Office of Technology & Information Services PMO Project Review Checklist

Project Name: Division/Office: Project Sponsor: IT Coordinator: Review Date: NOTE: Provide comments whenever the answer is other than YES.

Review Checklist & Questions INITIATION

Proposal 1. Is there a completed Project Proposal document? Comments: 2. If so, was the Project Proposal signed/approved by the CIO and appropriate management staff (e.g., project sponsor, IT coordinator, Division Director, etc.)? Comments: Does the Proposal include a description of the request and background (i.e. Business Need(s))? Comments: Does the High-Level Scope of Work clearly outline what needs to occur during the lifecycle of the project? Comments: Are Assumptions & Constraints identified and detailed in the Project Proposal? Comments: Is the project technical environment defined and documented at a high-level, such as a basic development plan, skill set(s) identified, server storage/purchase, licensing, etc.)? Comments: In the Proposal, were the Estimated Project Duration & Total Project Effort Hours summarized to include estimated ranges? Comments: In the Proposal, were estimated project cost provided? Were estimates single point or ranges? Comments: Are high-level Risks identified, explained, and documented in the Proposal? Comments:

Yes

No

N/A

3.

4.

5. 6.

7.

8.

9.

10. Are Planning Participants identified and categorized per the column information in the Proposal? Comments: 11. Has a Business Case document been completed and approved (if required by CIO)? Comments: 12. Does the Business Case document further detail and clarify high-level information from the Proposal? Comments: PLANNING Project Plan, Statement of Work (SOW), Project Schedule, etc. (NOTE: Consider the quality not just the actual documentation required) 1. Was the project scope clearly defined as to what was in and out of scope for this project? (i.e., was it detailed enough to minimize doubt about what constituted a scope change?) Comments:

Review Checklist & Questions

2. 3. Was the Scope developed as part of the Planning Phase substantially different than was originally defined and approved in the Project Proposal? Comments: Was the project management plan defined and documented? NOTE: The project plan/SOW should address scope, time, cost, quality, communications, risk, issue, acceptance and human resource management. It should also address procurement management, if procurement activities took place within the project. Comments: Was the project work approach (that is how we do it ) defined and documented? Please note under comments what framework or methodology will serve as the base for the work approach. Comments: Were Project Success Criteria defined in the SOW/project plan? Comments: Were the expected deliverables defined and documented in the SOW? If the project is a system s development project, was a specified methodology followed and were the deliverables identified in the methodology included in the project plan? Comments: Were acceptance criteria for deliverables defined and documented? Comments: Were the schedule and cost/budget estimates updated from the initial estimates in the Project Proposal (note: The initial estimates should be more detailed in the project plan than those specified in the proposal, as SMEs should have been able to develop better estimates as part of the planning processes)? Comments: Was the initial budget and duration/effort estimates reasonable with regard to stated Business Need(s) and Scope of Work? Comments: Was a Work Breakdown structure developed to support the subsequent project schedule? Comments: Were target dates established for each milestone deliverable? Comments: Does a resourced project schedule exist? (That is, was the schedule developed based on named resources and their availabilities, e.g., a resource-leveled scheduled?) Comments: Is the estimate basis (estimating assumptions) used for effort/duration and costs documented and reasonable? Comments: Are tasks identified for project support (such as Project Management, project administration meetings/status/time reporting, project related training, Customer/project related orientation, etc.)? Comments: Does the project plan reflect all deliverables identified in the SOW? Comments: Are deliverable reviews (walkthroughs and approvals with the Customer) established on the project plan timeline? Comments: Does the project plan clearly define the roles, responsibilities and experience levels required of team members? Comments: Are staffing resource estimates sufficiently detailed and documented for use in planning and tracking the project? Comments: Is a change process defined and documented? (This includes who is authorized to sign, timeframe for disposition, and escalation process once the timeframe has passed.) Comments: Are criteria for change defined? Comments: Are the deliverable/project acceptance process defined and documented? (This MUST include who is authorized to sign off on the deliverable(s), the need for a walkthrough (if required), timeframe for disposition, and the escalation process once the timeframe has passed.) Comments: Was a Risk Assessment Matrix prepared and included with the SOW? Comments:

Yes

No

N/A

4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

20. 21.

22.

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Review Checklist & Questions

23. Did the Customer formally sign-off on the project plan/SOW? If yes, please note date and person(s) who signed. Comments:

Yes

No

N/A

Executing/Monitoring/Controlling
Scope Management 1. Were all scope changes managed, controlled and documented throughout the project? (Review all change requests). Comments: 2. 3. 4. Was the process for scope management and change, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: Was the number of scope change requests reasonable for the project size? Comments: Was a specified product development methodology followed (e.g., information systems development methodology, etc.)? If so, were all necessary deliverables generated? Comments: If a specified product development methodology was followed, were all required deliverables generated and were all required review steps followed? Compare the methodology requirements against actual deliverables. Comments: Were the deliverables as specified in the SOW/project plan actually generated? Comments:

5.

6.

Time/Schedule Management 1. Was the process for schedule management and change, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: 2. 3. Was the project schedule (with both actual and estimate to complete) on a regular basis (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly? Comments: If scope changes occurred, were the project schedule and costs re-baselined accordingly to reflect the changes, if schedule/costs were impacted? Comments:

Cost/Budget Management 1. How did the final project costs compare with initial estimates? Comments: 2. Was the process for cost/budget management and change, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments:

Risk and Issue Management 1. Are risks and mitigating actions documented in a Risk Management Plan and PRAM (Project Risk Assessment Matrix)? Comments: 2. Is there evidence of a review and update of the PRAM? This includes prioritized risks with executable, proactive actions assigned to owners? Comments:

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Review Checklist & Questions

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Is there evidence that risks that were not mitigated were transferred to the Issues Log, assigned, monitored, and resolved? Comments: Is there evidence of a regular review of the risks and issues with the Customer? Comments: Is there an issues log/database with required information (including target date and owner, description, etc.)? Comments: Is there evidence that issues were escalated? NOTE: This means is the escalation process in the SOW being followed? Comments: Was the process for risk management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments:

Yes

No

N/A

Resource Management 1. Was the process for resource management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: 2. 3. 4. 5. Was the number of resources allocated to the project sufficient to successfully complete the project on time and within budget? Comments: Were the skill set(s) of the allocated resources sufficient to successfully complete the project on time and within budget? Comments: Were the resources assigned to the project consistently available? Comments: Were the skill set(s) of the allocated resources sufficient to successfully complete the project on time, and within documented scope and budget? Comments:

Quality Management 1. Was the process for quality management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: 2. Were specific product quality control and assurances processes followed and documented? Please specify what these controls and processes were (e.g., system testing, code review, etc.) Comments: Were any interim project reviews conducted? Comments: Were any project review process conducted by the PM, team, sponsor or PMO? Project reviews can occur at the mid-point and/or end of a project. Comments: If any project reviews were conducted, were the review findings shared and discussed with the Project Sponsor and/or related project team members? Comments: Were all required product development standards followed (e.g., development standards, etc.) Comments:

3. 4. 5. 6.

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Review Checklist & Questions

Communications Management 1. Was a project orientation/kick-off meeting conducted for the Customer and project team to set expectations on, for example, scope, approach and process before the project started? Comments: 2. 3. Was the process for communications management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: Did each team member produce a routine time report that the PM used to update actual effort/time within the project schedule? If not, how was time/effort managed or reported? Comments: Did each team member produce a status report that with accomplishments, planned accomplishments, lost time and issues? If not, how were those items documented/communicated? Comments: Are weekly/routine team meetings conducted? (This may be Project Manager with Team Leads and Teams Leads with Team Members OR Project Manager with entire team.) Comments: Are minutes kept for the team status meetings with minutes noting, at a minimum, who attended, decisions made or communicated and assigned action items (with owner and target dates)? Comments: Is there evidence that a Project Status Report (PSR - summary of individual reports, etc.) is created routinely (weekly/monthly) by the PM and distributed to the customer, team and project sponsor? Comments: Does the PSR contain the status of the overall project, including upcoming deliverables/milestones, overdue items, issues, etc ? Comments: Does the PSR include both accomplishments and planned accomplishments and if so present things started or completed and avoid work in process ? Comments:

Yes

No

N/A

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. 9.

10. Does the PSR include a Change and Acceptance section and if so, does it indicate status of pending approvals or approvals secured since last status? Comments: 11. Does the PSR include an issues section? If so does it include open issues and issues closed since last status? Do the issues presented include required information (such as owner and target date)? Comments: 12. Does project management meet with the appropriate Customer management routinely to review the Project Status Report? Comments: 13. Are minutes kept for the Customer status review of the PSR with minutes noting, at a minimum, who attended, decisions made or communicated and action items (with owner and target dates)? Comments: 14. Did the project stakeholders (sponsor, customer, team, etc.) receive adequate and timely communications from the project manager (as needed)? Comments

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Review Checklist & Questions

Procurement Management 1. Were any contracts or procurement activities associated with this project? If so, please specify. 2. 3. Was the process for procurement management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: Was the Project Manager responsible for managing the contracts associated with this project? If not, who was responsible? How did the PM interact with the contract manager to determine if deliverables were approved to pay?

Yes

No

N/A

Change Management 1. Were change requests generated when criteria for change occur and submitted on a timely basis (by next Customer status review)? Comments: 2. 3. Were change requests approved by the authorized person(s) within the timeframe defined in the Change Management section? Comments: Is the budget variance (activity to date plus estimate to complete vs. original budget plus approved change requests) acceptable? Acceptable is defined as 10% above approved baseline. Comments: Is the schedule variance (completion earlier or later than approved) acceptable (Ex. the only acceptable change in schedule would require a change request approval to therefore readjust the original schedule baseline)? Comments: Was the process for change management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments:

4.

5.

Acceptance Management 1. Was the process for acceptance management, as defined in the project plan, followed? Comments: 2. 3. Did the Customer approve the contract (if applicable)? Note: If yes, please note date and person(s) who signed. Comments: Were deliverables approved by the authorized person(s) within the timeframe defined in the Acceptance Management section? Comments:

CLOSING
1. Was a formal Project Closing session conducted to gather and share feedback on the project with the team, customer and project sponsor? Comments:

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Review Checklist & Questions

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Did the Project Sponsor, Project Manager, project team and Customer share a consistent view of the project status and issues? Comments: If Project Success Criteria were appropriately documented in the SOW/project plan, did the closing process analyze if these criteria were met? Comments: Did the project team demonstrate an understanding of the Customer s needs (business objectives, success criteria, scope, etc.)? Comments: Is the Customer satisfied with the deliverable products and/or level of service provided by the project? Comments: Is the Customer satisfied with the overall service (responsiveness, flexibility, etc) provided by the Project Team members? Comments: Is the Customer satisfied with the project s performance to budget and schedule? Comments: Were final schedule, effort and cost figures calculated so they may be compared with the original project estimates? Is the Customer satisfied with the skills, capability, size, and quality of the Project Team? Comments:

Yes

No

N/A

10. Is the project free from serious Customer issues or concerns? Comments: 11. Was the Project Manager responsive to issues escalated for their attention and resolution (if needed)? Comments:

Project Values and Dates*:

Initial Project Duration Estimate (Hours +/Range) Final Project Duration Actual (Hours) Initial Project Completion Date Estimate (Date +/Range) Final Project Completion Date Actual Initial Project Effort Estimate (Hours +/Range) Final Project Effort Actual (Hours)

Initial Project Budget Estimate ($ +/Range) $ 0 Dates: Actual Start

Initial Project Budget Estimate ($ +/

Range)

$ 0 % Complete

$ 0

Initial Project Budget Estimate ($ +/ (time)

Range)

Initial Project Budget Estimate ($ +/

(time) Days Early/Late

Current Plan Completion (to date)

*NOTE: The Customer must have approved Baseline Value and Baseline Completion Date. Indicate if interim and approved estimates are also available. Attach additional work sheet as needed.

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Additional Finding and Recommendations: This Project Review Checklist focuses on the review of Project Management Processes, not on any specific Product Management Processes (e.g., no on the quality or existence of any information systems deliverables). If , however, through the course of this project review the review team identifies issues that suggest a comprehensive Product Quality Review is needed, please provide details below with recommendations:

Please note the name and title of the people (Sponsor, Project Manager, project team members, SMEs, etc.) interviewed as part of this Review, as well as the members of the Project Review Team. Project Review Team Reviewer: Reviewer: Reviewer: Individuals Interviewed: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Title/Project Role: Title/Project Role: Title/Project Role: Title/Project Role: Title/Project Role: Title/Project Role: Title: Title: Title:

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Office of Technology & Information Services Review Lesson Learned

Project Review - Results

NOTE: There may be multiple Areas for Improvement & Recommendations lines within each of the 5 project process areas. # Areas for Improvement Recommendations Initiation Planning Execution Monitoring & Controlling Closing Additional Areas for Improvement

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