be listed as assumptions. (The definition for assumptions is stated with more precision in the 7.0 Manage Risk section.) Assumptions can be identified through the experience of knowing the types of conditions or events that are likely to occur over the life of the project; brainstorming sessions with the clients, stakeholders and team members; and by looking at items that were identified as low risk in the risk management process. For further information on assumptions, see 7.1.2.2 Assumptions and Risks.

• Major Risks. There may be future, external conditions or events that will cause problems to the project if they occur. If there is a good likelihood that any of these events will occur, they should be identified as risks. (The definition for risks is stated with more precision in the 7.0 Manage Risk section.)  For further information on risks, see 7.1 Manage Risk / Process.

Template: Abbreviated Project Charter

4

Project Manager

Create your first draft of the Abbreviated Project Charter.

Start a draft of the project schedule and budget, given as much information as is known at this time. Information from the schedule is used as input into the Abbreviated Project Charter and information from the Abbreviated Project Charter is simultaneously used to help build the schedule and budget. See 2.0 Define the Work and Budget for more information on building the schedule and Budget. Make sure you write the content for the benefit of the reader - not for your benefit. The information should be easily understood by the reader.

5

Project Manager

(Optional) Circulate initial draft of Abbreviated Project Charter.

Circulate the Abbreviated Project Charter in draft form to gather feedback and build consensus. The first drafts may go to a small group of interested parties. The project schedule does not normally need to be circulated unless there is a specific request to look at it. This step is optional since a medium-sized project may not be very large or complex. It is possible that the initial draft of the Abbreviated Project Charter can be sent directly to the sponsor for approval.

6

Project Manager

(Optional) Update the documents based on accumulated feedback.

Update the Abbreviated Project Charter with any feedback from the initial draft circulation. All the feedback will not be valid. The project manager and sponsor should determine what feedback is appropriate and adds to the clarity and completeness of the document.

7

Project Manager

Get the Abbreviated Project Charter approved.

This is the same approval process that was defined earlier in step 2 above. See the 1.2 Define Work / Techniques section for information on how to circulate the document and options for signifying approval.

8

Project Manager

Circulate approved Abbreviated Project Charter to all interested stakeholders.

After the approval process is complete, circulate copies of the approved Abbreviated Project Charter and Project Management Plan to all interested stakeholders, including project team members.

9

Project Manager

Document the Project Management Plan for this project.

The Project Management Plan is the document that consolidates all of the plans and procedures used by the project manager. On a medium-sized project you are probably not going to create all of the auxiliary plans such as the Procurement Management Plan, Communications Management Plan, etc. You are probably just going to define the tactical project management procedures for the project.

10

All

The medium-sized project is ready to begin executing.