Project Management Templates
There is no one approach for how much oversight and documentation is required or when templates should be used. If the project has a high level of risk, cost, or complexity, it is recommended that you work with a PMO project manager to determine the level of rigor required. This symbol * indicates a required document. These templates should be used for most projects. Non-asterisked templates or documents are available for use at the discretion of the project manager or project sponsor.Discovery
The purpose of the Discovery phase is to develop the Project Charter to formalize project purpose, objectives, scope and deliverables. Key stakeholders are identified along with potential budget requirements. Project complexity should be classified to ensure the proper level of project management rigor is applied. It’s also a time to look at key resource availability. Project sponsors and stakeholders decide whether to commit to the project.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Draft Project Charter, review with key stakeholders and seek final approval before continuing with the project.
Notes
Define a number of key project elements including a project description, scope definition, and roles/responsibilities. The documentation and review of these key project elements at the beginning of the project helps to avoid misunderstandings or confusion later on.
Review project sizing criteria
Determine the level and type of project management most appropriate for your project.
Determine Resource Requirements
Estimate required resources by role and skill set. Discuss with the manager from each area involved to identify resource availability and gaps.
Prepare Business Case
Provide detailed explanation of the scope, cost, and definition of the project. This information is normally required when it is necessary to provide an explanation of the benefits that will be realized as a result of the project. Larger or more complex projects usually require a Business Case.
Conduct Vendor Research
Conduct vendor research to see what technology is currently available in the market place. Contact the procurement office to identify vendors or to prepare a Request for Information (RFI). Consult with peers at other universities to determine potential solutions and their costs, benefits, and risks.
Planning
During this phase, the Project Manager works with the project team to document high level functional and technical requirements. The Project Manager defines high-level resource, cost and time estimates, and begins developing a project plan. This is also the time to develop a project management plan. The project management plan defines how the project is executed, managed, and closed. The project management plan’s content varies depending on the application area and complexity, but may include plans for: scope, requirements, schedule, cost, resources, communication, risk, procurement, and stakeholder engagement.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Hold requirements gathering sessions
Notes
Work with project team members to document high level functional and technical requirements
Project Schedule (WBS)
Create high level project schedule
Document project tasks, deliverables, milestones, schedule, and resources. The project schedule will be modified as more is known
Create communication plan
Establish agreement on how team will communicate important information during the project
Conduct project kick-off meeting
Familiarize the project team with the project, review key elements from the project charter, review project management processes (risk, issue, change management) and receive buy-in from all project participants.
Budget Tracking Spreadsheet
Create project budget and compare the planned budget against actual costs
Compare monthly actual costs against planned budget to determine whether spending is on track
Provide view of project team
Show who is on the team and the role they play
System Architecture Document
Define high-level system architecture plan
Prepare high-level architecture diagram showing integration with other systems and internal technical structure
Assess key stakeholder groups impacted by the project
Assess each stakeholder group that will be impacted and their level of support for the solution.
Traceability Matrix
Map requirements for testing
Ensure that all requirements defined for a system are tested in the test cases.
Outline the project management deliverables for the project
Determine appropriate deliverables to most effectively manage the project
Participate in TAC Review
Prepare Lens information in advance of the TAC review. Participate in review of major technology decisions as they relate to overall IT architecture and facilitate approaches to integration, process, and skills
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Solicit bids for the procurement of goods or services
Submit ticket in Shared Service/ServiceNow for an RFP. Depending upon iterations of the RFP, plan for a 6-8 week process before RFP approval.
Design
This phase is where the actual implementation or execution work begins. Project tasks and deliverables are completed and the project begins to realize the objectives and scoped defined in the Project Charter.
Design activities focus on translating the business requirements into system specifications, essentially creating “blueprints” for developing the production system.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Describe how the product will work entirely from the user's perspective
Notes
Detail what the finish product will do, how a user will interact with it, and what it looks like
Technical Design Specification
Provide a detailed description of each technical requirement to be implemented as part of the project.
Include a complete technical assessment of each customization object identified to be in scope. Define data structures, relational database models, choice of programming languages and tools, algorithms, etc.
Develop strategy to be followed for testing
Include detail in strategy when a simple test plan doesn't cover all of the areas of testing that need to be performed to ensure solution is working as planned
Change Management Plan
Prepare and support individuals, teams and organizations in making organizational change
Document sequence of steps or activities in order to drive individual, team or organizational transitions and ensure the projects meets its intended outcomes
Training Strategy
Develop Training Strategy
Create a strategy document when the training required to enable the use of new features is not straightforward or requires training at various levels
Build
Build consists of developing or configuring project hardware, software, and business processes according to the agreed-upon specifications.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Prepare for testing
Notes
Build a comprehensive list of unit, string and integration tests and their overall status and testing dates. The Traceability Matrix should be referenced
Production Cutover Plan
Prepare for Cutover
Describe the activities to bring the system live and transition the business. Include an approach for a dry-run of system cutover process and deployment team activities.
Test Case
Document testing steps
Include the steps to execute the test along with the expected outcome for each step
Training Plan
Outline training plan detail
Include the schedule of end user training courses, and specify the audience, when the training will take place and the location
System Retirement Strategy
Determine if current system will be retired
Outline steps to be followed if the current system or function will be retired as a result of the successful completion of the current project
Testing
The Testing phase ensures that all components of the solution are thoroughly tested, the production system is set up, mock system cut-overs are completed, and the training program is fully executed.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Detail how functional and technical support will be provided
Notes
Develop a step-by-step plan to ensure functional and technical solution support is provided to new users/business units during go-live and stabilization.
Develop Go/No Go Criteria
Provide a detailed assessment as to the feasibility of moving the project forward towards go-live. It must result in sign off from key stakeholders and/or Steering Committee
Test Plan
Conduct Testing and record results
Include documentation which tracks issues encountered during testing of the solution
Contingency Plan
Plan for system rollback
Outline detailed procedures for system rollback or the utilization of manual activities in the event the cutover has adverse issues that cannot be quickly resolved.
Deliver & Close
At Deliver & Close, the new system has been implemented and the project team will monitor it for a pre-defined period to ensure it is stable. All components of the solution are fully installed in a production environment and become operational to business users.
The practice of project closeout ensures that all project activities are complete and transferred as appropriate. The project should be assessed, and lessons learned and best practices applied to future projects.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Review project and assess schedule, budget, and resources.
Notes
Meet with project team to discuss pluses and deltas during the project. Identify product or services to be transitioned and agree on process and acceptance criteria. Conduct final project closing meeting to ensure no outstanding issues remain. Review lessons learned.
Document lessons learned
Bring together any insights gained during a project that can be usefully applied on future projects
Manage
Manage is not a project phase. It occurs through all phases of the project. The document templates provided assist the Project Manager to ensure that the project stays on track and is delivered on time and within budget. It also provides documentation that identifies issues, risks, and decisions that occurred during the project for future reference.
Templates and Resources
Key Activities
Highlight key project management updates
Notes
Ensure that key activities, change requests, risks, issues, action items and decisions are documented on weekly or monthly basis to provide stakeholder update
Manage and control risks, action items, issues and key decisions
Create at the start of each project so anything impacting the project now or in the future is tracked. Keep log up-to-date through weekly reviews and team meetings
Present material in professional manner
Use when creating any sort of project presentation to ensure consistency and professionalism across IT Services
Use to capture an alteration to original scope
Create a change request to formally document and track a requested change to project
Track Change Requests
Use to record all change requests that are received during the life of a project. As each Change Request is received, it should be logged before it is sent for approval, deferment, or rejection
Monthly Forecast and Actuals
Track/Manage Budget
Track capital and expense spending on a monthly basis against approved budget and WBS. Additionally, track forecast adjustments for subsequent months/periods.
This symbol indicates a required document