Project Management Checklists For Dummies

Part II

Checklists for Kick Off

A lot of projects fail and the failure is predictable; the project wasn’t in the right balance across four key areas. It’s like four dogs pulling on a piece of project canvas – the canvas has to be in the right tension. In both Kick Off and full planning, ask if the project can deliver the required scope, to the necessary level of quality, with the given resource by the stated deadline? Is that ‘do-able’?

The model is good for change control during the project as well. If a dog pulls, representing, for example, the project being required to deliver earlier, then you must adjust the other things to get the project ‘canvas’ back into the right tension in order to keep it achievable.

In this part …

• Come to grips with what your project will actually involve.
• Decide whether your project is really worth doing.
• Chart your way through the Kick Off period before your project gets fully under way.