Creating Definition work practice
The definition work practice outlines the definition phase of the project. The purpose of this work practice is to highlight the major deliverables/products and processes. The definition phase defines the project and captures the requirements.
Getting ready
Before starting, it is important to have an understanding of your project methodology and determine:
- The existing work practices
- The key roles which will be involved in the work practice
How to do it...
Work practices are best created as a visual tool. To do this, start up a diagramming tool such as Microsoft Visio or Microsoft PowerPoint.
- In the diagramming application, create a new diagram called Work Practices.
- Create a tab or a slide called Definition.
- On the diagram, create swimlanes. In each swimlane, add the key role.
- Step through this phase of the project logically, and add the key products/deliverables and processes.
- A sample definition work practice is shown here:
- Once you have created your products and processes, you will need to describe each of them.
For example, Project Charter outlines the scope, objectives, benefits and participants for the project.
- Once all the products and processes are described, you can determine the deliverables for each product and the role responsible for delivering it, based on the swimlane.
For example, the deliverable for Project Charter is the Project Charter Document created by the Project Manager.
How it works...
Work practices give members of the project a quick and easy way to understand the flow of activities within the phase, and all the deliverables required with the phase.
There's more...
Creating templates for deliverables can be a large undertaking. Two good sources of templates include:
- Project in a box
- Mike 2.0
Both can be found with a simple Internet search. Templates included in these sources are comprehensive, and contain most deliverables required within a project. The key templates to develop are:
- Project Charter
- Requirements
- Solution Design
- Data Lineage and Mapping
- Requirements Traceability Matrix
- Data Dictionary and Conceptual Data Model
Depending on your project requirements, you may need to utilize templates from different sources to obtain the content you feel is comfortable for your deliverables within the project.