Structuring a project
Introduction
There are different schools of thought on how best to create a structure for a project. We use a methodology that is suitable in many cases and perhaps especially good when implementing third-party systems in larger organisations where many people are involved over time. If you follow the principles below, you will have order and clear roles and responsibilities in your team. And not least, your steering group will understand what you are doing
Starting from the business objectives
The purpose of a project is to deliver a benefit to the company investing in it, and therefore these objectives are at the centre of project planning.
Project objectives should be directly related to business objectives
To ensure that the company gets what it needs, the project objectives must be derived from the business objectives. Below we assume that the business objective is to "enable higher efficiency through the implementation of a modern ERP system"
Clearly define the project deliverables
Explain the project objectives by using acceptance criteria for what each deliverable should result in. In project management terms, the previous picture shows the work breakdown structure (WBS) for levels 1, 2 and 3 of the project. Each deliverable needs an acceptance criterion.
Describe the business case
The whole project needs to be aware of the business case and the types of benefits that the project owner expects from the project. Without these, it becomes a guessing game to know what level of efficiency can be achieved through the project delivery, so the business case complements the acceptance criteria.
Ensure good and sufficient staffing
A best practice to ensure good progress and delivery is to assign responsibilities to each deliverable. Therefore, the project organisation needs to replicate the WBS structure in many respects. The organisation is fully dependent on the WBS structure above.
Make a milestone plan for the whole project
Once you know the deliverables, you can estimate the effort required and the dependencies between them. Once you have analysed this, you can arrange the deliverables in sequence and estimate when in the calendar you can place milestones. It is important to phase the deliverables so that you have checkpoints and control of deliverables (through tests for example) grouped in a logical order. In the picture we show the typical phasing of a system transformation project.
Place steering group meetings at the gates that occur at milestones
There are normally formal gates to be passed at the end of each phase. These gates are manifested through formal meetings of the steering committee, where the finalisation of the phase is approved through gate passing criteria. These are defined by the previously mentioned acceptance criteria, as well as budget compliance and other evaluation factors.
Executive summary
If you follow the steps above, you will have a very good project structure and also a model that is easy to understand for all stakeholders, which is crucial to create good momentum when the project starts. Another practice that comes into play when the project starts is to plan the first phase in detail and then repeat that exercise before moving into the next phase. Good luck to you!
Want to know more about project management?
Contact Stefan Schnitzer to discuss project management.
Stefan Schnitzer, Senior Partner
070-3075730
stefan.schnitzer@rededge.se
Surbrunnsgatan 64A, 113 27, Stockholm, Sweden
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