1) Pitch the Idea
Identify the project and “sell” why it was selected
b. How will performing this project help?
c. What is the current state of operations related to the project? Where is it that we want to be in the future?
2) Outline the project
a. Give major milestones and expected dates of delivery for each
b. Identify the risks throughout the project and articulate the contingency plans addressing each
c. Identify the resources required to complete the project and the sources of acquiring those resources
3) Organizational structure
a. What is the current structure/culture/roles involved
i. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
b. How will the structure/culture/role be impacted by the project’s completion?
4) Who are the stakeholders
a. Identify all the stakeholders and prioritize them according to their importance/interest in the project
b. Create an engagement assessment matrix for each stakeholder
5) Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
a. Within each major milestone what will, individually, need to be performed to accomplish the milestone
b. Inside of an Excel spreadsheet, assign worktimes and deliverables for each individually required item
c. Identify critical paths
i. Where is time/resource/success required for work to continue along the WBS
6) Allocating resources based on a budget
a. For each task, assigned people/material needed to perform that task to include time/money involvement
b. If a task would need to be outsourced, include that in the allocation as well (costs, deliverables etc)
7) Sticking to a budget
a. Assume the project has run 20% over budget half-way through.
b. What changes or compromises will you make in order to return to budget?
i. Implications for stakeholders, deliverables, timetable?
