Companion Notes for LTC Process Flowcharts. Notes for Initiation Stage

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1 Companion Notes for LTC Process Flowcharts Contents Notes for Initiation, Planning, Execution/Production and Close Stages Glossary and Acronyms Page Notes for Initiation Stage Purpose The purpose of the Initiation stage is to receive approval to use resources for a project. Main Output The main output is an approved Project Plan (PP) either a short version (Part A) or a full version (Parts A and B). Request for work Assessment / Broad scoping Determine whether full PP (Parts A & B) or only Part A Send PP for review to: FG Coord., Mgr, PMO (3 day response) PP sign-off PP sent to PMO PMO informs FG coordinators and School Liaison of approved project PM assigned Requests for work may come to any individual in the LTC. Anyone in the LTC can make a quick review of a request and direct it to the appropriate person for broad scoping: School Liaisons scope curriculum and faculty development projects in their School areas IDC Coordinator scopes projects that do not fit into one School area Functional Group Coordinators scope projects that use resources only in their areas (e.g., only a graphics project or only a video project) Project Plan, Part A only: for projects that use between 5 10 days of LTC resources, are low risk or straightforward, and do not require a large team Full Project Plan (Parts A and B): for projects that are expected to use more than 10 days of LTC resources generally require the services of two or more functional groups The full Project Plan is reviewed to allow any changes to the proposed plan to be made. Project Plan, Part A only: requires a signature from the LTC Manager (usually the Associate Dean or Director) Full Project Plan (Parts A and B): requires a signature from the School sponsor. The PP Writer is responsible for ensuring the Project Plan is signed by the sponsor and returned to the LTC. requires a signature from the LTC Manager PP Writer sends the completed, signed Project Plan to the PMO after sign-off. The PMO informs the Functional Group Coordinators listed on the PP and, if necessary, the School Liaison of the approved project. The PMO sends copies of the signed PP to the School and PP Writer. The Project Manager is assigned at this time, if not already assigned. 1

2 Notes for Planning Stage Purpose The purpose of the Planning stage is to finish all the planning so that the work can start in the next stage. The team confirms the project scope, deliverables, schedule and resources drafted in the Project Plan through more detailed planning. Main Outputs The main outputs are a Work Breakdown Document (WBD), a project Communication Plan, and additional planning tools needed by each functional group. If further planning causes a major change in scope, deliverables, or budget, a project Change Form may also be required. PM reviews Project Plan / Assemble project team Conduct start-up meeting Conduct team meetings to develop: 1) WBD 2) Comm Plan The PM reviews the PP and the human resource estimates, and then contacts the appropriate FG Coordinators and asks for individuals to be assigned to the project on a permanent basis. The start-up meeting allows the Project Manager to establish expectations of team members for the duration of the project. The PM may conduct a single start-up meeting for the entire team or multiple meetings depending on the project. The PM may meet with the sponsor and other stakeholders beforehand to confirm project parameters. See Glossary for start-up meeting activities. The WBD breaks deliverables in tasks and sub-tasks, identifies interdependencies, and schedules time. It becomes the project team s reference for functional group activities. The Communication Plan defines how the team will work together, who needs to know what and when, and how the communication will happen. See Glossary for more information on the WBD and Comm Plan. Is WBD within scope, schedule, budget of approved PP? The PM ensures that any changes in project scope, resource requirements, deliverables, or major deadlines are documented and communicated to team members. Depending on the size and complexity of changes, the PM may need to document the changes on a Change Form and submit it to the LTC Manager for approval. The PM ensures the approved Change Form is sent to the PMO and revises the WBD accordingly. The PM is responsible for informing the project sponsor of any fundamental changes. See Glossary for guidelines on when a Change Form should be completed. If a change is so significant, a new Project Plan may be needed. Team members develop additional planning tools as necessary Functional groups often need to develop additional specialized planning documents to further plan their tasks. These could include a blueprint, design document, or production document, etc. 2

3 Notes for Execution/Production Stage Purpose The purpose of the Execution/Production stage is to carry out the plans that have been made in the planning stage. Functional groups produce their deliverables according to the plan and schedule. Functional groups generally manage the specific processes for their speciality areas. Communication with other team members and the Project Manager are important. The Project Manager is concerned with project tracking, control, flow of completed tasks and general communication. Main Outputs The main outputs are the project deliverables completed and delivered to the client. Changes? Tasks / deliverables complete. SME review. FG notifies PM. PM ensures flow of tasks /deliverables among FGs SME acknowledges project completion PM informs sponsor of finished deliverables Major changes in scope, schedule and budget can occur at this stage, as in the Planning stage. See Glossary for guidelines on when a Change Form should be completed. The Project Manager facilitates the sending of completed deliverable components to the SME for review and approval. The FG keeps the Project Manager informed of progress and any problems that arise. The PM facilitates the movement of deliverable components from FG to FG. The PM must receive acknowledgement from the SME that the project is complete. The form of acknowledgement will depend of the type, size and complexity of the project. For smaller projects, an from the PM stating that all deliverables are finished and a return from the SME that the project is complete may be appropriate. The PM informs the sponsor of project completion as appropriate, e.g., by , in a formal meeting, or in a School Project Update. Project Management Functions The PM functions are important throughout all stages, but, in the Execution/Production stage, the PM is responsible for several activities: Tracking project progress the PM is responsible for updating the Project Status Sheet on the 30th of every month Writing status reports for the School and the sponsor Ensuring the flow of deliverables from functional group to functional group Identifying/anticipating/troubleshooting (potential) problems or issues Bringing project problems/issues that need attention to the Manager/PMO so that they can be resolved in a timely manner Managing client expectations by referring back to the agreed-upon project description and project deliverables Overall communication among team members, the sponsor, the SME and LTC Manager and PMO 3

4 Notes for Close stage Purpose The purpose of the Close stage is to finalize all the activities and formally bring the project to a close. The project deliverables have been completed and handed over to the SME and project sponsor. Main Output The main output is a lessons learned document. Team members clean out project documents / Each team member and the Project Manager clean out their files (both paper and electronic). Final products, important or useful documents and anything that might be needed in the future should be prepared for archiving. PM cleans out PM document PM sends info on what to archive to PMO PM conducts final close-out meeting(s) with SME and team PM documents the team s lessons learned The PM identifies the information to be archived to the PMO. Archiving is handled by the PMO. The close-out meeting(s) is a celebration of the competed project and a review of what went well and what could have been done differently. The lessons learned document contains information suitable for sharing with the LTC. The PM compiles the lessons learned document and sends it to the PMO, where it is archived along with the project. 4

5 Glossary Change Form A Change Form documents a major change in scope, deliverables, or budget of a project and requires the approval of the LTC Manager. Change Forms may become necessary in the Planning Stage and Execution/Production Stage. Guidelines for when a Change Form needs to be completed: When the purpose of the project changes When the major deliverable(s) change The resources required increase or decrease dramatically (e.g., approximately 5 days on a small project or 15% on a larger project) A major deliverable is delayed causing a delay in the end date of the project with ramifications (e.g., a course will not be developed in time for a specified offering) Communication Plan Deliverable Functional groups LTC Manager Sponsor Start-up meeting The Communication Plan lays out a project team s plan for: Communicating with the client (frequency of status reports and to whom) How communication within the project team will take place Expectations for timely communication Expectations on what needs to be communicated and to whom in the project team How the team will share documents, version control, flow of documents/images between FGs, etc. A deliverable is a product that can be delivered to the project SME (e.g., a course module, a video, a curriculum review report, or an entire course set up on-line). The LTC has these functional groups: Instructional Development Consultants, Graphic Artists, Multimedia Developers, Instructional Materials Developers, Distributed Learning Services, Document Services, Media Production, and Audio Visual Services. Usually the Associate Dean or Director The Sponsor is the person in the School who authorizes instructor release time and has the main interest in the project (usually the Associate Dean or a Manager if the project is not within a School). The start-up meeting is the first formal meeting of the project team. The format of the meeting will be driven by the size and complexity of the project. At the start-up meeting the team: Reviews the project scope, major deliverables, schedule, and resources Reviews possible project constraints, assumptions and risks; discusses how these might be mitigated Defines the project team s roles and responsibilities Defines the team communication strategy (including management of documents and files) Develops a list of further planning documents needed and how these documents will be completed Sets the schedule for completion of planning documents Establishes future meeting dates 5

6 Work Breakdown Document (WBD) The WBD is the result of the process of breaking down project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. The document shows the breakdown into activities, the sequence of these activities, and their durations. The interdependencies of activities are taken into consideration when developing the sequence of activities. The planning time and nature of the WBD will vary depending on the size and complexity of the project. Acronyms FG IDC LTC PMO PM PP SME WBD Functional Group Instructional Development Consultant Learning & Teaching Centre Project Management Office Project Manager or project management Project Plan Subject Matter Expert Work Breakdown Document 6