During the life cycle of a typical project, a project manager can produce up to fifty different types of documents to facilitate the planning, tracking and reporting of the project. Documents range from feasibility studies, resource plans, financial plans and project plans, to supplier contracts, post-implementation reviews, change request forms and project status reports. The fact is, the manner in which project documents are managed by project leaders can either be the driving force behind a project’s success or the bottleneck that often places a project in despair resulting in its failure to meet its time line, budget and scope.
In this paper, I will be discussing the power behind an effective document management strategy for project managers and its pragmatic impact on improving your visibility into a project’s status to better respond to the inevitable reality of change occurring in your day-to-day work.
The Role of the Project Document
The primary role of a project manager is to manage the unexpected. The concept of planning by its very nature is designed to mitigate and manage the unexpected. As a part of the planning process, most project managers would agree that the project document plays a central role in strategically developing the best possible plan and to effectively communicate progress and status updates to all stakeholders. More importantly, the manner in which the project document is managed will determine a project manager’s effectiveness in responding to the unexpected.
Prior to discussing the management of the project document, let us define the “Project Document” and how it fits within a typical organization’s project management workflow. The project document is a self-contained document that details your organization’s unique steps in initiating, planning, executing and closing projects. In fact, the chosen project document types, the format they are produced in and the manner, in which they are organized, in their very essence, is what makes your organization different in delivering projects. Experienced project practitioners are excellent in “Templatizing” their project documents. The reuse of successful project plans, complex business-case documents, standard contracts, detailed specification sheets, and project status reports are necessary for a project manager’s effectiveness in balancing the evils of unmanageable paperwork that can impede their ability to focus on their core competencies of managing the project and the involved stakeholders. However, a project template is only as good as the individual managing its use. What sets apart great project managers from good project managers is their ability to minimize their administrative role in producing project documents while maximizing their strategic role in managing the people that will deliver a successful project. In order to achieve this, project managers must follow some basic rules in developing key project documents covering all phases of a project’s life cycle.
Although the project document workflow will vary from organization to organization, good project managers will develop a number of basic project documents in order to maintain high standards in the delivery of projects. A standardization of the documentation is typically seen in the following project phases:
1. Project Definition or Conception: In this phase the project charter document is at the heart of initiation. Defining the charter and the details surrounding the project’s objectives are key drivers in building the project’s road to success.
2. Project Planning: In this phase, the project leadership plans for the unexpected. The documents detailing the project plan, scheduling of resources, client agreements, and risk management, house the strategic details of the project.
3. Project Execution: In this phase, tracking and reacting are the name of the game. Here the project documents are delivering the actual and updates to the project plan. Tracking cost, time, physical progress and emerging issues are documented in this phase.
4. Project Closure: In this phase, documents will detail outstanding issues and/or deliverables, review of project outcome, and best practices project management processes to be utilized for future use.
