Project Documentation

Introduction
Good documentation serves as an excellent communication tool. It provides an audit trail for analysis and project reviews. It lends order and structure to the project by giving direction and setting parameters. It increases efficiency and effectiveness because everyone follows the same sheet of music. And it gives team members confidence, especially when things appear chaotic or there are too many unknowns.

Contents of project documentation Procedures Flowcharts Forms Reports Memos Project manual Project library Newsletters History files

Procedures
For many projects, particularly large ones, procedures facilitate management. They help achieve efficiency by ensuring consistency of action. They improve effectiveness by ensuring that people achieve project goals. They reduce the learning curve by providing guidance on the way things are done. Finally, they improve productivity because people with questions can refer to the documentation rather than interrupt other people.

Writing procedures
To develop a good set of procedures, you need the following:

Information to write about the topic Time to prepare, review, and publish the documents People with good research, writing, and editing skills Management and user buy-in to ensure people follow the procedures Feedback loop to ensure completeness, currency, and usability

Steps to follow to write procedures

1. Identify the topics. 2. Determine the format for the procedures. There are four possible procedure formats:
Narrative, Sequential, Play script, and Item-by-item

3. Prepare, review, revise, and publish the procedure. 4. Follow the procedures.

Summary on procedures
At first the comment might sound academic; however, many projects have written procedures, let alone plans, that no one follows. In the end, the procedures serve no function other than to occupy a bare spot on a shelf.

Flowcharts
Many times, pictures and diagrams are preferred over text or are treated as supplements to text. Flowcharts indeed are worth a thousand words. Flowcharts are easier to understand than written procedures and communicate more with less. However, even using flowcharts requires effort. It takes time to prepare them. They must be updated to maintain relevancy. And users and management must buy in to them if the project manager expects people to follow them.

Points to remember when flowcharting

1. Use symbols consistently. Provide a key to the symbols. 2. Put the flowcharts under version control. Different versions can quickly be released, thereby confusing people. 3. Use a software tool to generate the diagrams. Revisions will be easier and the charts clearer. 4. Keep it simple. Avoid putting too much on a page. A cluttered page can be as mentally taxing as large blocks of small text on a page.

Steps to when flowcharting

1. Determine the topic, just as you would with written procedures. 2. Determine the type of diagram and whether it is a substitute or a complement to a procedure. Flow of control is the most popular, followed by data flow diagrams. 3. Prepare, review, revise, and publish the flowchart. This step is the same for procedures. 4. Follow the flowchart. Like procedures, they can quickly end up covering a bare spot on a bookshelf.

Forms
Although many people dislike completing forms, Perry sees their value in managing his project. Forms capture and communicate information. They also provide audit trails to help learn from past experience, compile statistics, and conduct post implementation reviews. Unfortunately, many forms are not user-friendly. The instructions for completion and distribution are unclear. The fields do not flow logically. They ask for way too much information. And there are usually too many forms of too many varieties.

Qualities of forms
Be logically organized Be readily available Not exceed one page List a source and destination Have clear and concise instructions for completion and submission Have adequate space for filling in information Request only the necessary information

Summary on forms
For use in project management, forms can capture information on such topics as activity descriptions, Activity estimating, assignments, change management, estimated labor usage, labor and non-labor costs, problem identification and tracking, and status of activities.

Reports
The right amount of feedback can make the difference between the success and failure of a project. Reports are vehicles for giving reliable feedback. Reports communicate information. They help project managers monitor and track individual and overall performance, indicating when to take corrective action. And they give feedback to everyone involved about their contributions to the project.

Memos
Many people hate to write memos. Thats unfortunate, because a well-written memo can have tremendous impact on coworkers. A memo provides a record of results. It encourages commitment to an idea or cause. It offers traceability. It raises issues and helps resolve them. Above all, memos are excellent tools for communicating with other people.

Newsletters
Not every project is big enough to warrant its own newsletter. For large projects, however, it is invaluable. It enhances communications, informing everyone of important happenings and giving new information. It provides the project manager with the opportunity to get the word out, especially about matters that directly affect project performance. It also serves as a record of significant activities and accomplishments. Finally, it answers questions and dispels rumors before they arise.

Publishing newsletters
There are several issues related to publishing a newsletter. It can become a political rather than a communications tool, serving merely to pacify political sensitivities. It is time-consuming and labor intensive to develop. Writing, proofreading, printing, and distributing a newsletter, whether in hard copy or electronic form, is no easy task. It requires, too, people who can write and edit, talents that are not too common apparently. A newsletter can cover many topics, including team successes, challenges, biographies of participants, and new techniques developed. The key to keeping a newsletter active is to encourage team members, and the internal customer, to submit articles for the publication. That encourages people to read it and feel it is not a propaganda rag.

History files
During the fog of managing a project, important documentation can be lost or misplaced. To ensure that does not happen, Perry sets up project history files. These files can be a drawer in a filing cabinet or a directory on a personal computer or file server.

History files cont

In any form, they provide the ability to reconstruct situations for an audit trail, review problems, and satisfy audit requirements. They help reduce the learning curve of new team members, as they review titles to become familiar with critical issues and they provide background information for further work.

History files cont

Project history files frequently contain:

network diagrams, procedures, bar charts of schedules, reports, drafts of documents, responsibility work estimates, matrices, completed forms, statements of work, memorandums, work breakdown minutes of meetings, structures.

Project Manual cont

It is often handy to have certain information readily available, such as phone numbers and task listings. It is an essential reference book for project management.

Project Manual cont

The project manual, however, does more than provide its readers with useful information. It is also a communication tool, enabling people to interact efficiently and effectively.

Project Manual cont

Ideally, the manual should be prepared early on and be maintained throughout the project cycle. Everyone should have ready access to it, either in hard copy or electronic form.

Project Manual cont

To compile the project manual, the project manager or the person concerned performs these six steps. 1. He determines the contents, e.g., by interviewing team members or reviewing the statement of work. 2. He organizes the contents, e.g., arranging them by topic or phase. 3. He determines the number of copies, e.g., by using the size of the team as the basis.

Project Manual cont

4. He assigns responsibility for maintaining the manual, e.g., to someone working on a noncritical task. 5. He publishes and distributes the manuals, e.g., electronically or as hard copy. 6. He seeks feedback from the users of the manual, e.g., by providing tear sheets on which they can submit suggestions.

The Project Library

The project library, like the history files, stores information. The major difference is that the library contains more than project management information. The project library also stores company and project-specific policies and procedures, history files, newsletters, journal publications, and related books, and technical documentation.

The Project Library cont

The one who sets up the history files, follows these steps to set up the library: 1. He identifies the contents, e.g., by interviewing team members for their suggestions. 2. He determines the organization, e.g., arranging documents by title, code, or author.

The Project Library cont

3. He controls the removal of documents, e.g., by providing a check-in/check-out sheet. 4. He determines the location of the library, e.g., providing a readily accessible site; he also determines the procedures for accessing material.

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation 1. If developing procedures, did you: Identify the topics? Determine the types of procedures needed? Receive reviews by all relevant people? Distribute the procedures? Document the procedures? Place the procedures under configuration control? Seek feedback?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

2. If developing flowcharts, did you: Identify the topics? Determine the types of diagrams to use? Issue standard templates? Determine whether the flowchart will supplement or replace a procedure? Distribute the flowchart? Seek feedback?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

3. If developing forms, did you: Determine what forms you need? Design each form according to the characteristics described in this chapter? Determine how people can obtain a copy of the form? Determine how and where people can submit a completed form? Institute a way for people to provide feedback on the forms?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

4. If developing reports, did you: Determine the necessary types of reports to use? Design each report according to the characteristics described in this chapter? Inform everyone who need to receive the reports? Develop a distribution list? Determine the frequency of generation for each report? Determine where to store the reports? Seek feedback from users?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

5. If you need to prepare a memo, did you: include a date, subject title, address, signature block, and purpose statement? Answer the who, what, when, where, and why questions? Check for clarity, conciseness, directives, legibility, and structure?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

6. If you decide to publish a newsletter, did you determine: Who will prepare the newsletter? The frequency of the publication? Who must review it prior to each publication? The topics? The layout? The method of distribution?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

7. If you decide to have a project manual, did you: Determine the method for keeping the manual -- that is, hard copy, electronic copy, Web site? Determine the contents? Develop a structure, reflected in the form of a table of contents? Determine the number of copies? Select the mode of binding? Assign responsibilities for keeping the manual current? Set up a format for reviewing the contents? Seek feedback?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

8. If you elected to set up project history files, did you: Determine the contents? Determine the organizational structure? Assign responsibility for maintaining them? Establish a procedure for accessing, removing and replacing them? Communicate their location and procedure for accessing, removing, and returning them?

Questions for Getting Started on project documentation cont

9. If you decide to set up a project library, did you: Determine the contents? Determine the filing system? Assign responsibility for maintaining it? Establish a procedure for accessing, removing, and replacing material? Communicate the location and procedure for accessing, removing, and returning material?

CAT 2

As the Project manager of an international Organization, discuss the various types of documentation you would use while implementing the project.