Project Initiation Monthly Initiation Weekly Management Daily Management Monthly Closure Project Closure Post-Project Management Appointthe sponsor A01 Appoint theproject manager A02 Appoint thekey team members A03 Describethe project A04 Identify and planthe deliverables A05 Identify risksand plan responses A06 Have project initiationpeer-reviewed A07 Make ago/no-go decision A08 Kick offthe project A09 Conduct afocused communication A10 Revise and refinethe plans B01 Have the monthlycycle peer-reviewed B02 Make ago/no-go decision B03 Kick off themonthly cycle B04 Conduct afocused communication B05 Measure andreport performance C01 Plan responsesfor deviations C02 Kick off theweekly cycle C03 Conduct afocused communication C04 Manage risks, issues,and change requests D01 Acceptcompleted deliverables D02 Evaluatestakeholder satisfaction E01 Capture lessons andplan for improvements E02 Conduct afocused communication E03 Hand overthe product F01 Evaluatestakeholder satisfaction F02 Have the closing activitygroup peer-reviewed F03 Archive theproject documents F04 Celebrate! F05 Conduct afocused communication F06 Evaluatethe benefits G01 Generatenew ideas G02 Conduct afocused 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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