If your organization has several or many projects, it may be useful to take a “roll call” of your projects. What are their start and end dates? Is there a short description that describes the purpose of each project? Are the projects organized into programs? Who is the Project Manager for each?

Organizations can be organized by portfolios – lines of business and programs, which may consist of several similar type projects. In this support package, we look at the structure of your organization to ensure the lines of business are optimal, and that projects are aligned within programs for the most efficiency.

Managing change is vital to any project, as projects are all about making changes. We can assist you in determining the optimum process for identifying and managing change related to projects in your organization and determine the steps for implementing this process. The outcome of this support is a defined change control process which is clear to implement.

It is very beneficial to have a systematic method for knowing how your project is doing with achieving its scope, being on schedule, and spending on project costs. We can assist you in setting up a framework for using earned value measurement for tracking project performance. From setting up cost accounts to determining when to recognize the value your project has earned, we help you implement a system so you and others can know where your project stands.

With a project, much documentation can be required, such as the Project Charter, requirements documents, project management plans, and more. Through this support package, we help you identify the documentation useful for and used by your project. We assist you in determining the configuration system for your files.

Not knowing who is interested or involved in your project can cause problems that sneak up on you. We can assist you and your team identify all project stakeholders. We work with you to analyze the stakeholders according to interest and influence on the project, and then create a strategy for engaging stakeholders. The outcome is improved project morale and involvement.

Project Managers spend a large portion of their time communicating. Through this support package, we create a plan for project communications so you and your project team know what to communicate, when, how and to whom. The outcome is that project communications are much clearer and in line with stakeholder requirements.

Starting a project on the right foot is essential to a smoothly run project. This support involves going through the development of the Project Charter and applying it to one of your projects. In this process, we look at defining the high-level scope, milestones, schedule, risks and more for the project. At the completion of this work, you have a solid Project Charter you can use as a model for other projects.

Projects run best when they follow a thought-out plan. Through this support package, we work with you to create a Project Management Plan for one of your projects. This document serves as a guideline for executing, monitoring and closing the project work. As a result, you know how to create a plan and know which elements are crucial, including plans for change and configuration management. For in-depth assistance with creating the scope definition, schedule and other portions of the plan, please see the related descriptions.

In this support package, we show you how to gather requirements that are clear, concise and complete, and assist your project team in creating the requirement gathering process. Knowing what the customer wants is vital to delivering it – but sometimes the definition of what the customer wants can be misunderstood or not clearly defined. We look at several tools for requirements gathering so you can choose your toolset. We discuss the prioritization of requirements and how to get an agreement by the customer.

The Project Scope Statement aids the project team in defining the project deliverables so the project completes smoothly. With this support package, we help you determine the items to be delivered by the project, what the assumptions are, which constraints have been given to the project, what is not included in the project, and conditions to be met for the deliverables to be accepted. The outcome is a complete and clear Project Scope Statement.

Breaking down the work into smaller components is a main and valuable tool used in managing projects. In this support, we help you take the Project Scope and break out the work so that all elements are covered. With the WBS defined properly, all stakeholders know what work is theirs so they may dedicate the time required – resulting in no one being too busy for project work.

With the scope of the project defined, a workable project schedule can be created. We can help you create a schedule that you can manage and is realistic for your project. In the creation of the schedule, we work with you to identify the activities required to accomplish the work, the resources needed, whether work can be performed in parallel to achieve greater time efficiencies and more.

Knowing who does what on a project can reduce the number of times work is not done because someone else was supposed to do it. With this support package, we assist you in determining roles and responsibilities. The outcome is that the project has a clearly defined Roles and Responsibilities Matrix (RAM) which can be used regularly on the project.

As a Project Manager, you may hire subcontractors under different types of contracts, such as fixed price, time and materials, and cost plus. With this support package, we assist you in determining the best type of contract to use for your situations. The outcome is that the proper types of contracts are used by your project, so that subcontractor delivery is in line with project delivery, and financials related to contracts are aligned with your project’s cost accounting system.

Managing a project can be seen as managing project risks. We can assist you in identifying the risks to achieving your project objectives, and analyzing these risks to determine their effects on delivery. We help you in creating a plan for working with the risks so that negative impacts are reduced.

Through this support package, we help you determine the financials which you as project manager oversee. This budget includes costs for resources and prioritized risks. With this budget in hand, you have a solid basis for tracking project costs.

As per the definition of a project, they end. It is best practice to do lessons learned throughout the project and at the end of the project. In this support package, we lead you and your team through project debriefs, to determine what went well and what could be done differently. The outcome is a completed project debrief for one project.