Stage
Transitioning
Overview
Projects,
whether large or small, need to be focused on delivering business benefit,
either in their own right or as part of a larger programme. The continuing correct
focus of the project should be confirmed at the end of each stage. If
necessary, the project can be re-directed or stopped to avoid wasting time and
money.
Context
Before
the end of each stage except the final one the next stage is planned, together
with a review and update of the Business
Case, risk situation and overall
Project Plan.
There
could well be changes of personnel and management, necessitating changes to the
Project Management Team.
There
is also a requirement to re-visit the Project Quality Plan
and Project Approach
to check whether they need changing or refining.
The
steps of this process will also be used when creating an Exception
Plan.
Process Description
The
objectives of the process are to:
|
|
Assure the Project Board
that all products in the current Stage Plan have been completed as defined
|
|
|
Provide the information
needed for the Project Board to assess the continuing viability of the
project
|
|
|
Obtain authorisation for
the start of the next stage, together with its delegated tolerance margins
|
|
|
Record any information or
lessons that can help later stages of this project and/or other projects.
|
Context
The
process is triggered by the approaching end of the current stage.
Process Description
The
main objective is to prepare a plan for the next stage of the project. The
high-level summary of the next stage is expanded from the Project Plan into
sufficient detail that the Project Manager will be able to control progress
against it on a day-to-day basis. The Planning process is used to develop the plan.
The
plan should include all products, not only the specialist ones but management
and quality products as well. A typical management product would be the Next Stage Plan
that will require preparation towards the end of the stage. Quality
activities and products should also appear in the plan. Whoever is providing
project assurance should be consulted about the timing and resourcing of
quality activities before the Stage Plan is presented to the Project
Board.
The
management structure of the next stage must be specified and any new or changed
job definitions prepared.
Responsibilities
The
Project Manager is responsible, assisted by project
support. Those with project
assurance responsibilities, particularly with respect to how quality checking will
be monitored, should check out the plan.
Information Needs
|
Management information
|
Usage
|
Explanation
|
|
Issue Log
|
Input
|
May contain information that affects the
next stage
|
|
Actions Log
|
Input
|
Contains all pending actions.
|
|
Current Stage Plan
|
Input
|
The results of the current stage may affect
the planning of the new stage activities
|
|
Project Directive
|
Input
|
Contains the 'what' and 'why' of the
project and is the document that specifies the Project
Board's terms of
reference
|
|
Trigger for Next Stage Plan
|
Input
|
Invokes Planning a Stage to produce the Next Stage Plan
Project Management
|
|
Team structure
|
Update
|
This should be updated with any changes for
the coming stage
|
|
Project Plan
|
Input
|
Provides the major products of the stage
and a high-level estimate of its duration and resource needs.
|
|
Risk Log
|
Update
|
Update with any new or changed risks revealed
by the coming Stage Plan
|
|
Draft Next Stage Plan
|
Output
|
Produced by this process
|
Key Criteria
|
|
Are the major products
shown in the Project Plan for the next stage reflected in the
Next Stage Plan?
|
|
|
Are all User, Customer or
other resources required to validate the quality of products identified?
|
|
|
Are the resources used to
validate quality in line with the requirements of the Project Quality Plan?
|