projectplanninghandbook

8/7/2019 ProjectPlanningHandbook

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Project PlanningHandbook


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Revision History

Version # Date Name Description1.0 1/29/01 Philip H. Choi

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Table of Contents

1 Overview...................................................................................................................................................1

2 ascendTHEORY Solutions Standard Project Model.................................................................................3

3 Pre-Strategy .............................................................................................................................................4

4 Risk Mitigation Planning..........................................................................................................................10

5 Pricing The Project............................................................................................................................... ..11

6 Customizing The Statement Of Work (SOW).........................................................................................14

7 Detailed Planning....................................................................................................................................15

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1 OVERVIEW

This document provides instruction to those creating project plans, proposals, and statements of work(SOW) for Strategy, Architecture and Construction/Migration phases using ascendTHEORY, Inc.methodology. The main steps are diagramed below.

These steps correlate to sections in this guide and each section contains a description, templates, helpfulhints and assumptions.

1.1 Guidance

The customers budget must be validated at the onset of the project. What is the client willing to pay?Ask the person(s) most familiar with the clients budget. If ascendTHEORY performs a strategic analysis,

this person will be ascendTHEORYs Strategy Lead. If this is a new client, the ascendTHEORY ClientRelationship Manager responsible for bringing in the lead should have pre-qualified the customersbudget.

If this is our first experience with the potential clientThe customer should, in general, exhibit all or most of the following qualities:

They have a need to move fast - therefore they will pay a premium

They dont need to be educated on the general value of IT Projects Shortens the sales cycle

They are willing to work with us as equal partners We can play a strategic advisory role They desire joint delivery teams (we arent support contractorswe need to do knowledgetransfer to them at some point) Client is not looking simply for an outsourced development house

Knowledge transfer is desired Dont need/want us for ongoing support and maintenance

Pre-Strategy Strategy Analysis Development Phase Implementation

ascendTHEORY Delivery Life-Cycle

Use Case Analysis

Functional Specs

Design Spec

Ongoing Support

User Testing

User Acc eptance

Deployment

Statement of W ork

PM O

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How to use this handbook

Take a 2-pass approach in order to allow for a reality check early on, so that detailed work doesn't goto waste. The most important reality check is how closely aligned early estimates are with the client'sbudget. Take an iterative approach to arriving at the final plan.

First Pass

Brainstorm Use the appropriate phase timeline in the methodology as a baseline.

Conduct a whiteboard session with the team to adjust appropriately. Make a preliminary pass through the detailed project plan and project setup form todetermine initial cost.

Validate this to the clients budget Second Pass

Drive down into more detail.

Staffing Considerations:

Project staffing is the responsibility of the person leading the planning process (project manager,framing lead or strategy lead). Do not underestimate the difficulty in staffing a project when staffingacross multi-practice projects.

When performing resource leveling in your project plan, the degree of leveling varies based on the

staffing mode of that role. Most Technology Integration roles are staffed with a full time person.Some Creative or Market Branding roles are managed within a budget, and not the number of bodies.

When staffing across multiple practices, always involve the appropriate staffing leaders in thosepractices.

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2 ASCENDTHEORY SOLUTIONS STANDARD PROJECT MODEL

The Engagement Toolkit contains a standard project model that serves as a starting point for adaptingthe methodology to the needs of a particular client project. This standard project model contains:

Project Planning Handbook (i.e., this document)

PMO Presentation and Models

Overview Presentation (includes high level timelines, org charts, and other key information)

Standard Staffing Model (a spreadsheet with typical levels and rates)

Project Plan Templates (one each for Strategy, Analysis (Use Case, Functional Spec, Design Spec),and Development / Implementation phase)

SOW Templates (one each for Strategy, Analysis (Use Case, Functional Spec, Design Spec), andDevelopment / Implementation phase)

All instructions in this handbook are based on this standard project model as a startingpoint.

To get to the Standard Project Model in the toolkit, click on the Project Management bar in the overview

diagram.

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3 PRE-STRATEGY

3.1 The Standard ProcedureTo create a plan, you start with the project plan template and modify it according to the methodologyadaptation of the project.

Once the project plan has been modified the Project Setup Form can be used to resource level theproject. This leveling could be performed in the project plan, but it is not recommend. Tools such asMicrosoft Project Plan usually make the leveling process unnecessarily tedious for planning needs at thispoint in the project lifecycle. Later, in detailed planning, resources in the project plan can be leveled.(NOTE: The setup form is required to register the project with ascendTHEORY financial systems.)

To complete the Project Setup Form, resources must be identified. Use the staffing model in theStandard Project Model (see section 2) as a starting point. (NOTE: the staffing model is based on fulltime equivalents FTE's). For part time resources, you will have to convert these values to multiplepeople. For example, 1 FTE may be 2 people at 20 hours / week. How projects are staffed varies bypractice. For example, in the Creative Brand Strategy practice, several roles are staffed part time.

The Project Setup Form will provide you with an effort estimate for the project. This estimate should be

reviewed with peers who have experience in estimating similar projects.

3.2 Planning the Strategy Phase3.2.1 Determining Required Strategy Elements

The typical activities of a strategy engagement include:

Discovery Interviews

Business Plan Review

Channel Assessment

Competitive Review

Web site Audit if Creative resources are needed

Audience Profiling and Targeting

Market Research (Primary and/or Secondary Research) Strategy Sessions

Each of these elements should be discussed with the client to assess what elements need to bedeveloped from scratch. The more strategy components that a client needs, the closer the client movestoward a full strategy engagement. Also, the more of these components that the client alreadypossesses, the more possible it is to compress time frames to complete a more advanced engagement inless time. It is important to remember that these components cannot be cut and pasted. Thegoal of this Planning Guide is to help frame a clients needs into a coherent, logical strategy engagement both for the client and for ascendTHEORY.

The following components are always required during the strategy engagement.

Discovery Interviews

Client focus and objectives

Competitive Review

Market Research (in some form)

Strategy Sessions

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Screening CriteriaTo assess the nature and scope of potential projects, it is useful to consider certain critical areas toproperly gauge the clients needs.

Strategy (existing, how well developed, non-existent) Customers (who are they, quantity, quality, how do they make purchase/action decisions, what do

they value, how do they use the Internet)

Partners (strategic, technical)

Knowledge of current market space and of new market space if applicable

Sophistication of the client

Competition

Business Plans (presence of, specific to Internet initiatives)

Marketing Plans (presence of, integrated across all channels including Internet)

Funding (how much, what stage, risk)

Budget (overall and as a % of market budget)

3.2.2 Select Engagement Type

Before proceeding to Planning and Estimation, the selection of an appropriate engagement type,appropriate for the client's circumstances, is required. Each of the offerings is increasingly sophisticated,in-depth, and costly.

E-Business Visioning

Web Assessment

Strategy Validation

Full E-Business Strategy EngagementThe following table (Work In Progress) describes the characteristics of each of the four engagementtypes (packages).

Characteristic

BusinessVisioning

Creativeand Brand

Assessment

StrategyValidation

FullBusinessStrategy

Engagement

Timeframe 2-4 weeks 2-4 weeks 5-7 weeks 8-10 weeks

Price Range TBD TBD TBD TBD

TypicalActivities

DiscoveryInterviews

ClientDocumentReview

CompetitiveReview

AudienceProfiling andTargeting

Brainstorming andStrategySessions

DiscoveryInterviews


CompetitiveReview

Web siteAudit


MarketResearch

DiscoveryInterviews

Business PlanReview

Marketing

Plan ReviewClientDocumentReview

ChannelAssessment

CompetitiveReview

DiscoveryInterviews

ThoughtLeadershipWorkshop(s)

Business PlanReview

MarketingPlan Review


ChannelAssessment

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Characteristic

BusinessVisioning

Creativeand Brand

Assessment

StrategyValidation

FullBusinessStrategy

Engagement

Iterativehypothesestesting

DeliverableCreation

(Secondary)



DeliverableCreation


MarketResearch(Primaryand/orSecondaryResearch)

FinancialReview



DeliverableCreation

CompetitiveReview

Web siteAudit


MarketResearch(Primaryand/orSecondaryResearch)

ROI andperformance

metricsdefinition



DeliverableCreation

Typical

Deliverables

Visiondocument

White paperConceptsheets

Conceptsheets

TacticalImplementation Plan

SOW (forexecution)

Recommendations forfurthermarketresearch oranalysis

DetailedBusiness

Findings andImplications

E-BusinessStrategyFinal Report

Release Planand SOW fornext phase

DetailedBusiness

Findings andImplications

E-BusinessStrategy FinalReport

Release Planand SOW fornext phase

In addition to the type of strategy engagement, three other important factors can greatly influence thenature of a project:

The clients time pressures

The clients funding

The scope of the undertakingThese 3 interrelated factors serve to determine the scope and time frame of a project.

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Other Factors that must play a part in the determination of the scope of a project include the nature of theclient and their funding. Funding is not to be confused with budget, a client may have a big budget butfunding that is pending or cancelled.

Start-up (not well-funded)

Start-up (well-funded)

Fortune 500/1000 (typically well funded - the question is budget)

When working with start-ups, it is imperative to verify the status of funding prior to engaging in thestrategy phase.

3.2.3 Guidance

Ask potential client about the existence of documentation concerning each of the items examined inthe strategy phase (market research, channel strategy, business plans)

Ask potential clients who their competitors are and which ones are innovating in their market space.

Ask potential clients what percentage of their marketing or IT budgets are dedicated toward E-Business initiatives.

3.3 Planning the Architecture Phase3.3.1 Evaluating the State of the Customers Current Strategy and Business

Objectives

Defining how far along the customer is in having built a definitive strategy for their company is the mostcritical step in determining how the Architecture Phase will be put together. It is up to the Framing team(typically led by a Technology Integration Strategist) to determine what the customers current strategicstate is before a project plan is built.

Though each case is different, most customers fall into one of the following three categories:

1. Client has some high-level ideas about what they want their company to be, but has not created abusiness plan that can articulate a business strategy, its goals or objectives.

2. Client has well thought-out ideas for their company, has developed a business plan that addressestheir Internet strategy, goals, and business objectives, but HAS NOT validated any of theirhypotheses.

3. Client has well thought-out ideas for their company, has developed a business plan that addressestheir strategy, goals, and business objectives, and HAS validated their hypotheses (or does not careabout validating them).

If the client falls into category 1, there should be a strong effort to start with a separate strategyengagement before putting together an Architecture Phase to help them define their business goals.There is a different approach to putting together a strategy engagement of this type. (This situation is notaddressed in this document.

If the client falls into category 2, an effort should be made to build sufficient staff that includesbusiness/IM strategists who can do at least a two week strategy validation, in parallel to the ArchitecturePhase. Generally a separate strategy engagement may not be required. The standard validation of theclients hypotheses, goals, and objectives should be done to enhance an ability to architect the propersolution.

If the client falls into category 3, the standard architecture-staffing plan can be used as the starting pointfor developing a detailed plan. The framing team needs to make staffing decisions based primarily on theclients budgetary restrictions, as well as our initial sense of how good the customers current strategy is.The optimal situation is where ascendTHEORY helped the client build a strategy.

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3.4 Planning the Construction / Migration Phase3.4.1 Release Planning

Template Used: Release Plan.ppt

The first step in adapting the project plan template is to perform release planning. To do this, followinstructions in the release plan template to partition the functionality over multiple releases. Establishingthe release plan is largely driven by business priorities, budget, and marketing initiatives and to a lesserextent, technical feasibility. The Project Manager needs to work closely with the client team, and involvedpractices and disciplines, to develop an effective release plan. A release plan must be reviewed andvalidated by authorized persons representing each "practice" (P&L) for approval before it goes to theclient.

The following may be helpful:

Guidance

The foundational release should focus on minimal functionality while providing a benefit to the clientto mitigate risk.

Until sufficient detail is known please use price ranges not a specific number.

3.4.2 Project Planning

Assumptions

The creative work in the Standard Project Model is broken up into four cycles. Your project mayneed more or fewer cycles depending on scope and delivery deadlines.

The software development work in the Standard Project Model is broken into two cycles. Yourproject may need more or fewer cycles depending on scope and delivery deadlines.

Cycle 2 software development can begin before Cycle 1 Integration Testing is completed. Asintegration testing winds down then software developers can transition from Cycle 1 to Cycle 2.

The Production Installation & Configuration tasks fall into one of two scenarios. One, a productioninfrastructure exists and the installation of this project is an incremental addition to that infrastructure

then uses the tasks in this plan. Two, a production infrastructure does not exist then this is aseparate project.

The "standard project model" deliverables were based on 30-40 design templates, with substantialcontent editing and minimal content development.

The client must provide every approval as scheduled. There is no excuse for us to miss a majordeadline (if the project plan was reviewed and internal and external project sponsors). Any slippagein schedules can extend a project by weeks or months, especially when resources are balancedacross multiple projects/clients.

Guidance

Maximize project knowledge by transitioning the appropriate resources from the architecture phase tothe construction phase.

Historically, the most critical dependency has been the delivery of HTML templates from the creativeproduction teams to the software development teams. Please be sure to manage this dependencycarefully to avoid schedule delays.

In addition to HTML, there are other multimedia (graphical, video, etc.) assets that are typically notcritical path. These non-critical path items should be moved to later cycles. This will not impact thestart of the software development cycle.

Approvals that need to be obtained Wireframes, comps (i.e. Photoshop files), and html templates(only if different from comps and wire frames).

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To ensure the quality of the creative work, its highly recommended that the creative team (or someportion of that team) work jointly (i.e. co-located at the development site) during the latter stages ofsystem testing and bug fixes. Typically, these tasks last for two weeks.

Perform a bottom-up estimate based on the components and their complexities. Base componentsoff of use cases, wire frames, web pages, system interfaces, etc. A spreadsheet to assist with thisprocess is being assembled, but will not be available until a later release. Ratings of simple, medium,

and complex work well of complexities of components.

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4 RISK MITIGATION PLANNING

Template Used: RiskAssessment.xlsRiskManagementPlan.xls

Through the Risk Management Process(RM), we will engage an approach to planning that will enhance

delivery quality and client satisfaction. This approach will also minimize project overruns and financialexposures. The risk management focus will involve identification and implementation of quality assurancecheckpoints. The following activities are part of risk management planning:

4.1 Complete The Risk Assessment FormThe Risk Assessment Form is used to quantify the level of risk that a project represents by identifyinghigh-risk opportunities by calculating scores on a series of questions regarding risk factors.

If a form has not already been filled out for a previous phase for this project, then obtain a blank formfrom the RM section on the Consulting Portal and fill it out. If the form has already been completed, thenthe Project Manager needs to carefully review it and make changes as needed.

When completed, please email to Risk-Completed Forms.

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5 PRICING THE PROJECT

There are two main pricing structures, time and materials and fixed fee. Time and material projectsinherently have less financial risk than Fixed Fee projects. The intent of this section of the planning guideis to:

Assist in pricing a project Services Expenses Facility Fees Contingency/Risk Adjustment

Understand how to internally set up a project and account for risk Time and Materials Fixed Fee

Time and Materials Time and materials projects range in risk. There are many types of risk, financial,technical, communication, etc. Many of the drivers of financial risk Include:

Level of deliverables. Soft deliverables (paper documents) are less risky than hard deliverables(application is turned over).

How fixed is the time and materials estimate? If we go over on our estimate, how willing is the clientto pay?

Any other risks may impact the financial risk as well, by increasing the cost, timeline, or expenses ordecreasing the level of client satisfaction.

It is important to assess and account for the proper amount of risk when setting up a project. We willalways want to bill at the rate specified in the SOW, but may want to accrue at a lower rate internally tooffset that risk. The client should never know about accruing at a lower rate. By doing this, if a projectdoes go over budget and we do not receive additional monies the write-off is spread over the life of theproject, not just in the quarter the project ended. Many time and materials projects that have nominalrisk will accrue at the invoice rate. The right risk adjustment should be reviewed with you DeliveryDirector and practice leaders. Note: the financial risk will change throughout the project. At keymilestone points in the project, it is important to adjust the risk (rates) in PTE to reflect the current reality.

For all projects, especially Fixed Fee, it is important to price the SOW with a risk based contingency. Weshould not be starting at standard rates and whittle down. Fundamentally, we should create risk adjustedstandard rates. So if there was a 20% contingency, the rates should be increased by 20%. Rememberstandard rates are a floor not the ceiling.

How to setup T&M projects:

Risk Example Projects Invoicing MethodLow Risk

Strategy

Architecture

Maintenance

Auto bill Set PTE up with the sold rates for the project.Invoicing and Accrual occur at the same rate.

Medium toHigh Risk Software Delivery Auto bill on Milestones Milestone, either based ondeliverables or period of time (i.e. months), is preferred.

This requires a settlement process, every quarter forexample, to audit the actual hours compared to theamount invoiced. The milestone invoice amounts shouldadd up to the SOW price. The project set-up form/PTEshould be set at the risk adjusted rates. For example,use 5% less than the rates used in the SOW.

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Risk Example Projects Invoicing MethodManual Bill If the client wants to see hours and ratesand not have milestone billing, you will still want toaccrue at the risk adjusted rates. This means the projectsetup form/PTE will contain the risk-adjusted rates.Manual invoices will need to be created and sent to theclient. To do this, pull the invoice/time data from Vistaand manually increase the rates to the SOW rates.Recalculate the invoice and send it to the client, ccingour accounting department.

How to setup Fixed Fee projects:

Risk Example Projects Invoicing MethodAny Level ofRisk

Strategy

Architecture

Maintenance

Software Delivery

Auto bill on Milestones Milestone invoicing, eitherbased on deliverables or period of time (i.e. months),is preferred. Fixed Fee does not require a settlementprocess to audit the actual hours compared to theinvoiced amounts like T&M. The milestone invoiceamounts should add up to the SOW price. Theproject set-up form/PTE should be set at the riskadjusted rates. For example, use 20% less than therates used in the SOW.

5.1 Fee Considerations Standard rates are floor not ceiling. All rates are located on Rates.xls.

Time & material projects should use a 45 hour/week basis at standard rates or higher.

Time and materials project is where there is no stated limit to cost. For example, if a SOW states weestimate a project to be 1 Million what happens if we go over.

Fixed fee projects should include a contingency factor based on level of project risk. For all fixed feeprojects, show the client only one number (total cost). Do show the client rates or costs per task.

Be sure project oversight is included in the cost.

5.2 Expense Considerations Fees typically do not exceed 20% of billable fees; however, international travel will cost extra.

The standard 20% expense estimate does not include the cost of third-party products and servicesthat ascendTHEORY does not offer (stock photography, original photography, usability testing,language translation, etc.). If the project includes this type of work then add an assumption for theseadditional costs. These costs are typically marked up 30%. Sub-contracting services thatascendTHEORY uses to supplement our teams due to unavailable resources is not covered by thispoint.

For projects lasting several months or more, the Project Manager should work to reduce expenses byfinding apartments instead of hotels, obtaining long-term rental car contracts, and making sureproject members book flights in advance.

The Project Manager needs to regularly review all expenses in Vista.

5.3 Facilities PricingThe facility fee normally applies only to Construction phases.

Add 7% to total cost if we provide the hardware, software, and space.

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Add 3% if we provide the space only.

5.4 Pricing Approvals All estimates need to be approved by the Engagement Director.

If total cost is > $250K or < 70% margin then it must be reviewed by Philip H. Choi.

If total cost is > $1M or if non-standard pricing is involved then it must be reviewed by Philip H. Choi

5.5 Billing Considerations Billing the client on weekly (Net 30 days) basis is preferred; however, billing monthly or by milestone

is also an option.

Auto bill invoices when possible; however, the Project Manager must verify the auto billing process isworking properly.

Less information on the invoice is better. Finalize invoice format and client approval prior to anybillable activities.

Deposits are required as follows: 0 10% for Fortune 500 25 30% for dot.coms and start-ups

10% minimum for any company smaller than $10M in revenue.

5.6 Invoicing vs. Accrual Invoice at rates the SOW estimate based on.

Accrue internally at a lower rate to offset risk. (Depending on level of risk, adjust the accrual rate)

Client should never know about the lower accrual rate. If everything goes as planned - write up. If there are problems the write off is spread over the project rather than in the endingquarter.

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6 CUSTOMIZING THE STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

The appropriate Statement of Work (SOW) template should be used as a starting point for creating acustomized SOW. The template is downloadable from the custom web solutions toolkit. All workoutlined in the sections above should put you in position for writing a good SOW. The detailedinstructions for completing the SOW are embedded in the template. The templates in this planning guide

will assist you in completing the Deliverables, Staffing, and Professional Arrangement Sections.

The appropriate Methodology Mentor and the Engagement Director must review all SOWs prior to clientdelivery. The best way to ensure a smooth review is to use the reviewer's review checklist to perform aself-check prior to the review. This checklist is called the Proposal Review Guide, and is available fromthe Engagement Director.

6.1 Guidance Search the Project dB for SOWs from similar projects and re-use copy as is appropriate

Be very specific about what is in scope and what is out of scope.

Make sure the list of assumptions is complete and accurate.

Be very specific about the roles and responsibilities of the client.

Review the Approach and Deliverables sections carefully and remove all content from thetemplate that is not appropriate to the clients project.

Assume the client will use the Deliverables section as a checklist at the end of the project to verifythat they received all services for which they paid.

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7 DETAILED PLANNING

After the client has signed off the Statement of Work, and work begins, the Project Manager must convertthe high-level project plan into a detailed one. Part of that process includes completing the QualityAssurance Review Plan. The procedure is described below.

But first a few general lessons; Save a version/baseline of the project plan used to create the statement of work. Once specific

resources are assigned and high level tasks are delegated, Microsoft Project will automatically adjusttimeframes and effort estimates. The SOW version of the plan becomes a great reference forscope discussions with client management as the project unfolds.

Staffing considerations. Creative tasks are often staffed by part-time resources and technology tasksare often staffed by full-time resources. Understanding this and working to develop a staffing planearly on in the project is important.

Schedule internal project reviews (technical) when the project starts.

Meet with team members as they are assigned to the project to set expectations. Review with them,the detailed tasks they will own on the project plan.

7.1 Complete the Quality Assurance Review Plan(Note: this document was formerly known as the Risk Management Plan)A Quality Assurance Review Plan must be completed during construction planning. This plan defines thevarious project review dates and the persons who will conduct the reviews. The purpose of this plan is toensure that solution assurance (SA) reviews are built-in to the process throughout the project. TheProject Manager is responsible for developing this plan and incorporating any results from these reviewsinto the project work plans and deliverables. The Quality Assurance Review Plan templates aredownloadable from the Project dB.

Once the Quality Assurance Review Plan is defined, it should be sent to those individuals listed on theplan as reviewers and copy the Risk-Reviews to the Project Server. In addition, a copy should be filed inthe Project Notebook.

The Quality Assurance Review Plan defines mandatory and project-specific checkpoints. Below is astandardized list of checkpoints when using the Custom Web Solutions methodology. Put thesecheckpoints in the project-specific part of the Quality Assurance Review Plan form.

Architecture PhaseWeek Review Type Typical Venue Purpose Reviewers2 Initial technical

architecturecheck-in

1 hour conferencecall, or if possibleface-to-face meeting

Ensure that the technicalarchitectural direction issound

Outside TechnologyArchitect

2 Initial UEAcheck-in


Review approach for UEA,Experience Concept, andinitial functional spec

Outside Senior UserExperience Architect

3 Initialmarketingstrategycheck-in


Ensure that the marketingstrategy direction is sound

Brand MarketingCompetency Lead orRepresentative

5 Finalarchitecturalreview

1/2 day conferencecall, or if possibleface-to-face meeting

Ensure that thearchitecture is sound andwell defined enough toserve as the basis forproject planning

Outside TechnologyArchitect

5 Site Map 2 hour conference Ensure that the site map, Outside Senior User

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Review call, or if possibleface-to-face meeting

Ex Concept, functionalspecs are solid and welldefined

Experience Architecture

5 ContentAssessmentReview

1 hour conferencecall

Review the contentassessment and discusscontent strategy

Outside ContentManager or SeniorCopywriter

7 UEA Review day conferencecall, or if possibleface-to-face meeting

Ensure that initial wireframes are sound, andthat plans for initial

Outside Senior UserExperience Architecture

7 Constructionplan andClientPresentationreview

1-day face-to-facereview (less if under$1M)

To review the deck,marketing strategy, projectplan tasks, pricing /contingency, SOW, andrisk profile and mitigationstrategy

MD, at least 2Directors, MethodologyMentors, with theTechnology Architectcalling in, if possible

7 Marketingstrategyreview

1-day face-to-facereview (less if under$1M)

To review marketingstrategy


7.5 CreativeDesign

Review forprojects over1.5M

2 hour face-to-face To review creativestrategy, concepts, look

and feel, tone and voice

CD, MD, 1-2 Directorlevel, outside CD

7.5 CreativeDesignReview (forNatl and IntlAssignments1)

2 hour face-to-face To review consistency andquality of creative strategicobjectives

ACD2, CD, MD, 1Director and PracticeLeader

Construction PhaseWeek Review Type Typical Venue Purpose Reviewers1.5 UEA Review 1 hour conference

call

Review wire frames to

ensure that they are sound

Outside UEA

3 In-depthTechnicalReview (aftertech spec,before staffingup)

1 day face to facemeeting

Review technicalarchitecture, objectdesign, sample code, anddata model. To ensuretask estimates are stillaligned with SOW budget& schedule.

Outside SeniorTechnical Specialist

4 ProjectManagementReview


Review of the project planand staffing issues

Outside ProjectManager

5 ContentReview

2 hour conferencecall or face-to-facemeeting

Review content againstmarketing objectives formessage and tone

Outside ContentManager or SeniorCopywriter

5 ProductionReview


Review initial set-up,process, systems and htmlpages

Outside Senior SiteBuilder

5 Marketingstrategyreview


To review marketingstrategy


1 For clients with ongoing multiple deliverables such as IBM, P&G and Seimens2 Associate Creative Director who is assigned to that client as oversight for all engagements

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10 ProductionReview


Review initial set-up,process, systems and htmlpages

Outside Senior SiteBuilder





14 End of development

2 hour con call orface-to-face

Ensure that coding isreally complete and thatthe team is really insystem test

Outside manager ordelivery director

7.2 Guidance These reviews should be scheduled at the beginning of the project and invitations to reviewers should

be made at that time (these are busy people)

Allow 3-4 days before a client (external) review, to permit time for revisions and (if needed) re-review

Send out deliverables to reviewers ahead of time

The reviewers for the last review will typically be the appropriate methodology mentors for thatgeography. From Technology Integration, it will most likely be the Engagement Director, or ageographical lead.

If any reviewers were also involved in the framing of the Architecture phase, then a second set ofeyes is recommended

In the ideal review, nothing of importance happens. This means that the project team -- and inparticular the project manager -- work ahead of time with the reviewers to ensure that any high riskitems are adequately addressed. Bottom line: it is the job of the Project Manager to raise flags!

The results of the last review, including the identified risks and mitigation strategy should bepresented to the client (obviously, appropriately framed) as part of the benefit of our QA process.

All review time by outsider reviewers is billable time and must be budgeted for.

An RM representative who will be responsible for final approval of the SOW should ideally sit in onthe review to streamline the SOW-approval process.

Wherever possible, these reviews should coincide with any RM reviews.

7.3 Staffing the ReviewsThe greatest challenge to operationalizing reviews is staffing them. At the release date of this handbook,the staffing process is incomplete. The procedure described below was developed by the TechnologyIntegration practice, and as such represents an incomplete picture of how these reviews will be staffedgoing forward.

7.3.1 Technology Integration Process for Staffing Reviews

Reviews will be organized according to the following procedure:1. Project Manager - As part of RM-mandated risk planning process, at the beginning of the project,

the project manager sets the review dates for the checkpoints listed above, customized to thetimeline of their project.

2. Project Manager - The project manager publishes the schedule to the delivery director3. Delivery Director- Each delivery director maintains a master list of review checkpoints.4. Delivery Director- On the Monday staffing conference call, the delivery director raises any reviewer

need for the next month that is not staffed.

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5. Project Manager - the project manager contacts the staffed reviewers and arranges specifics (get ameeting room, arrange a conference call, ensure attendance of appropriate team members).

6. Project Manager - send reviewers a copy of the Quality Assurance Review Plan and cc the Risk-Reviews discussion group. In addition, a copy should be filed in the Project Notebook.

In summary, the project manager is responsible to develop the Quality Assurance Review Plan andschedule the solution assurance reviews, the delivery director is responsible to staff them, and the projectmanager is responsible to set up the reviews.

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