Tag: Acceptance

Project starts always create excitement, a bit of nervousness and anticipation. Starting on the right foot will help the team feel confident and express this toward your client. Below are five elements which are key to starting strong.

1. Who owns the budget? (IT or business)
   • WHY: This will help you start to identify key Stakeholder(s).
   • BEST PRACTICE: If it’s not clear, speak to the salespeople involved in the contract.
2. Who was involved in the redlines for the scope elements of the SOW? (Obtain specific names and roles)
   • WHY: Determining who was involved in the SOW editing will tell you who knows the details of it. This is not to say others aren’t aware of it or haven’t read it. It will give you insight into some of the client’s knowledge.
   • BEST PRACTICE:
     1. Ask the client PM who on their team has read the signed SOW.
     2. If it has been shared with the key stakeholders in both IT and the business—that’s wonderful! If not, ask the client PM to share it.
3. Do you have the week-by-week resource plan for the team?
   • WHY: Knowing the details of what roles are billing, the start and end dates, and how many hours per week will help you to understand the financial baseline.  
   • BEST PRACTICE: Obtain the spreadsheet file from the person who scoped the project. Check it to ensure it matches the SOW. Make a duplicate, edit as needed and use it to manage the financials.
4. Is there language in the contract for the weekly hours expected by various client roles?
   • WHY: In most projects, time will be needed from various client roles to complete the project. Usually there is a rule of thumb for different roles (i.e Product Owner, Key Stakeholders, Business SMEs and Technical SMEs).
   • BEST PRACTICE: In the start-up period of the project, set expectations for the time needed by each role with the client PM. The hours will most likely vary during different stages, so be clear about it.
5. What are the listed deliverables and acceptance procedures?
   • WHY:
     • These should be part of your project plan. And in terms of document deliverables, obtaining alignment on the deliverable document format, document size and the number of maximum review cycles with the client PM should be one of your first tasks before the project commences.
     • Endless review cycles will take up more hours than you have budgeted. If you get pushback, bring in the people that scoped the project and/or person responsible for the client’s success and ask them to help intervene.
   • BEST PRACTICE: Within a spreadsheet or a table, list all deliverables, the format (i.e. PDF, Spreadsheet, PPT, etc), approximate length and maximum number of review cycle and the time length of review cycles.

Interested in exploring further details to successful project starts, email me at: [email protected]