Checklists: To make sure you don't forget anything...Stick-Figure-with-Cheklist

Here you will find an ever growing number of checklists. Every third checklist we publish is available for the general public.

Risk Estimates Checklist

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Topics: Risk | Estimating

Risk Estimates Checklist

Checklist provides risk analysis on critical issues for planners and managers.
 
  • Mark all that apply.
  • Why has the analysis been performed? If the analysis is intended to prove a political or commercial point, has the use of an independent party been considered?
  • What steps have been taken to ensure that the estimates are objective?
  • Are the people making the estimates recognised to be experts in the area concerned? Do they expect to be personally accountable for the outcome?
  • What experience do the estimators have with making risk-based estimates?
  • Are patterns present in the three-point estimates that betray a lack of care in their preparation? Are all the probability distributions symmetrical or anchored around the planned duration by default?
  • Normally much more information is available for activities that will take place closer to the start. Is this reflected in the risk estimate?

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    Source:
    Schedule Risk Analysis: Critical Issues for Planners and Managers, Martin Hopkinson
    HVR Consulting Services Ltd.: contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    Presented at the Fourth European Project Management Conference, PMI Europe 2001, London UK, 6-7 June 2001
       

      Project Start-Up Checklist

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      Project Start-Up Checklist

      Checklist covers an array of initial processes and decisions that are critical to the success of the project over time.
       
    • Mark all that apply.
    • Are customer's expectations set?
    • Are the project's stakeholders sufficiently represented by the Project Board?
    • Do role descriptions exist for each key appointment?
    • Do the Project Board members have sufficient authority, availability and credibility to direct the project?
    • Does the Project Mandate identify the prospective Project Executive?
    • Has a Daily Log been set up?
    • Has the initiation plan been approved?
    • Has the Lessons Log been set up?
    • Has the project approach been decided upon?
    • Has the Project Brief been produced?
    • has the Project Product Description been produced?
    • Have Lessons from previous similar projects been identified?
    • Have Project Managementteam roles been allocated for the...
      • Change Authority?
      • Executives?
      • Project Assurance?
      • Project Support?
      • Senior Suppliers?
      • Senior Users?
      • Team Managers?
    • Have suitable management controls been decided upon?
    • Have those people appointed confirmed their acceptance?
    • Is the Project Brief to Ambidexter Management's or your organization's standards?
    • Is there an outline Business Case?
    • Is there a stage plan for the initiation stage?
    • Was there a Project Mandate?
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      See also our template Project Initiation Document

      Business Case Checklist

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      Topics: Business case | Checklist

      Business Case Checklist

      Checklist ensures the Business Case is properly created in the first place so it can be effectively utilized throughout project.
       
    • Mark all that apply.
      • Are benefits stated in terms that can be measured in the post project review?
      • Are costs based on the Project Plan or some other figures?
      • Are figures based on defined items that can be measured?
      • Are the reasons for the project clearly defined?
      • Does the Business Case make sense?
      • Have ‘before’ measurements been taken in order to assist comparisons in the post-project review?
      • If the project is part of a programme, is the programme's Business Case fully reflected in the project?
      • Is the Business Case passed down from pre-project work?
      • Is the Business Case updated and reviewed for each end stage assessment?
      • Is the impact of changes on the Business Case assessed?
      • Is there an investment appraisal?
      • Is it clear how any necessary funding will be obtained?
      • It is clear how the benefits will be realized?
      • It is clear what the preferred business option is and why?
      • It is clear what will define a successful outcome?
      • Are the benefits are clearly identified and justified?
      • Does the Business Case conforms to organizational accounting standards?
      • Does the Business Case includes non-financial, as well as financial, criteria?
      • Does the Business Case include operations and maintenance costs and risks, as well as project costs and risks?
      • Are major risks faced by the project explicitly stated, together with any proposed responses?
      • Are the Project Plan and Business Case aligned?
      • Are the reasons for the project consistent with the corporate or programme strategy?
      • Where external procurement is required, is it clear what the preferred sourcing option is and why?
      • Who will measure the impact of changes on the Business Case?
       
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      Topics: Theory | Constraints; Critical chain | Scheduling | Checklist

      Theory of Constraints Checklist

       
      Checklist to be used to deploy a sequence of improvement projects to address a resource constraint in a system.
       
    • Mark all that apply.
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      • What is/are your system's resource constraint(s)?
      • In what ways can you exploit the system's constraint? What projects can you deploy to minimize the waste of the constraint?
      • In what ways can you subordinate everything else to the above projects that target the constraint? What projects can you deploy to maximize throughput of the constraint?
      • In what ways can you elevate, or lift the restriction, of the constraint? What projects can provide additional resources to the constraint?
      • Through these steps has your system's constraint been addressed? If so, return to the first question.
       
      Eliyahu M. Goldratt. "The Haystack Syndrome: Sifting Information Out of the Data Ocean". (North River Press, 1990), p. 59-63.
       
      See also:
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      Topics: Data mining; Checklist; Data management

      Data Mining Checklist

       
      Checklist to be used as a sequential guide to automatically explore large amounts of data to uncover patterns.
       
    • Mark all that apply.
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      • GOAL DEFINITION - What is the goal/objective of your data mining project?
      • DATA SELECTION - What is the data needed for the project and what is/are the sources(s) for this data?
      • DATA PREPARATION - What processing does the data need to undergo before it is ready to be mined? Does it need to be sorted? Do any exclusion criteria need to be applied? Do multiple data sources need to be aggregated?
      • DATA EXPLORATION - Have you undergone any data verification processes to validate the data set prior to pattern discovery?
      • PATTERN DISCOVERY - Have you determined a pattern discovery algorithm and applied it to the data set?
      • PATTERN DEPLOYMENT - Have you applied the patterns discovered in the data to the initial business goal/objective of your data mining project?
      • PATTERN PRESENTATION - Have you communicated the pattern and its relationship to the business goal/objective to relevant stakeholders?
      • BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE - Have you deployed the discovered patterns as queries against a database to derive reports?
      • DATA SCORING AND LABELLING - Have you applied the discovered patterns to score and label each data record in the database?
      • DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS - Have the discovered patterns been used to make a decision support system?
      • ALARM MONITORING - Have the discovered patterns been established as norms for a business process against which deviations from the normal pattern can be set up with alarms?
      • PATTERN VALIDITY MONITORING - As the business process changes over time, has the validity of the discovered patterns been re-evaluated?
       
      Pyzdek, Thomas & Keller, Paul A. "The Six Sigma Handbook" 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill (2010), p. 110-112.
       

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