Templates

Project High level View

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Project Status – High level Summary

Project Status – High level Summary (Project High level View) can be used to obtain a quick snapshot of the list of projects a particular Project Manager is handling. Mostly, this template is better to be used for your own reference in order to do a quick check-list view to see which project working on which module, who is responsible and the current status of that particular project. (Not recommended to present at the top management / director board meetings). The template can be downloaded using the below URL.

Projects High level Status Review

 

Project Status - Summary
Project Status – Summary
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About Agile

Agile Contract Types

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What are Agile Contract Types?

When it comes to agile methodology, both the vendor and the customer have to come for an agreed agile contract type prior to the execution of the project. Since agile is defined to be embracing changes, it’s difficult to establish a contract. Both parties are supposed to cooperate with each other in order to deliver value adding features throughout the entire project life-cycle. (The relationship between the customer and the vendor in agile methodology has been defined and stated under ‘Agile Manifesto Principles‘ and ‘Agile Manifesto Values‘) There are few agile contract types defined to be used based on few factors such as the relationship strength between the customer and vendor, etc…

Even though embracing changes has made it difficult for both parties to sign an agreement, there are few contract types that still both parties can agree upon prior to the project execution.

Fixed price, Fixed scope (Fixed time is also preferred)

Under this contract, an agreed budget with a fixed scope is provided (Just like in waterfall). By using agile techniques, project efficiency can be enhanced in order to gain maximum benefits out of the agreed price. This contract is good to use when requirements are stable and the relationship between the customer and the vendor is not stable (Not trusting each other).

Fixed price, Fixed scope (Fixed time is also preferred, but scope can be altered by collaborating with the customer)

The project team works closely with the customer from the beginning to identify the project requirements and priorities. Once the project is started, the project management team has to work on a prioritized list and at the end of a delivery, both parties can discuss whether to change the project direction based on the user needs.

Time and Material

According to this contract, customer has to pay for the work being done. This method / type works better when requirements are not stable / volatile. This is the simplest contract to be signed off if both parties trust each other.

Not To Exceed with Fixed Fee (NTE/FF)

Here, the vendor team is promised with a guaranteed profit margin. Both parties protect each other with the speed of project work being executed (Faster or Slower) and work on unexpected events to drive the project towards success.

Fixed price per function / story point

Initially both parties must agree on the unit of delivery (story points / functions / function points). A fixed price per unit is agreed and a certified functional point auditor is selected and advised to observe the number of units delivered at the end of the project. The customer has the freedom to change the requirement throughout the project and the vendor is encouraged to work efficiently.

 

 

 

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Templates

Product Backlog

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Product Backlog

Product Backlog is a list of requirements needed to complete a particular project. Under agile terms, this list will be prioritized based on few factors such as business value, risk, etc… by the Product Owner / Client. Once its prioritized, the project can be built based on the priority and the list will be completed sprint-wise. You can download the Product Backlog template using the following URL.

Product Backlog

 

Product Backlog
Product Backlog
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Templates

Risk Register

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Risk Register

This is the primary output under the Risk Identification process. It details out the risks identified throughout the project life cycle. Information such as risk details, impact, probability, response strategy and the risk status can be included in the Risk Register. You can download a sample template using the below URL.

Risk Register

Risk Register
Risk Register
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Risk Management

Project Risk Management

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What is Project Risk Management

According to PMBOK 5th Edition, a risk can be defined as an uncertain event or a condition that will have a positive or a negative impact on project outcomes / objectives. Project Risk Management is about planning, identifying, responding and controlling the risks on a project. The main objective of this knowledge area is to increase the probability and impact of positive risks while reducing the impact and probability of negative risks. This process should continue throughout the project life cycle.

Risks can popup anywhere in a project and it will have an impact towards scope, schedule, budget and quality of the project. If it’s negative risk, then the tendency towards the project failure is high, hence the project team has to develop proper risk response strategies to overcome them.

There are 2 types of reserves that can be established to minimize or overcome the impact and probability of a project. They are contingency reserves and management reserves. Contingency reserves are used to respond to known risks that cannot be proactively managed. Management reserves are included to respond to unknown risks that cannot be proactively managed.

There are 6 main processes defined under the Project Risk Management knowledge area. They are defined as follows.

Plan Risk Management

This process includes the activities that define how to conduct risk management related functions in a project. This is a very important subsidiary plan of the project management plan which requires the support from every stakeholder of the project to successfully implement and achieve project objectives throughout the entire project life cycle.

Identify Risks

Under this process, the project team has to list down the risks that can have an impact on the project and document them. It supports the project team to realize and proactively work on risk response strategies during the project life cycle. During this period, the project team develops and updates the Project Risk Register.

Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis

During this process, project team can prioritize the risk list based on the risk value calculated by their respective probability and impact values. In addition, it supports the project team to focus on risks with higher values proactively.

Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis

Quantitative Risk Analysis is about analyzing the identified risks in a numerical manner and deciding on the effect they can put on the defined project objectives. Since it produces a numerical value (quantitative information), it helps the project management team to reduce the uncertainty of projects.

Plan Risk Response

Risk response strategies are developed under this process. The project management team works on options and actions to enhance the opportunities of the project while reducing the threats of the project objectives. Based on the risk response, the scope, schedule and budget can be impacted.

Control Risk

This is the last process defined under project risk management knowledge area. During this process, the project team will track and review the risk response strategies for already identified risks, monitor residual risks, identify new risks and control the risk management process throughout the project life cycle. Control Risk process helps to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the risk management process and optimize the project risk responses.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and
Controlling		 Closing
No Process
Performed		 1. Plan Risk Management
2. Identify Risks
3. Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
4. Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
5. Plan Risk Responses		 No Process
Performed		 Control Risk No Process
Performed

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.

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Templates

RACI Chart

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RACI Chart

RACI chart can be used to illustrate which project personnel / stakeholder involved in which task and how each task is connected to them. This template may vary based on the complexity of the project. You can download the RACI Chart

 

RACI Chart
RACI Chart
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Schedule Management

Project Time Management

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What is Project Time Management

Project Time Management is another key knowledge area that includes the activities required to manage and complete the project on time. (PMBOK 5th Edition) Time / Schedule is mentioned under the iron triangle which makes it an important factor to define the status of a completed project as successful or unsuccessful. Clients expect vendors to complete the project on time, hence managing the time of a project has become a critical factor for the project management team.

As per the PMBOK, 6 key processes have been identified under Project Time Management. They are;

Plan Schedule Management

This is a subsidiary plan of Project Management plan. Under this, it establishes policies and methods on how to manage the schedule throughout the project life cycle. This maybe formal or informal and the complexity of this document depends on the complexity of the project.

Define Activities

Under this process, the project team has to list down the project activities that need to be completed in order to produce the project deliverables. Through this process, it breaks down the project work packages into smaller activities for time estimations.

Sequence Activities

Sequence Activities process supports the project management team to list the defined activities in a logical sequence in order to obtain the best efficiency to complete the project. Via this process, it gives out a clear picture of relationship between each activity.

Estimate Activity Resources

Once the activities are identified, the project management team can continue to work on identifying the required resource types and quantities to complete the project activities. Estimate Activity Resources process gives the team an idea of what type of resources and how much is required to complete the project activities. By doing so, the team can come up with more accurate cost and schedule estimates for project activities.

Estimate Activity Durations

After the above process is complete, project team can attend to this activity. When the required resources are estimated, base on the type and quantity of the resources, duration required to complete the project activities can be estimated. Based on the output of this process, the duration of the entire project can be calculated. (how long it will take to complete the project)

Develop Schedule

Developing the project schedule model is undertaken here. By considering the defined activities, estimated resources for those activities and the required time duration to complete those activities, the project schedule model is developed. This is a very important task since the entire project team will refer to this to review and track the project performance to see whether the project is ahead or behind the estimated schedule.

Control Schedule

Under the monitoring and controlling project process, schedule controlling takes place. This is to track the project status and update the project progress in terms of its schedule. By following this process, it reveals whether there any deviations from the planned schedule. If there are any deviations, then the project team can work on it to bring the project back to its planned schedule.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and
Controlling		 Closing
No Process
Performed		 1. Plan Schedule Management
2. Define Activities
3. Sequence Activities
4. Estimate Activity Resources
5. Estimate Activity Durations
6. Develop Schedule		 No Process
Performed		 Control Schedule No Process
Performed

 

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.

 

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Procurement Management

Project Procurement Management

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What is Project Procurement Management

Project Procurement Management consists of processes that are necessary to purchase or acquire products, results or services required from outside the project team. The self organization can either be the buyer or the seller.

When it comes to procurement management, contract negotiation, management and change control procedures need to be implemented in order to follow a successful procurement plan. The contracts are legal documents that mutually bind both the seller and buyer where seller provide something valuable and buyer is bound to return and pay via monetary terms of other compensating methods. These agreements can be simple or complex depending on the magnitude of the need / requirement.

Subcontracting / Sharing to a 3rd party is also sometimes knows as a risk response strategy under project management. When subcontracting, it means that a part of the project is transferred to a 3rd party which reduces the risk level from the project management team, hence the responsibility of taking care of the risk is already handed over to a third party.

Under the Procurement Management process, there are 4 processes identified by PMBOK 5th edition. They are;

Plan Procurement Management

Procurement Management Plan is about documenting how a project should handle procurement related activities such as the approach of purchasing, identifying potential sellers, etc… Through this process, it reveals whether it’s necessary to purchase or not and if it’s necessary to purchase, how, where, when the purchase should take place, etc…

Conduct Procurements

Under this process, choosing a seller / contractor and awarding a contract occurs. At the time of conducting, both parties need to come to a common legal agreement and proceed with the procurement process. There are few techniques used to select a contractor such as bidder conference where a RFP (Request for Proposal) document is built and shared among a set of contractors, hence they can come up with their proposals for the buyer to select the best choice among them.

Control Procurements

Monitoring and tracking the performance of the contractor is done under this process. While the project progresses, the relationship between the buyer and the seller will need to be maintained. Also if there are any necessary changes that need to be integrated with the already agreed contract, both parties can come under one roof, discuss and do the necessary changes to the contract as well. Through this phase, performance of both parties will be tracked to see whether there are any deviations from the agreed contract.

Close Procurements

This is the final process of procurement management process. Under this phase, both parties will formally and legally close the procurement contract. Once it’s done, contracts will be documented for future reference if any issue or concern is raised.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and
Controlling		 Closing
No Process  Performed Plan Procurement Management Conduct Procurement Control Procurement Close Procurement

 

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.

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Stakeholder Management

Project Stakeholder Management

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What is Project Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder can be an individual, a group or an organization that can affect or be affected by a decision, an activity or an outcome of a project. Project Stakeholder Management refers to the processes that identify the above mentioned stakeholders, analyze their expectations and develop management strategies to make them effectively engaged with project execution. It also helps to maintain a continuous communication throughout the entire project life-cycle in order to understand their needs and expectations while managing conflicts and issues. This is considered one of the most important knowledge areas in Project Management. If an important stakeholder or a group is missed through an important communication chain, there’s a higher probability for the project to fail due to miscommunication, invalid info: sharing, etc…

Depending on the stakeholder, the impact or the influence that can be put on the project outcome differs. There are certain stakeholder who can negatively effect on project while some can positively effect. Therefore, it’s very important for a project management team to identify and engage in stakeholder management efficiently in order to drive the project towards success.

There are 4 processes identified under Project Stakeholder Management. They are;

Identify Stakeholder

This process works on identifying individuals, groups or organizations that can impact or be impacted by a project activity, decision or outcome and  how their interest, involvement, inter-dependencies potentially impact on project success. Throughout this process, it guides the project manager to identify how important each stakeholder is and focus on them accordingly.

Plan Stakeholder Management

This is another subsidiary plan defined under the Project Management Plan. It drives the project management team to develop management strategies to engage with stakeholder based on their interest, involvement and potential impact towards the project success. In addition, it provides a plan on how to interact with stakeholders on project outcomes.

Manage Stakeholder Engagement

Manage Stakeholder Engagement is the process of engaging with stakeholders to meet their needs and expectations, managing conflicts, addressing their issues and following proper stakeholder engagement strategies throughout the project life cycle. Under this phase, project managers tend to reduce the resistance shown by the stakeholders and get their support to drive the project towards success.

Control Stakeholder Engagement

Under controlling phase, project management team monitors and controls the stakeholder relationships and update the management strategies accordingly. Through this process, it supports the project management team to escalate the effectiveness and efficiency of stakeholder engagement as the project progresses.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and
Controlling		 Closing
Identify Stakeholders Plan Stakeholder Management Manage Stakeholder Engagement Control Stakeholder Engagement No Process  Performed

 

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.

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Human Resource Management

Project HR Management

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What is Project HR Management

Project HR Management is about managing, organizing and leading the project team throughout the entire project life cycle. When it comes to Project HR Management, different project personnel have different roles and responsibilities which are important to drive the project towards success. Apart from that, they have different set of skills necessary to perform project activities. While the project progresses, team members maybe added, removed, assigned full-time or part-time. It’s important to have a collaborate session with all the project team members when initiating and planning the project since team work always strengthens the commitment towards the project.

Project Management team is a subset of project team. They are responsible for project management related activities such as project initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing project or phase. In terms of Project HR Management related activities, 4 major processes have been identified to perform. They are;

Plan HR Management

This is a subsidiary plan of the Project Management Plan and it includes the activities such as documenting project roles and responsibilities, reporting structures and the staffing management plan. The HR Management Plan supports the project management team to identify team members’ roles and responsibilities, the organizational reporting structure and charts (E.g.: RACI Charts) as well as the staffing management plan that includes the member acquisition and release from the projects.

Acquire Project Team

Under this process, it confirms the human resource availability and acquires the necessary human resources to complete the project activities. Through this process, it guides the project management team to acquire the relevant project personnel for relevant responsibilities required by the project to build a successful project team.

Develop Project Team

Within this process, the competency level of the team members is improved while enhancing their interaction level and performances which will have a direct impact towards the project performance. By doing so, the team work gets improved and the team members get motivated which leads to an enhancement of the project performance.

Manage Project Team

This is another important process defined under project human resource management knowledge area. Among this process, performance of the team members is tracked and the relevant feedback is given to the relevant team member. In addition, issues and conflicts among the team members are resolved to enhance the teamwork efficiency.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and
Controlling		 Closing
No Process  Performed Plan Human Resource Management
  1. Acquire Project Team
  2. Develop Project Team
  3. Manage Project Team
 No Process  Performed No Process  Performed

 

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.

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