Download available at the bottom of this post. This is a real life template used on engagments stripping out all the project specific references whilst keeping much of the content used in the original in order to give valuable insights into how to compile this important document. I felt this would be better than using a more traditional PRINCE 2 Product Description Style Template. For an example of such a template please refer to post - FREE PRINCE 2 Product Description Template
The question I often get asked by IT Professionals some of whom are surprisingly PRINCE 2 accredited is:-
What is a Project Initiation Document and why is it important to me ?
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Posted by Kevin Brady on Fri 1st September 2006 at 09:00 AM, Filed in Project Management
(1) Never Never “Top-down” estimate your Project. Please see Timeboxing IT Projects Parts 1, 2, 3 for definition of “Top-down” & “Bottom-up” planning /estimation and why it is always preferential to develop estimate on the basis of the later.
(2) Never Bully your project team to provide estimates. Do this and you will end up with a CRAP estimate and an unfeasible project to run. Furthermore, you now have a bunch of de-motivated staff who, if things do not work out, will say “I told you so”. Like a Bomber Pilot flying over enemy territory, there’s not much future in doing that.
Encourage project team members to explain their reticence in give estimates through additions to the risk/issue and assumptions logs.
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STAGE 4 - Start your Timebox Challenge meeting
(a) Get your team in a room with a projector / Microsoft Project and three white boards:–
Board 1 – Headed Risks & Issues
Board 2 – Headed Prerequisite Constraints
Board 3 – Headed Assumptions
Make sure that everyone involved in the product deliverable is present.
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STAGE 2 – Developing a stakeholder project team.
Firstly, you need to change your company’s HR salary review and career development policies in order to make everyone on the project team a stakeholder and not just a salaried employee.
I have, more times than I can remember, convened departmental meetings with all staff present and told them that the game has changed :-
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• What is Timeboxing?
For those newbie’s to IT Project Management, Time boxing is where a group of tasks are given a fixed period of time to be completed. Time Boxing is often used in project management, not just to set the delivery goals for small groups of tasks, but rightly or wrongly to set the delivery date for entire projects /programmes of work.
• Different Timeboxing techniques
“Top-Down” Timeboxing
The “Top Down” setting of a Timebox is where management dictates what product is produced - where, how, when and with what resource.
“Top Down” is often used at project level by sponsors /clients wanting to set a delivery date for a project of specified scope /quality /cost.
Usually no attempt is made to discover whether such a project is feasible other than a “gestimate” by the senior management and sponsor. At project level I have never seen a top down timebox plan work to time without significant stripping out of scope and quality. Often the descoping has been so aggressive that very often the IT system delivered has failed to remotely achieve its original business case objectives.
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