Developing your EDRM project plan
Following the JISC infoNet project management methodology we have covered the tasks required to set up the project in Defining the project above. In this section we review the other four components of a project plan:
Planning
Managing project phases
Controlling risks, issues, changes, quality
Project closure
When drawing up the stages for this EDRM toolkit we have based them on previous EDRM projects we have been involved in and a series of assumptions. When drawing up an overall project plan you will hopefully be able to use this toolkit to help you and you will need to make certain assumptions about the scope of the project, the timetable and the budget.
In a complex and long project like an EDRM project it is not desirable or feasible to develop a complex and very detailed plan and then stick rigidly to every element of that plan. You need to adjust to circumstances and to your findings at each stage in the plan.
Hence the JISC infoNet project management methodology and all good project management methodologies advise you to draw up a high level or milestone plan at the outset of the project and then to revisit it at each stage of the project. Linked to that you can then develop more detailed plans for each project stage and concentrate on managing at two levels – the overall project plan and the detailed project stage plan.
Our EDRM toolkit covers ten stages and we can define at a high level the key steps that comprise each stage and the type of resource that will be required at each stage. However, it is only once the first stage is completed that we can go into detail in the second stage and only once we have made key decisions in stage two can we define the detailed requirements for stage three and the resources that will be required to complete it.
Hence planning is an iterative task that carries on throughout the project. It involves feeding back the findings of each stage and readjusting the overall project plan to reflect the latest position. Managing the project stages is done stage by stage and involves developing a more detailed plan for each stage at the start of each stage and using it to manage that stage at a more detailed level.
Project control is an iterative task that carries on throughout the project. You start with an agreed approach to controlling the project and you then apply that approach through each stage of the project and adapt the approach as required to better suit the specific project.
Project closure is the final component which should only have to be implemented once at the end of the project when all the stages have been completed. It therefore mirrors the project start-up component.
