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ARCHIVED - Guide to successful IT Projects


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The Project Implementation/Execution Phase

  This questionnaire is a tool or checklist to evaluate the progress of an IT project and to ensure that all factors influencing its success are being closely monitored during its execution

Section I

Intuitively, how do I feel about how this project is progressing?

Should be halted
Should be halted
Continue with caution
Continue with caution
Proceed with confidence
Proceed with confidence

Why?

Section II - Support for the Business

Ask yourself: Yes No Not sure
TOTALS ____ ____ ____
1. Has the Project Sponsor, representing the users, taken accountability and responsibility for keeping the project within scope?      
2. Has the Project Sponsor ensured user commitment throughout the project (from evaluation and acceptance of deliverables, product and integration testing to final acceptance and sign-off)?      
3. Have the business goals for the organization changed and if so, is the new system still aligned with the goals of the organization?      
4. Has the business case been reviewed and revalidated at each scheduled gate?      
5. Has the business case been reviewed and revalidated whenever there was significant change to the project or business function?      
6. If the business case has changed, has the proper project re-approval by the department been sought?      
7. If project specifications have changed significantly, have these changes been well documented and approved by the appropriate stakeholders?      

Section III - Accountability

Ask yourself: Yes No Not sure
TOTALS ____ ____ ____
1. Do status/progress meetings occur regularly?      
2. Are issues raised and dealt with?      
3. Is this project on time and on budget?      
4. Are changes in scope being managed?      
5. Are adequate staff allocated to the scheduled tasks at the scheduled time?      
6. Is the matrix defining the accountabilities, responsibilities and authorities still appropriate for this project?      
7. Have all key players lived up to their accountabilities and responsibilities? If not, has this been addressed      
8. Are the contractor's project management activities reviewed by the Crown's project manager periodically?      

Section IV - Corporate Project Manager Discipline

Ask yourself: Yes No Not sure
TOTALS ____ ____ ____
1. In the event of serious problems, has the necessary information been available to support decisive action?      
2. In the event of serious problems, have required decisions been taken promptly?      
3. Are the procurement, contracting and security issues being dealt with?      
4. Is the project maintaining a positive image (i.e., there are no rumours that the project is in trouble)?      
5. Is the project manager avoiding premature, inordinate and inappropriate use of contingency funding?      
6. Is the project manager maintaining sufficient control over appropriate project resources?      
7. Is the contractor providing complete information on project performance and progress?      
8. Are project managers going to others in the organization for relevant knowledge, skills and experience for advice and support?      

Section V - Risk Management

Ask yourself: Yes No Not sure
TOTALS ____ ____ ____
1. Have any new risks surfaced and are they being addressed properly?      
2. Is it still reasonable to expect financial stability for the remainder of the project?      
3. Have there been minimal changes to the organization or the business since project initiation?      
4. Are the formal mechanism and tools used to monitor the project schedule adequate?      
5. Are the team leaders being held to budgetary constraints?      
6. Does the management approach continue to ensure coordination of all sub-projects, ensure communication among different sub-project teams and address shared horizontal issues?      
7. Are internal/external peer reviews being held as scheduled?      
8. Are oversight reviews by a senior steering committee being carried out at each gate?      
9. Are regular review sessions held to review the continued relevance of the project, project performance, and to raise concerns about actual/potential problems?      

Section VI - 'Success Barometer' Rating

Totals Calculation Green Red Yellow
Colour Totals ____ ____ ____
Totals from Section II: ____ ____ ____
Totals from Section III: ____ ____ ____
Totals from Section IV: ____ ____ ____
Totals from Section V: ____ ____ ____

Project total

Green total _____ x 15 = ______ ______

+ Red Total ______ x (-10) = ______ ______

+ Yellow Total _____ x (-5) = ______

PROJECT TOTAL = ______

Plot the project total on the viability/success scale:

Red Zone Yellow Zone Green Zone

|--------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|--------|---------|--------|---------|

-400 0                                                       300                                600

Should be halted
Should be halted
Continue with caution
Continue with caution
Proceed with confidence
Proceed with confidence

How does this rating compare to the one from Section I based strictly on your gut?

What does this tell you?

Recommendation

Project should continue (GREEN ZONE

Project should halt until the following have been addressed to my satisfaction(YELLOW ZONE):

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The project should be halted because(RED ZONE):

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _