Managing project stages
Your overall project plan should be part of an ongoing iterative monitoring and review process. If your plan is clearly written and based on the toolkit stages then you should be able to use it to track progress and identify changes at each stage.
The project team should regularly review which steps have been completed and which have been delayed and what the impact is of any delays on the rest of the plan. The team should also review which steps will lead to changes in the overall project plan and hence changes to the detailed steps required in each stage.
At the end of each stage you should review key aspects of the project. These should include:
The business case as outlined in the PID or defined in detail in stage five
The project scope as defined in the PID
The project stages as defined in the project plan
Is the project still meeting its objectives as defined in the PID?
Has the risk situation altered (see Controlling risks, issues, change and quality)?
Should the project progress to the next stage?
Only when these questions or a similar set of questions have been fully answered should you proceed to plan the next stage in detail.
You need to agree a reporting standard for the project. A standard highlight or status report template can be useful. Again the JISC infoKit provides samples.
You should schedule dates for formal steering and project board meetings. These should be scheduled to coincide with the completion of major stages. For an EDRM project we would recommend project board meetings at the completion of:
Regularly throughout Stage 8
In addition you should aim to set up a user group and plan regular monthly meetings as part of the communications plan which is reviewed in step three
The project team should meet at least twice every month to review progress. Other ad hoc meetings should be called as needed as part of the control procedures reviewed in Controlling risks, issues, change and quality
The project team need to allow time and ensure they have the skill sets required to react to issues and changes that will occur in a complex project.
The feedback from a specific step or stage will mean that an alternative solution or option has to be explored rapidly and the step, stage and overall project plan adjusted accordingly. This is an area where external consultancy or project management resources can be beneficial.
