4.0 Directing a Project Flashcards
What is the purpose of starting up a project?
To ensure the pre-requisites for Initiating a Project are in place by answering the question: Do we have a viable and worthwhile project?
What is the purpose of Initiating a Project?
To establish solid foundations for the project, enabling the organisation to understand the work that needs to be done to deliver the project’s products before committing to a signifiant spend
What is the purpose of Controlling a Stage?
- to assign and monitor work to be done;
- deal with issues;
- report progress to the Project Board;
- take corrective actions to ensure the management stage remains within tolerance.
What is the purpose of Managing Product Delivery?
To control the link between the PM and the Team Manager(s) by agreeing the requirements for ACCEPTANCE, EXECUTION and DELIVERY
Team Manager(s) coordinate this work, and can be internal or external to the customer’s organisation
What is the purpose of Closing a Project?
To provide a fixed point at which acceptance for the project product is confirmed, and to recognise that objectives set out in the original PID have been achieved (or approved changes to the objectives have been achieved), or that the project has nothing more to contribute
What is the purpose of Directing a Project?
To enable the Project Board to be accountable for the project’s success by making key decisions and exercising overall control while delegating day-to-day management of the project to the PM
What are the 5 main decisions of Directing a Project?
- Authorise initiation
- Authorise the project
- Authorise a Stage/Exception Plan
- Give ad-hoc direction (continual activity where decisions are made about progress, issues, risks & exceptions)
- Authorise project closure
What are the 7 main objectives for the Directing a Project process?
- Authority to initiate the project
- Authority to deliver the project’s products
- Management direction & control throughout the project’s lifecycle
- The project remains viable
- Corporate, programme management or the customer has an interface to the project
- Authority to close the project
- Plans for realising the post-project benefits are managed and reviewed
Objectives: Authority to initiate the project
Decision Point 1 (Authorise Initiation) is where the Project Board, immediately after completion of SU, uses the Project Brief to authorise initiation
Objectives: Authority to deliver the project’s products
Decision Point 2 (Authorise the Project) is where the Project Board, immediately after IP, uses the PID to authorise initiation
Objectives: Management direction & control throughout the project’s lifecycle
Decision Point 4 (Ad Hoc Direction) is where the Project Board, with links to the PM’s activities in Controlling a Stage, ensures it is in overall control between stages, whilst delegating day-to-day management to the PM
Decision Point 3 (Authorise Stage/Exception) is where the Project Board, immediately after Managing a Stage Boundary at an End Stage Assessment, uses the End Stage Report, next Stage Plan and updated PID to authorise continuation
Objectives: The project remains viable
This relates to all decisions being taken in the context of any impact on the Business Case
Objectives: Corporate, programme management or the customer has an interface to the project
This emphasises that the link to corporate or any higher programme is through the Project Board (not the Project Manager)
Objectives: Authority to close the project
Decision Point 5 (Authorise Project Closure), with links to Closing a Project, is where the Project Board authorise closure of the project based on formal acceptance of the project product and its ongoing sustainability by the Project Board
Objectives: Plans for realising the post-project benefits are managed and reviewed
This indicates that the execution of the Benefits Review Plan is by the Executive and Senior User
The requirement for the Project Board to act as a communications channel, and how it is going to do it, should be documented in…
the Communications Management Approach
Decision Point 1: Authorise Initiation
Projects take time and cost money to initiate, so the activities for initiation should be planned, monitored and controlled. The Project Board activity to authorise initiation ensures that such investment is worthwhile.
Decision Point 2: Authorise the Project
This activity will be triggered by a request from the PM for authorisation to deliver the project, and may be undertaken in parallel with authorising a Stage or Exception Plan.
Decision Point 3: Authorise a Stage or Exception Plan
The Project Board authorises a management stage by reviewing the performance of the current stage and approving the Stage Plan for the next stage.
(Approval of Stage Plans occurs at the end of every management stage except for the last one)
Decision Point 4: Give Ad Hoc Direction
Project Board members may offer informal guidance or respond to requests for advice at any time during a project.
Decision Point 5: Authorise Project Closure
There must be a point when the objectives in the original and current versions of the PID and Project Plan are assessed in order to understand:
- whether the objectives have been achieved
- how the project has deviated from its initial bias
- that the project has nothing more to contribute
Activities: DP1 Authorise Initiation
- Project Board approves the Project Brief
- Project Board approves the Stage Plan (Initiation)
Activities: DP2 Authorise the Project
- Project Board / Assurance reviews the lessons log
- Project Board approves the PID
- Project Board approves the Benefits Management Approach
Activities: DP3 Authorise a Stage/Exception Plan
- Project Board confirmed Specialist Products Approval
- Project Board approves End Stage Report
- PM distributes lessons report
- Project Board approves Follow-on action recommendations
- Project Board approves Stage Plan
- Project Board approves Exception Plan
- Project Board approves updated PID
- Project Board approves updated Benefits Management Approach
