Page 59 - DCAP304_DCAP515_SOFTWARE_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 2: Step Wise Project Planning

Notes

Explain the difference between tools and techniques for the project infrastructure?
Task

2.3.1 How to start building a Project Infrastructure

It is improbable you will start with a blank slate. If you are building a project infrastructure, you
will almost surely have some things in place. There may be templates, processes, techniques and
documentation already in existence – if not in use. There are bound to be a few tools – perhaps
some of them home grown.
The starting point should be to carry out an audit of what previously exists. Look at the categories
identified above, and try to collect anything that fits into a category. Also do a quick consideration
of the potential usability of the item. For example, in one company we looked at, they had an old
project management intranet site. We were told “There is lots of good stuff there.” When we
were able to resurrect the site, most of the links were broken, and much of the documentation
attached to the site no longer existed. It did though provide a starting point. By talking to people
who had been around long enough to have used the site, we were able to dig out a number of
documents and screen prints from the site when it was in existence.
Define the Scope

Just like any project, we need to describe the scope. The limits of a project infrastructure can be
blurred unless they are defined. For example, where does the project infrastructure take you in
terms of financial management? Where do the usual company financial management start in
relation to projects? Does the project infrastructure comprise a skills register, or is that part of
the HR function? Who allocates PCs to project teams? Is this part of a project infrastructure or is
it part of your normal facilities management? Is space allocation for teams part of your
infrastructure?

Project Process Modeling

Once you have the scope recognized, it comes down to a business process modeling exercise.
Take a new project, and navigate it through the organization to completion. It is likely there will
be multiple paths. For example, you may decide that there is a different path for a small project
than for a large project. There may be different steps for projects requiring capital approvals.
The purpose of this will be to understand what the optimal infrastructure is that you need to put
in place. The project process model will emphasize where project infrastructure is required. For
example, one step in the process will be to define scope. When taking a project infrastructure
view this may mean you need one or more of the following:
 Guidelines for running a scoping workshop
 A template to record scope

 Examples of previous scope documents
 Training on how to create a scope statement
 Guidelines to identify the various components of scope (Outcome, internal and external
deliverables, objectives etc.)

 Checklist of common deliverables (Training Materials, Product Documents, Operations
Manuals, etc.)

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