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| Home | - | White Paper Index |
The Business Case, Project Charter and Phase Plans. |
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Neville Turbit - Project Perfect |
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I am often asked what information should be included in a Business Case, or what should go into a Project Charter (sometimes called a Project Definition or Project Plan). We need to balance relevance with lack of duplication. We need to understand the different audience and purpose of each document. In addition I have included a Phase Plan that is used to plan the next chunk of work. The table below gives a guide to each document and shows how the information meshes together. |
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Business Case
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Project Charter
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Phase Plan
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| Purpose | Obtain organisational agreement to fund the project and provide resources | Define the manner in which the project will be managed and the governance surrounding the project | Define at a micro level, the plan for each phase |
| Audience | IT Steering Committee | Project Team, Sponsor and if applicable, Program Director | Project Team and if applicable, Program Director |
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Business Case
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Project Charter
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Phase Plan
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| Business Problem | Yes. Detailed | ||
| Project Objectives | Yes. | Yes. | |
| Project Scope | Yes. High Level | Yes. Low Level | |
| Approach | Yes. | ||
| Stakeholders | Yes. | Yes. Detailed |
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Business Case
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Project Charter
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Phase Plan
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| Strategic Alignment | Yes. | ||
| Benefits | Yes. Detailed including basis for estimating and how they will be validated. | ||
| Project Deliverables | Yes. | Yes. | |
| Budget | Yes. Detailed including basis for estimating. | Yes. Broken down into accounts. Cash flow | Yes. For the phase seeking approval for allocation of the phase budget. |
| Timing | Yes. Approximate | Yes. Estimated Schedule | Yes. Detailed Phase Plan |
| Risks | Yes. | Yes. Include mitigation | Yes. Phase specific including mitigation |
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Business Case
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Project Charter
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Phase Plan
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| Assumptions | Yes. | Yes. | Yes. Relevant to the phase |
| Constraints | Yes. | Yes. | |
| Issues | Yes. Only if relevant to approval to proceed | Yes. Current Issues | Yes. Current Issues |
| Resources | Yes. Approximate numbers | Yes. Skills required plus any resources already assigned | Yes. Assigned resources |
| Readiness | Yes. To start the project | Yes. To start the phase | |
| Scope Variation Mgmt | Yes. | ||
| Communication Plan | Yes. | ||
| Security | Yes. | ||
| Documentation Plan | Yes. | ||
| Financial Management | Yes. | ||
| Vendor Mgmt | Yes. | ||
| QA | Yes. Approach to QA | Yes. QA activities within the phase | |
| Tools & Techniques | Yes. Which tools & techniques and how deployed. Training reqd. | Yes. If applicable to the phase. Training plans if reqd. | |
| Facilities & Equipment | Yes. General requirements such as x PC's, Space reqts. | Yes. If applicable to the phase e.g. room bookings, dates etc. |
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Business Case
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Project Charter
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Phase Plan
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| Roles & Responsibilities | Yes. Overall for the project | Yes. Detailed for that phase | |
| Phase Deliverables | Yes. | Yes. Includes internal & external deliverables | |
| Phase Scope | Yes. High Level | Yes. Low Level | |
| Milestones | Yes. Major project milestones | Yes. All milestones for the phase | |
| Phase Objectives | Yes | ||
| Activities | Yes |
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This Information is not meant to be definitive. It depends on how your organisation operates, and what level of detail is required. In some organisations, a very comprehensive business case includes much of the information normally found in a charter. Another aspect is the size of the project. For smaller projects, there may be no need for phase plans, or you might include two or three phases in the one plan. |
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