CASE STUDY: PETE'S OFFICE : CONTENT Click on a hyperlink for direct access to a section. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

CASE STUDY: PETE’S OFFICE

:

Click on a hyperlink for direct access to a section.

1. Introduction

2. Concept

3. Problem statement

4. Mission statement

   1. Simple approach

   2. Formal approach

      1. Internal and external environment

      2. Stakeholders

      3. Identify the customers

      4. Identify the two or three major customers

      5. What do the three major customers want?

      6. Success criteria

      7. Consider critical future events

      8. Prepare the mission statement

5. Product specification

6. Project strategy

   1. Expectations of major external and internal interests

   2. Database

   3. SWOT analysis

7. Scope

8. Project objectives

9. Schedule

   1. Main phases

   2. Identify tasks

   3. Identify task relationships

10. Change management strategy

11. Lessons learned

12. Project notebook

13. Terms of reference document

14. Appendix A – Project notebook example

15. Appendix B – Terms of reference example

16. Definitions

1. Introduction

Although every project is unique, the example provided in this course is intended to provide you with a framework that can be adapted. With this foundation, practice and experience, you should be able to tackle any kind of project anytime, anywhere.

1. Concept (definition)

Pete is an insurance agent who has been working from a home office. His “office” consists of a small computer desk, phone, computer, printer and file cabinets located in the family room. Besides not looking very attractive, having his desk in the family room is an inconvenience to him and his family. His children can’t watch TV or play video games when he is trying to concentrate or talking on the phone with clients. Besides, Pete can’t have the nice office furniture he wants or have clients come to the house.

Pete considered moving to a bigger house. But, they love their location, yard and schools. Then, one day, he came up with a great idea. Why not convert the two car garage, which is 22’ x 24’, to a home office? The cars always end up parked outside anyway and it would be a lot less expensive than buying a larger home. A plus would be that having a completely separate office would enable him to take advantage of the home office tax deduction. So, he came up with this concept.

‘I would like to inexpensively convert the garage to a home office.’

Pete had not yet thought of any specific requirements for his office. He really won’t be able to figure it all out until the project is underway, or at least in the planning stage. At this stage, the office could be the whole garage or part of the garage. One thing is clear. Pete is the customer (definition) and he will be the one to decide how the garage is remodeled. Since he is the one who will be using the office and also the one paying for it, Pete is also the direct user and the Project Sponsor (definition). This is often not the case. In a corporate setting, the Project Sponsor may be a vice president, for example, who authorizes the funds for the project, but the direct users are the employees who will actually be using whatever is implemented.

Pete knows a student taking a course in Project Management, who needs a project to work on, so he decides to let him be Project Manager (definition).

1. Problem statement (definition)

The Project Manager is happy to help Pete with his idea, but he needs to know just what Pete’s requirements are. Now that Pete will have a separate office, will he have any clients meet with him in the office? Pete says yes, so he will need seating for clients. How much more office furniture and equipment will Pete want to add? Does he want new office furniture that looks more like a professional office rather than just the simple home computer desk he had before? Yes. Pete also is a coffee drinker and wants to be able to offer coffee to clients. Fortunately for Pete, the laundry room just off the garage includes a half bath that can be used by Pete and any clients that may come to his office. It will also be convenient for making coffee.

Another plus is that there is an outside door, with a doorbell, at the side of the garage. It has a sidewalk going to it, leading off from the front sidewalk. It makes an ideal outside entrance to the office. Even better, the garage is already heated and cooled, although it may need some additional auxiliary heat. More electric outlets will be needed for lamps and equipment. It appears this project may be able to be done relatively inexpensively.

The Project Manager lists all of Pete’s requirements and why he needs them:

Now that the Project Manager knows what Pete wants to put in his office, he formulates his problem definition.

‘Pete would like to remodel and furnish his garage as a professional office because he currently does not have enough room, privacy, or a place to meet with clients.’

Next, the Project Manager draws up the team:

• Builder (insulation, finishing walls, bookshelves, etc.)

• Electrician (more electric outlets, run cable to the garage for Internet connection, TV and phone service)

• Interior Designer (help design space, choose furniture, and decide on flooring)

For the sake of simplicity, when we refer to the Project Manager, it also implies the Project Team (definition).

1. Mission statement (definition)

It may be helpful at this stage to consider the project objectives (see later).

4.1 The simple approach

In its simplest form, the Mission Statement aims to answer three questions.

• What do we wish to do?

• For whom do we do it?

• How do we go about it?

The Project Manager, with Pete, considered these requirements and it didn’t take him long to come up with his Mission Statement.

‘We will remodel and furnish the garage into an office for Pete’s use employing external labor.’

The above covers the simple needs described above. Is this adequate? Would all people likely to be involved in the project identify with what is required? Based on this would the customer’s (Pete’s) needs be satisfied?

It is probably too vague because we still don’t know what Pete requires from the facility and more importantly what he does not. We need to ask the customer. In this simple case, the main customer is Pete but in the real world, the customer could be anyone with a vested interested in the product. These are the stakeholders.

The Project Manager wants to find out more about the required product. So, he canvasses the main customer (Pete) as to specific ‘features and factors’. In practice the Project Manager could ask all of the stakeholders but may focus on three of these (see formal approach later). Naturally, when Pete is considering this he will have in mind how he intends to use the facility. With the help of Pete the Project Manager uses the ‘features and factors’ below.

Although this project is pretty simple and doable, in many projects not every “want” can be met and still stay within the constraints of time and money. An easy method to help the customer narrow the project to the most necessary features is through the use of the ‘features and factors’ form. In this example, the customer lists the features and factors he wants and ranks the importance on a scale of 1 to 5 (other scales may also be used). Note that not all features, such as bookshelves and furniture, are listed because they are considered mandatory. We are listing features where decisions need to be made.

• Factors … tend to be non-tangible.

• Features … tend to be tangible.

FACTORS

In this simple example Pete considers 6 factors and ranks each of them in terms of importance out of an arbitrary figure of 5. He then thinks about the various features he would like, or would like to compare, and ranks them out of 5 against each of the factors. In this example, the tile floor ranks low as far as low cost, but highest for being easy to clean. It ranks low as far as being easy to install and low for safety (slip and fall). The space heater ranks high for cost but it is not very safe. Since a heated tile floor takes up no space for rearranging the room, it ranks high for a flexible interior. The electric fireplace takes up room (although it can be moved) so it ranks lower for a flexible interior. However, a good quality, thermostatically controlled electric fireplace ranks higher for safety than the space heater.

In order to try correlate the required factors with the features another table can be prepared where the numbers represent the product of factor x feature. For example, low cost (5) x tile floor (1) = 5 and low cost (5) x carpet (3) = 15. Using this simple system, the maximum and minimum correlation is 25 and 1 respectively.

FACTORS

The project should try to satisfy all those areas where there is a high correlation and not worry about the low ones. One might choose an arbitrary value of greater than 10 to qualify for attention. In this example, installing carpet and heating with an electric fireplace are desirable; using a space heater and adding a large window are not.

In this case, Pete is claustrophobic, so he feels that having a large window is more important to him than whether it is low cost or safe. Especially since it will be in back and there is such a nice view. Additionally, he can help keep an eye on the children when they are playing in the back yard, so Pete says he really should have ranked the safety factor higher in the first place. It occurs to the Project manager that it could have been helpful to add in another factor column for the customer to rank how much they want a particular feature. Even though Pete decided to go with the window, regardless of the matrix, he says he had been leaning towards putting in heated tile. The matrix really helped him decide on the carpet and fireplace instead.

This simple method is not very scientific. As you can see, thought is needed to put into all of the relevant factors and features and the clarity of their definitions. Even then, not all factors can be considered. It is up to the customer, or sponsor, to decide. Any tool that helps them come to a decision is helpful.

Based upon his discussions with Pete, the Project Manager is now in a better position to redefine his Mission Statement from,

‘We will remodel and furnish the garage into an office for Pete’s use employing external labor.’

to,

‘We will remodel the garage into a 528 sq. ft. office with one large window, carpeting, bookshelves, an electric fireplace, and new office furniture. Labor will be a combination of outside labor and Pete’s labor.

This Mission Statement now affords a much better picture of what is required although a full specification is not yet in place (see later). Anything the project now does should support the Mission Statement.

The above approach is a simple one for a relatively simple project. For more complicated projects a more formal and systematic approach may be required.

Note that the Project Manager has not thought about canvassing the rest of the family, or about local building regulations and zoning!

4.2 The formal approach

4.2.1 Internal and external environment

Knowing that Pete has decided to go ahead with his grand plan to turn the garage into an office, the Project Manager takes a step back to consider the potential impact of the project from within Pete’s home and immediate vicinity. For a trickier project, this may well represent department vs. the rest of the company and other outside influences.

Internal: (definition)

In discussing the matter with Pete the Project Manager sees the obvious advantages to Pete in increasing space, improving business relations with clients and allowing the family to enjoy the family room as intended. On the other hand he has been rather selfish and not considered the affect on the rest of his family. Who else may wish to have things in the garage? After due consideration, he finds Pete’s son, David, and daughter, Amy, would like to store their bikes somewhere and his wife, Anne, needs a place for her garden tools. Pete has not even taken into consideration that he needs to store his own tools and the lawnmower. Not to mention things like lawn chairs and garden hoses. The Project Manager takes all this under consideration and suggests to Pete they add a wall 8’ back from the garage door all the way across the garage. Shelves can be put all the across the wall and both sides. This will allow a 192’ storage area and a 336’ office area (note the mission statement will need to be changed). Pete thinks this is a great idea. It still leaves him plenty of room for his office and allows for storage space. Plus, it means his office will not have a garage door for one wall, or have to have the garage door replaced with a permanent wall. If anyone ever wants to turn it back into a garage later, they can just tear down the one interior wall and take the carpeting up.

External: (definition)

Pete, being a good citizen, together with the Project Manager, decides to have a chat with his neighbors about his plan. Since he has always gone to his clients’ location in the past, and only plans to have clients come to the house occasionally, they have no objections. It occurs to the Project Manager to consult the local Planning Office to see if there are any problems. He finds out they need a permit for the remodeling, which will be approved automatically since they are not making any external or structural changes to the house. Although Pete lives in a residential neighborhood, not zoned for business, his occupation falls within the rules for a home business—as long as his office is not the primary location to meet with clients. Unless he starts having a lot of traffic to his office and the neighbors complain, this does not pose a problem.

4.2.2 Stakeholders (definition)

Pete has decided there are enough electric outlets in the garage after all, except for in the new wall, and that he can run the phone, internet and TV cable himself. He can install the electrical outlets himself in the new wall to be built, since the law permits homeowners to do their own electrical work. (If he paid someone to do this they would have to be a licensed electrician.) This eliminates the need for an electrician, which would be the highest labor cost of the project.

The Project Manager next identifies all those that have a vested interest in the project:

For a typical project, this could be other departments, managers, environmental departments, legal and regulatory bodies etc. This can be carried out using a brainstorm technique with the project team.

4.2.3 Identify the customers

This will be anyone that uses the output of the project (or team).

If you were providing the heating and ventilation system for an ocean liner the customers could be senior management, the shipbuilder, the fare paying passengers, ocean liner staff etc.

4.2.4 Identify two or three major customers

These must come from the list of stakeholders. In this simple case, it is the same as above. Being very kind, the Project Manager could have identified one of Pete’s clients as a potential customer. This should provide a degree of discussion amongst the team and get people thinking about who really are the true customers on whom to focus.

4.2.5 What do the four main customers want?

Ask them, don’t guess! The Project Manger did this in the simple case above.

Based upon asking the customers and further thoughts of his own, the Project manager now had a pretty good idea of what was required and translated this into his Product Specification (see later and definition).

4.2.6 Success criteria (definition)

It is all very well having a wish list but how do you know if you have been successful? In other words, how will Pete and the Project Manager know if his office/storage area will prove a success? The Project Manager asks each of the three main customers what they consider as the criteria for success.

Note that success criteria in this instance are not all necessarily measurable. Some are feelings and judgment on the finished article. Although the garage facility may eventually meet all of the criteria set it may be difficult to visualize the finished office and storage. When the project is complete, it may just not feel right.

(If one was producing a hand held item it may require a lot of market research to ascertain the influence of design on the feel of the product.)

However, it should meet all of the measurable criteria e.g. it has to have space for David’s and Amy’s bikes and suitable room for storage. Although a Mission Statement would not go into the exact specifications required it is good practice to include the general requirements so that all parties will eventually agree on what the project must meet. It will also create debate in formulating the Mission Statement.

4.2.7 Consider critical future events (definition)

The Project Manager considers with Pete what major events both good and bad may affect his project.

Major events (risks) should be considered both from an internal and external viewpoint. Other projects may need to worry about changes in environmental and regulatory laws or for bigger projects trying to raise funds within the industry. The cost of raw materials may be due to drop or rise. The impact on other projects may be large. At this stage, only big events need to be considered that could have a fundamental effect on the overall success of the project and not just cause some delays. There will be plenty of time later to consider other issues (definition).

4.2.8 Prepare the Mission Statement

1. Everyone writes his/her Mission Statement based upon the findings above.

2. These are compared and differences are resolved.

3. A team statement is then formulated.

4. Publish the mission Statement

It is usually a good idea to then discuss how the meeting went and review what aspects were good and what could be improved for subsequent meetings.

1. Product specification (definition)

The Project Manager considered 3 phases in the construction of Pete’s office and storage facility.

1. Insulating outside walls, install window, run cable.

2. Building the wall between the storage area and the office area.

3. Finishing the interior, putting up shelves and laying carpet.

4. Furnishing the office

These are tackled in more detail within the schedule (see later). Under each heading he clarified his requirements.

Naturally, this specification list must be discussed with the builder and modified as necessary and agreed.

1. Project strategy (definition)

The Project Manager has formulated a concept, a problem definition and written a Mission Statement,

‘We will remodel the garage into a 335 sq. ft. office and 192 sq. ft. storage space. The storage space will have a workbench, peg board area and utility shelving. The office space will have one large, energy efficient, picture window with sash windows on either side, carpeting, bookshelves, an electric fireplace, and new office furniture. Labor will be a combination of outside labor and Pete’s labor.

The Project Manager now needs to think about how he will see Pete’s office/storage space come to fruition. Using a brainstorm technique he might well derive a variety of ways to achieve the aim. Much of the project will need to be custom built by a builder, but there are a few options, especially for the bookshelves.

1. Purchase pre-finished, assembled book cases at a local store.

2. Purchase the wood and stain and let Pete build them.

3. Leave every aspect of it to a qualified builder.

4. Let Pete cut and put up the shelves and let the builder do the finishing work.

5. Let Pete install the carpet.

6. Have a carpet installer install the carpet.

7. Other.

So how does he decide on the best option to suit the situation? Well, for Pete’s simple project he could probably easily assess the options and won’t go far wrong making a decision on that basis. However, on this occasion he takes a more formal route

6.1 Expectations of major external and internal interests.

This has already been done above during compilation of the Mission Statement. It is asking for the views of the major stakeholders (which will include customers). These will be Pete, David, Anne, Amy (internal), suppliers, neighbors and builders. Also, the initial assessment of ‘features and factors’ will give guidance on the final strategy employed.

6.2 Database.

The Project Manager needs to consider what information already exists to support the decision making progress.

1. Past performance (definition)

Has Pete ever built bookcases before?

Can a carpenter be found that is adept at fine quality finishing work?

Has Pete ever laid carpet before?

1. Current situation (definition)

There is a list of competent carpenters to choose from.

Pre-made bookcases will not provide the floor to ceiling built-in look Pete wants.

The local DIY store offers carpet installation for only $39 if carpet is purchased from them.

1. Forecasts (definition)

Will Planning permission change?

Will his neighbors change their minds and decide they don’t want clients coming to his house?

For a more complicated project we would be looking for historical data (files, plans, reports etc) that may afford valuable information from a similar project in the past. It may well be that the exact same project has been carried out in the past and there are valuable lessons to be learned even if, say, technology has changed dramatically.

What is the current situation? Do we have access to specific skills within the team e.g. marketing information and competitor knowledge… anything that may improve the success of the project?

Is something going to change in the future (forecast) that will dramatically influence the strategy that we choose? These tend to be environmental, technological, social and regulatory. Naturally, these are difficult to predict.

6.3 SWOT analysis (definition)

These look at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to the success of the project.

Any organization or project team will be able to assess its strengths and weaknesses in this mAnneer. A consideration of internal and external environment issues can be categorized into opportunities or threats.

It is now time to review all of the information and develop a strategy that will hopefully take advantage of the opportunities and negate the threats.

When selecting the strategy it must meet certain requirements.

1. PCT(S)

Performance (definition), Cost (definition), Time (definition) and (Scope, see later) must be met.

The key feature of any project is to meet these. From Pete’s point of view we know,

Performance  Esthetically pleasing, professional, relaxing, provides enough storage space.

Cost  under $15,000.

Time  complete by mid-May

(Scope)  needs to be considered, see later (what will and will not be included in the project)

1. Risk (definition)

Is it acceptable? Risks can be simply split into likely-hood versus impact. Part of a strategy, if it goes wrong, may have a big impact upon success but may be extremely unlikely. Therefore, the risk may be acceptable. One should look at the likely happenings and then assess them for impact. If the risk is unacceptable then the strategy might need to be altered.

1. Consequences acceptable

Will all consequences from employing this strategy be acceptable? e. g. will the resource (definition) drain weaken other key projects?

1. Social

No matter what the team thinks about the project strategy if the Project Manager can’t convince senior managers then it may well be doomed from the start.

The project strategy is finalized as,

‘We will contract Pete’s friend to build the project, including the custom bookcases, with Pete’s help, and have the local DIY store install the carpet. The interior designer at the office furnishing store will design the décor.’

1. Scope (definition)

It is important to make clear the boundaries of the project and clarify what will and what will not be included in the project.

How far do you go with some aspects of a project? In Pete’s case the Project Manager ponders what misunderstandings there could be with the stakeholders and clarifies certain points. He puts forward the following scope for the project.

‘The garage conversion will include complete insulation and weatherproofing so that it is usable for all seasons. All decisions made by the builder will need to be agreed with the Project Manager. Office furniture, chairs, sofa and décor will be included in the project price.’

How do we find out what aspects need to be clarified? Ask the main customers.

Up until now, we have not heard from the interior designer. However, she has been included in meetings with the customer and has been working on a design for décor and furniture. She is now ready to make some recommendations. She is in agreement with everything Pete has suggested he needs, except for one thing. Instead of sitting with clients at a separate round table, she has shown Pete a desk that has a credenza that ends in an attached rounded end that can be used as either a workspace or a table to sit around. Pete likes the idea because it saves space and makes it convenient if he needs to access his computer or his desk drawers while working with a client. It also saves money because a separate table and chairs do not need to be purchased.

Note this could be in place before making a decision on what strategy was appropriate.

1. Project objectives (definition)

Whilst the Mission Statement helps team members to have an appreciation of the overall purpose of the project, it is helpful to break down any project into simpler bits which contribute to the overall achievement of the desired goal (overall Project Objective). These are the Project Objectives. Naturally, in order to achieve these, lower level objectives will be required for departments, individuals and teams etc.

They should be few in number, manageable, achievable, agreed and above all one should be able to measure (i.e. provide evidence) if they have been met (the deliverables, (definition). These could be generated and agreed via a brainstorm.

The Project Manager finalizes five objectives.

1. Select and order fireplace and furniture and window by end of 1st week of April.

2. Insulating outside walls, install window, run cable will be finished by end of 1st week of April.

3. Building the wall between the storage area and the office area, including the bookshelves and fireplace installation, dry wall will be finished by the third week of April.

4. Finishing the interior, putting up the storage shelves and laying carpet will be finished by the end of April.

5. Furnishing the office will be completed by mid-May.

1. Schedule (definition)

Note that the schedule shows a series of tasks (definition) with start and completion dates required to achieve the project deadline. The project plan includes this and all other aspects required to make the project a success (see Project Notebook).

It is now time to convert all of Pete’s desires into a schedule of tasks that will track the progress of his project. What does he need to do?

9.1 Main phases

He first splits the overall project into more manageable chunks.

1. Select and order fireplace and furniture

2. Insulating outside walls, install window, run cable.

3. Building the wall between the storage area and the office area, dry wall.

4. Finishing the interior, putting up shelves and laying carpet.

5. Furnishing the office

9.2 Identify tasks (work breakdown structure) (definition)

He next considers for each of these what tasks are involved to complete them. Remember if we go back to our Project Objectives, we need to add some aspect of measurement to show that each phase is complete. In addition, the Project Manager considers how long each one would take, who is responsible for it and any associated costs.

In this particular example, Pete has rather expensive tastes in offices. We are $2,000 over budget. Now Pete will need to decide whether to revise the project goals and approve the budget increase, or to decide where to cut costs. Pete chooses to approve the budget with the extra $2,000.

In a more complex project individual team members will have the responsibility of addressing what they believe needs to be done to complete tasks in their areas.

9.3 Identify task relationships (definition)

Naturally, some of these tasks could be split into even smaller packages but in general, there is little point in doing that if they can’t be managed. For example, the window actually consists of 3 separate pieces. There is no point in fitting each one into the schedule if Pete is not around to check on each one. He isn’t competent to install the window so he is only interested in knowing that the finished office article is suitable for his purposes.

Pete’s rather simple project would take just 29.5 working days to complete (assumes no working over the weekend or holidays). However, not all tasks need to run in series (one after the other), but some will not be able to start until another has finished. Tasks are not often stand-alone but bear specific relationships with others. These are,

Finish to start (first task must complete before the next one can begin).

Finish to finish (first task and second task finish at the same time. Strictly the first task must finish before the second one can finish).

Start to start (first task must start before the next one can start possibly at the same time)

Start to finish (first task must start before the next one can finish)

Although it is perfectly feasible to draw out freehand bars to represent tasks together with their relationships … especially for Pete’s simple project, it becomes nigh on impossible for more complicated projects. So, the Project Manager uses Microsoft Project (or OpenProj) to produce his schedule.

This is what it may look like, with the available data, with the tasks carried out in series starting 30/7/01. The red lines show the start to finish task relationships.

Pete’s office schedule with tasks in series

The big advantage that software has is the ability to examine the effect of changes to the schedule. We can see from the above that Pete should have no real difficulty in achieving his deadline of mid-May completion. However, what if certain tasks take a lot longer than in the above case?

What if it took 10 days (2 working weeks) to get a builder to agree to the contract, and 6 days to deliver materials? If the project is run in series, the Project Manager is in trouble as the completion date is now 5/17/2010, a couple of days later than the mid-May deadline—leaving no margin for other delays.

Pete’s office schedule with modified tasks in series

So, what can the Project Manager do about it? He decides that as soon as the builder is assigned he is able to order and have delivered the materials, including the window, right away. Once the window has arrived, he still can’t install it unless the usual spring rains permit. However, by ordering the window early he is now able to start office remodel on 04/01/2010 with project completion 05/15/2010.

Pete’s office schedule with tasks in parallel

Note that the software can highlight the critical path of the project (in red in this case). A task is critical when any delay in its completion date will delay the project completion date. All the critical tasks form the critical path.

In preparing the schedule, the Project Manager has followed a simple process.

The agreed schedule can now be used as a baseline (definition) schedule, from which any progress or deviations can be monitored. MS Project software can handle reports and show variances for most of the data fields used e.g. costs, percentage task completion and many more. Trying to report too much data can be positively detrimental to the project. Be selective.

1. Change management strategy

In almost every project, some things change. Many times, changes can get out of control. The customer may change their mind repeatedly, which can delay the project and drive up costs. In this case, the budget has exceeded the original constraint of $15,000 by $2,000. The Project Manager and Pete have agreed on a change management strategy. The Project Manager has downloaded standardized forms from the Internet to use for changes. Every time a change is made, this form will be completed and signed by both the Project Manager and Pete, the project sponsor. The form details the change to be made as well as the impact upon the project. It also lists the project team member affected by the change and requires their signature as well. In this case, the project team is small so all team members will receive a copy. In large projects, it may be decided to only distribute to those team members who are affected by the change.

1. Lessons learned

Even when a project is successful, The Project Manager understands how important it is to document how things could have been done better. As soon as the project in completed, he will hold a meeting with the team to discuss what went wrong and how management of the project could have been improved. Everything will be documented and included in the Project Notebook. This will help the team members to do the next project even better. Even though this project is not yet finished, the Project Manager is making notes. He knows that on the next project he will talk to the other stakeholders (such as Pete’s family) sooner than he did this time. This will go in the Project Notebook and will jog his memory on the next project.

1. Project notebook (definition)

This really is the Project plan (definition); this can be considered as the bible of the project. If someone wants to know any aspect on which the project was built this is the place to look. It will contain all of the above items and some others, each part being agreed by the team members and stakeholders. A typical list of items is shown in the following table.

The full Project notebook is in Appendix A.

1. Terms of Reference document (definition)

This is the basis of the contract between the customer (or Project Sponsor) and the Project Manager (project team). It is similar to the Project notebook in that it repeats a lot of the elements. For some projects they may very well be exactly the same. Note here that the project sponsor is the immediate user of the project teams output and not necessarily the final customer e.g. if you were producing the ventilation system on the Space Shuttle the project sponsor would be NASA but the ultimate customer would be the astronauts.

A typical list of items is shown in the following table.

The Project Manager will need to clarify what is required in the Terms of Reference document with the Project Sponsor so there is no misunderstanding.

APPENDIX A

See lesson week 10 for sample Project Notebook

APPENDIX B

Notes:

Clearly for this simple project, there will not be a lot of detail in some of the areas. This should be signed off by all stakeholders. The tabular format shown above may be perfectly adequate for some projects but many projects will require the information in separate documents, with more detail and archived accordingly. The above serves to demonstrate the approach.

APPENDIX C