I often preach extensively about project management at design and creative conferences around the globe. The one piece of paperwork that I always emphasize is completing a scoping document for a project then getting the client to sign off and accept it. This one piece of paperwork can solve all sorts of problems and is really worth the 2-5 hours it takes to write. The outline is as follows.
Project Scoping Document
( 2 – 1 0 p a g e s )
- Project Name
- Executive Summary
- Background
- Project Scope (High Level)
- Project Objectives
- Deliverables
- Organizations
- Interfaces Required
- Assumptions
- Constraints
- Evaluation Criteria
- Risks
- Rewards
- Budgets
- Schedules (Due Dates)
- Project Team Readiness
- Key Roles
- Executive Sponsor
- Project Manager
- Business Experts
- Technical Experts
- Signature Lines – Sign Off “Charter”