Cheat Sheet for Project Managers

A Reference

1 Project Methodology Process

Summary

Library
Document
attach to s
Progress
Manager Plan and Meeting
Baseline Task
Project Initiation Status
Project Track
Assign Complete Conduct
Save PM -
Director – PM - PM -
PM -

ry)
Library necessa projects
d Team
Document Meeting (if out
Approve Project
to Kick-Off Library Close
Project d
and attach Conduct nt PM –
Plan/Buil Docume
Sizing XLS -
Project to
Project Sponsor
Create Attach
Complete PM and
PM - Reports.
PM –
Status
Collect
PM -

A guide to Project Management Resources can be found here:

http://www.lmu.edu/Page30853.aspx.

1. Project Approved – The portfolio of projects each year will be approved during
the budgeting process. The Director of Project Management will create a
stub project for all approved projects in Project Server and set the phase to
Initiated.Approved.
 Figure 1: Setting the Phase from Microsoft Project
2. Director – Assign Project Manager. The Director for the group primarily
responsible for completing the project will assign the Project Manager.
Though the Project Manager will usually be the IT Subject Matter Expert,
some projects will be managed by the Director of Project Management.
3. PM – Complete Project Sizing Spreadsheet. The Project Sizing Spreadsheet is
available via the Project Management Resources web site and also directly by
using this link: http://www.lmu.edu/AssetFactory.aspx?did=12841. Once the
project has been sized, attach the spreadsheet to the Document Library (See
below for brief overview on how to do this).
4. PM – Complete Project Initiation Plan. The Project Manager should complete
the Project Initiation Plan. If the Project Sizing Spreadsheet yielded a small or
medium-size Project Management Methodology, then you should use the
Abridged Initiation Plan Template. If the Project Sizing Spreadsheet yielded a
Large Project Methodology, use the Full Initiation Plan Template. Once the
high level planning has been completed, set the Project Phase to
“Planning.High Level Planning Complete.”
5. PM – Create Project Plan/Build Project Team. The Project Manager should
create a project plan in Microsoft Project. Guidelines for creating a healthy
project plan can be found in the Living Binder Document. In addition to
creating the Project Plan, the Project Manager should build the Project Team
to include as many Enterprise Resources as possible. Using Enterprise
Resources will enable the collaborative features of Project Server.
6. PM – Save Project Baseline. After the Project Plan has been reviewed and it is
agreed that the plan adheres to Project Management best practices, the
Project Manager should save the Project Baseline. This baseline is equivalent
to the agreed-upon schedule of deliverables. Once this is done, set the
Project Phase to “Planning.Project Baseline Saved.”
7. PM – Conduct Kick-Off Meeting. Review the Project Initiation Plan so that
 everyone is aware of their role on the Project Team. Also include in the
meeting details about the schedule of deliverables. Highlight what is out of
scope for the project. If the project was sized for a “Large Project
Methodology”, use this template: Full Agenda. If the project was sized as
“Medium” or “Small Project Methodology,” then use the Abridged Agenda.
Once the kick-off meeting has been conducted, set the Project Phase to
“Execution/Control.Work in Progress.”
8. PM – Track Task Progress. Work to create the deliverables of the project has
begun. It is a best practice for the Project Manager to publish tasks to the
web (see the Living Binder Document) so that each team member is able to
update progress on the tasks to which they are assigned. Only Enterprise
Resources can submit the tasks via the Project Web interface, so it is
ultimately the Project Manager’s responsibility to ensure that the task
tracking is up-to-date. This should be done at least on a weekly basis.
9. PM – Collect Status Reports. The Project Manager may collect narrative
status reports from members on the team. (See the Living Binder Document
for guidelines on how to do this.)
10.PM – Conduct Status Meetings. Using the information collected by using the
Status Reporting function (See Step #9), the issues, and the risks, conduct
status meetings at the frequency that was established in the Project Initiation
Plan.
11.PM – Close out Projects. Make sure that the deliverables established in the
Project Initiation Plan have all been successfully completed. Request sign-off
from the Project Sponsor.

2 Working with Project Documentation

All documentation for a project should be accessed, edited, and stored by using the
Document Library (Windows Sharepoint Services) feature of Project Server. In
general, to access documents, complete the following steps:
1. Go to Project Center.
2. Click on the “Manage Project Documents” link. (See Figure 1 below)

Figure 2: Accessing Project Documents

3. Click on the “Shared Documents” hyperlink. This will give you full access to
the features of document collaboration available in Windows Sharepoint
Services.
Hint: Hovering over a “hyperlink” gives a full range of options. Click on the
drop-down arrow for the available options. See Figure 2 below.
 Figure 3: Document Library Options

3 Project Phases
The following phases are used to track a project through its life-cycle. The table
also includes the trigger that corresponds to the project moving into a phase.

Phase Stand Description Trigger

ard
Order
Initiation.Approved 1 The project has become part of The project has
the project portfolio through been approved.
either the budget process or
explicit approval by the CIO.
Planning.High Level 2 The high-level communication The Project
Planning Complete plan, Work Breakdown Initiation Plan is
Structure, team structure, and attached to the
other high-level planning items project in Project
have been discussed and Server.
documented.
Planning.Project 3 The team has agreed to a The Project
Baseline Saved schedule of deliverables and Manager has
the corresponding tasks. saved the Project
Baseline.
Execution/Control. 4 The team is doing work on the The kick-off
Work in Progress project and the Project meeting has been
Manager is tracking progress. conducted and
work has begun
on the Project.
Close.Pending 5 Work has been completed on The project’s
Closing Activities the project, but the Project deliverables have
Manager is conducting post- been signed-off.
project activities (conducting a
lessons-learned meeting or
post go-live survey or other
activity relating to measuring
the success of the project).
Close.Closed 6 All project-related activities The closing
have been completed activities
complete.
Close.Cancelled Not The project has been removed The CIO signs off
typical from IT’s portfolio of projects on the
cancellation of the
project. The
sponsor has been
notified that the
project has been
cancelled.
Close.Hold Not The project has been put on The CIO signs off
typical hold, usually because resources on the
have had to be re-allocated. “Close.Hold”
This status should not be status.
confused with a project that is
experiencing delays.