Project Management Checklist
Investing time to detailedly plan a project is one of the most important aspects of project development. It will allow all team members to share a vision, set expectations and establish a workflow, making everyone better prepared for the road ahead.
If you have any questions about what a project is or what a project manager does, make sure to check out “What is a Project Manager?” and “What is The Difference Between a Product and a Project Manager?” in our blog!
Here is a checklist to make sure your management will be as efficient and productive as possible:
1.Define your type of project (the more personalized to your company, the better!)
What is your project trying to accomplish?
How do those goals align with your company’s vision and mission?
What budget do you have to do it?
What resources do you have? (such as people, tools)
What additional resources –if at all– will you need?
How much time do you have to get it done?
What are the project’s limitations/constraints?
What are potential risks?
The S.M.A.R.T model is a great way to define these details: think of your project’s goals as specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
2.Define the project team
What roles do you need to get the work done?
What are the responsibilities of each role?
Which members of your team better fit within those roles and responsibilities?
3.List stakeholders
Who is your client?
Who is in charge of the project?
Who will fund your project?
What other departments you will need input from?
Who has an influence or a saying in what the project needs to achieve?
Who will be impacted by your project?
4.Define project deliverables
What will be produced, created or improved to accomplish the project goals?
What features do those deliverables need to have in order to accomplish those goals?
How will each deliverable serve towards accomplishing those goals?
What will be the order of those deliverables?
Who will be responsible for defining and managing priorities?
5.Define methodology
What will be the delivery workflow?
How will team members communicate?
How will team members report individual progress and performance? How will the manager track everyones’ productivity/work status?
What softwares/ tech tools will be used? (Here is a list of Vinolers’ favorites)
How will the overall project status be shared around stakeholders/team members?
How will the project be documented?
If applicable, how will you test your project?
6.Align Expectations
What are stakeholders expecting to see?
What is the manager expecting from the team?
Do team members know the scope, responsibilities and duties of their work? How will the manager make sure each member has that clear?
How will the manager meet with stakeholders? With what frequency? What is expected to be discussed or presented at those meetings?
7.Draw a roadmap
What needs to be accomplished each month so you can hit your deadline?
What needs to be accomplished each week?
What will be development milestones (if you use Agile, what will be your Epics)?
8.Set KPIs
What metrics do you need to determine the project’s success?
How will you access those metrics?
How and with what frequency will you report those metrics to your team and project stakeholders?
Where will you draw a line between success and failure when looking at those metrics?
9.Share the vision.
Once you are done, write a statement detailing all of the planning you just did and distribute it or present it to everyone involved in the project to make sure all players will be on the same page and will stay on track with the company’s mission and vision for the project.
Confused? Overwhelmed? Need a hand? We’re happy to help! Say hi at hello@vinoly.tech
