Document Management, Content Management & BPM

Business systems project framework

This template provides a graphical view of every action in an IT project – the key deliverables, who should run each project element and who should sign every element off.

Guide to project planning

The project plan is the backbone of all project management. It defines what is to be done, how it is to be done and when it is to be done. The project plan identifies responsibilities for providing the specific products that will ultimately deliver real business benefit. A poorly planned project may be delivered late and cause frustration to everybody involved. Needless to say, a poorly managed project will probably be more expensive to deliver than a well-planned one. 1. Project plan overview. A detailed project plan will add gravitas and credibility to all decisions made during the life of the project.

Guide to investment appraisal

Many businesses have numerous project requests which need to be prioritised and assessed, and every business wants to quantify the financial benefits of a project before proceeding. There are a number of ways of evaluating projects and this document outlines the most common methods – using capital and ongoing project costs and comparing them with projected business benefits. As with any model, the results are only as good as the quality of data provided in the first place. It is important that all project costs (internal as well as external) are captured and that the business benefit numbers are supported by the associated managers.

Business requirements document

This is a key document for the whole project. It defines the most important measure against which everything else must be benchmarked – business value. The Business Requirements Document defines the business need and the commercial opportunity. Before considering technology or other solutions, it is essential that business managers are clear about the business outcome they want to achieve and why. The problem or opportunity should be described in business terms and should be clear enough to enable someone with no previous knowledge of the business to understand the context of the requirement.

Template for an information management strategy: In-Form Consult

All too often organisations have a fragmented approach to information management, data is duplicated in many places and users are expected to enter the same information many times. Developing an information management (IM) strategy is the foundation stone that should be in place before considering cost justifying or implementing electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS). We live in a society where information is abundant. Having the ‘right’ information when it is required is essential if your organisation is to carry out its duties in an efficient and effective manner. The aim of an IM strategy (IMS) is to support the work of your organisation by improving the management of the information and enabling the exchange of information with external bodies.

Template for forms design (Part 1): Alan McSweeney

Paper-based forms are still a fact of life for many organisations. The implementation of any form-based data capture systems should always be prefixed with a project to eliminate paper and employ systems and procedures to allow electronic data capture – web-based systems, PC tablets, etc. However, there will always be paper containing information that needs to be entered. Computer aided data entry (CADE) or forms processing is the automated processing of forms-based data entry. Using a combination of document image processing and recognition technologies, CADE enables data entry operators to be more productive than is possible with traditional ‘heads down’ data entry.

Template for forms design (Part 2): Alan McSweeney

Continued from Part 1 above.

Template for a project status report

The project status report is designed to update all project stakeholders on the current projects status. It is unlikely that any stakeholder will have a detailed understanding of the whole project. The report is intended to provide a broad high-level update, clearly identifying when things are not going to plan or if it is anticipated that this may happen. The report will be used as the basis for the senior project team approving any changes to the project plan. The report will be produced at a frequency agreed by the project board or steering team – often once a month.

Project initiation document: Evaluation Centre

Successful projects are rare because every project encompasses a unique set of circumstances, business issues and people. There will inevitably be unforeseen problems, technical hold-ups and mis-communications, so it is best practice to establish as many of the ground rules as possible before starting. Putting them in a document ensures they are clearly defined and accessible to everyone involved in the project. This document is sometimes called the project charter and it lays out the ground rules for running an approved project – ie, once the feasibility and business case for the project have been established.

Templates for a risk register

The risk register defines a set of identified risks to achieving the business benefits associated with the project. The register contains plain English descriptions of possible outcomes that differ from the desired outcomes of the project. The templates should be used as part of a risk management process (see ‘Guide to risk management’ for more details). The risk register will contain an entry for each identified risk. It will be used as a repository of known risks and associated actions to mitigate them. It is a dynamic document that will change as risks pass, new risks are identified or the impact of risks change as the project evolves.

Guide to risk management

This document provides an overview of project risk management. It shows the benefits to be gained and how they may be achieved. A key element of risk management is the development of a risk register of all anticipated threats to the project. This document outlines how a risk register can be created. Depending on the size and complexity of project, risk management may be a formal and detailed process, or totally informal: whichever approach is taken, it should not be ignored. Risk management is about harnessing the knowledge and ability that already exists within the business, to maximise certainty about the outcome of your project.