Project Initiation Monthly Initiation Weekly Management Daily Management Monthly Closure Project Closure Post-Project Management Appoint the sponsor A01 Appoint the project manager A02 Appoint the key team members A03 Describe the project A04 Identify and plan the deliverables A05 Identify risks and plan responses A06 Have project initiation peer-reviewed A07 Make a go/no-go decision A08 Kick off the project A09 Conduct a focused communication A10 Revise and refine the plans B01 Have the monthly cycle peer-reviewed B02 Make a go/no-go decision B03 Kick off the monthly cycle B04 Conduct a focused communication B05 Measure and report performance C01 Plan responses for deviations C02 Kick off the weekly cycle C03 Conduct a focused communication C04 Manage risks, issues, and change requests D01 Accept completed deliverables D02 Evaluate stakeholder satisfaction E01 Capture lessons and plan for improvements E02 Conduct a focused communication E03 Hand over the product F01 Evaluate stakeholder satisfaction F02 Have the closing activity group peer-reviewed F03 Archive the project documents F04 Celebrate! F05 Conduct a focused communication F06 Evaluate the benefits G01 Generate new ideas G02 Conduct a focused communication G03

A05 - Identify and plan the deliverables

This management activity belongs to the Project Initiation group. This group of activities are run at the beginning to prepare us for the project.

Conduct workshops to create a hierarchical breakdown of the building elements of the product: the deliverables. Where necessary, add short descriptions to deliverables to explain their scope, quality, or other important factors. Store this information in the Deliverables Map, which can have any format, such as a mind map.

The Deliverables Map can be elaborated on by including the dependencies among its items. When there are many dependencies, the elements can be scheduled based on their dependencies and estimated durations, whereas when there are not many dependencies, the elements can be prioritized by a proper set of criteria and selected for execution based on priorities and improvisation rather than a schedule. Many projects can benefit from a dependency-based approach for the higher levels and a priority-based approach for the lower levels.

If a similar project has been done before, check its archive and use that information to prepare a better Deliverables Map.

Based on the development of the Deliverables Map, you may need to make adjustments to the Project Description as well.

Project Description template

Purpose

While Project Description is crucial and it’s always necessary to be aligned with it, it’s abstract and hard to use in day-to-day work. The Deliverables Map bridges the gap by creating a relatively concrete resource that makes the scope of the project clearer. It’s also the heart of what becomes a form of schedule for the project, which in turn is a resource that helps us decide what to do next and to measure progress.

Common pitfalls

It’s common for practitioners to think of “work” instead of “deliverables” when creating the Deliverables Map. You need to facilitate the workshop in a way that helps everyone focus on deliverables, independent of the underlying work. To ensure this is the case, use noun phrases instead of verb phrases for naming the deliverables. Sometimes, the use of a mind map can also help because it visualizes the hierarchy of the building elements.

Principles

The following principles play a significant role in this management activity:



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