| 1. Introduction |
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This guide has been created to assist with the effective management of Level 1 projects at Company Name. Level 1 projects will typically be:
- Between £50,000 to £100,000*
- Up to 75 days total effort
- Between 6-12 months in duration
- Low or Medium level risk
- Single Service; Single Department; Internal development
* Some construction projects up to a value of £250,000 could still be considered as a Level 1 project, where its scope and nature falls within the other parameters above.
Managing this work as a project will help to:
- Increase the understanding of what is expected
- Provide a common understanding of constraints
- Reduce the need for re-work
- Improve the communication between the teams
- Establish a system for when things may go wrong
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| 1.1 Authorisation Points |
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Level 1 projects require four End Stage Assessments (ESAs). These can be either formal or informal discussions between the Executive and the Project Manager, and are:
- Prior to Start-Up in the form of a Project Mandate
- At the end of Start-Up and Initiation when the PID is presented. This should usually be a meeting.
- At the end of the delivery stage when the work is completed.
- At the end of the project for final closure
The process diagram below relates these authorisation points to the Gateway Review Process. All authorisation should be recorded and filed in the Project File.
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| 1.2 People |
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As a minimum Level 1 projects require a Performance Board Executive and a Project Manager. The Executive will make decisions on the project, and the Project Manager to manage the project under the direction of the Executive.
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| 1.3 Project Accounting |
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Throughout the project a record should be kept of planned and actual expenditure. Guidance on Project Accounting can be found in the Techniques Guide.
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| 2. Level 1 Projects |
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The table below gives information on who will be operating in which Process, and lists the Management Products that should be created for Level 1 Projects
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| Level 1 Projects - Process Diagram |
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| 3. Start-Up and Initiation |
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Before starting a project, you must have a Project Mandate. Issued by the Performance Board Executive, it provides the basic information for you to complete the Start-Up & Initiation stage. The Project Mandate should be authorised to the Project Manager in a meeting known in Level 1 projects as End Stage Assessment A. This can be done formally or informally. The authorisation should be recorded and filed in the Project File.
Start-Up and Initiation can be combined in Level 1 projects, and is designed to help you plan the project to establish key information to ensure the project starts on the right foot. The following table lists the Management Products that will be created in this process, and the information each will provide.
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| Management Product | Information Provided |
| Project Brief | What needs to be delivered?
Why are we doing this?
What are the risks? |
| Project Approach | How can we deliver it? |
| Project Plan | How much will it cost?
How long will it take? |
| Organisation Structure | Who should be involved? |
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| 3.1 Project Brief |
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To help you establish the first three items in the above list, you should create a Project Brief. This will essentially form a full terms-of-reference for the project and form a major part of the Project Initiation Document (PID). When preparing the Project Brief, you should also create a Project File to ensure that the project documentation is kept in an orderly fashion.
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A Template for the Project Brief is in the Templates Guide, and provides advice and guidance for each of the sections. All sections of the Project Brief should be completed for Level 1 projects.
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| 3.2 Project Approach |
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The Project Approach will help to identify and agree the preferred way to manage and deliver the project. Nearly all Level 1 projects will use internal resources. When creating the Project Approach, you should provide details of the alternatives that were considered, and the reasons for the chosen approach. Including a statement for any standards that need observing will give useful information for when you plan the project.
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A Template for the Project Approach is in the Templates Guide, and provides advice and guidance for each of the sections. All sections of the Project Approach should be completed for Level 1 projects.
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| 3.3 Project Plan |
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You should create a plan for all types of Level 1 projects, regardless of the size of the project. This will not only provide you with structured information on the order of work to be carried out, but it will also give the Performance Board the information on what needs to be authorised and committed to.
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A Project Plan template is in the Templates Guide and includes a number of sections that should be considered for inclusion into Level 1 plans.
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The Techniques Guide has a section of the Company Name recommended way to plan. This gives information on Product Based Planning, estimating and scheduling.
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| 3.4 Organisation |
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The success of any project relies on the skills and commitment of the people involved. The key mandatory roles for Level 1 projects are:
The Performance Board Executive represents the senior management level and will ensure that the project delivers outputs that support the authority and provide value for money. For Level 1 projects, the Executive will represent all the roles of a standard Performance Board. If there is a need for other people to be involved in the decision making, then this should be discussed with the Executive, and a decision made on whether to include other individuals on the Performance Board. In any case, the Executive is the champion for the project and the ultimate authority.
The Project Managers responsibility is to manage the project for the Performance Board. This will include managing and progressing the plan; managing issues and risks; working with other resources to ensure the timely delivery of products; and keeping the relevant people involved.
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A full list of organisational roles and responsibilities are in the Techniques Guide. Details of who will be responsible for each role will need to be documented, along with details of their associated responsibilities.
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Use the Organisation Structure Template to document who will be involved in the project, and include any modifications to the Responsibilities that are relevant to each role.
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| 3.5 Preparing for Authorisation |
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You should now have all the information that the Performance Board needs in order to complete the Gateway 3. You should assemble the information so that is easy to view and understand. The assembled information will essentially be the Project Initiation Document (PID) for the Level 1 project. You might also consider creating a short presentation for when you meet with the Performance Board.
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| 3.6 What next? |
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The Performance Board will now review the information and make a decision on whether to authorise resources for the project to start. This decision is taken in Level 1 projects at a meeting known as End Stage Assessment B.
If the decision is to proceed you will receive authorisation to progress with the plan. The authorisation should be recorded and filed in the Project File. If the decision is not to proceed, then the information gathered should be archived and made accessible for use with future project requests.
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| 3.7 Information Checklist Start-Up and Initiation |
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The following form should be used to monitor and track the information gathered during Start-Up and Initiation.
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| 4. Controlling a Stage |
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Before Controlling a Stage can begin, you must have received authorisation from the Performance Board. You will have presented the management products from the Start-Up/Initiation stage, and a commitment of the required resources will have been made by the Performance Board.
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Controlling a Stage is the process which drives you through the development stage of the project. This section explains how to:
- Manage the stage
- Check the quality of products
- Handle issues and risks
- Report progress to the Performance Board
- Keep the project plan up to date
The following table lists the Management Products that will be created in this process, and the information each will provide.
| Management Product | Information Provided |
| Work Package | Detailed information on the work that needs to be done to develop
one or more products |
| Quality Log | A record of the checks performed on a product to ensure it meets
standards |
| Issue Log | A record of all issues that are raised, including the impact of each
issue and the actions taken |
| Risk Log | A list of risks identified, with information on how likely the risk is to
happen, and the consequences if it does. |
| Highlight Report | A summary of progress of the stage to the Performance Board |
| Project Plan | A schedule detailing what will be done and who will do it |
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| 4.1 Work Packages Getting the work done |
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You should consider creating a Work Package prior to starting or authorising work. When delegating work to others, the use of Work Packages provide many benefits to all involved. It includes:
- A Product Description of the product(s) to be created
- How the work should be managed
- Clear understanding of who is responsible for delivering the work
- Agreement of timescales, costs and resources required
- Clear communication arrangements
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An integral part of the Work Package is the Product Description. Company Name is committed to using Product Descriptions to ensure the quality of its deliverables. The Planning section in Techniques Guide gives more information on Product Descriptions.
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The Templates Guide contains templates for a Product Description and a Work Package.
If Work Packages are to be authorised to other members of the team, an agreement of the contents should be made. This will help you and them to understand the requirements and any potential problems that may occur with regards development, time, cost, etc. When undertaking development work yourself, you might find it useful to review the headings of the Work Package to help you better understand the requirements.
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Be sure to keep a track of the work that is going in and out to the teams. As work is progressed and products are completed, you should update the plan that was created in Start-Up.
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| 4.2 Quality Checks & the Quality Log |
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The Quality Log should contain all the details of the quality checking that is done. This will provide you and the Performance Board all the information needed to ensure that what should be delivered is delivered.
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You will find more details of the Quality Review technique in the Techniques Guide. This explains the steps for checking products against agreed criteria.
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A template for the Quality Log is in the Templates Guide.
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| 4.3 Logging & Handling Project Issues |
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As we know, it is unusual for a project to run 100% as planned. Events occur that may bring change, overspend, or pressures on timing. Any questions, problems or good ideas should be raised to the Project Manager using a Project Issue.
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Project Issues could originate from the Performance Board, the Project Manager or anybody else. Company Name has designed a standard process for dealing with project issues, and this can be found in the Techniques Guide.
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It is important to note that all Project Issue that will exceed the resources that you are authorised to use need to be escalated to the Performance Board. This escalation can be done verbally on Level 1 Projects. The Performance Board will then make a decision on whether to commit additional resources or not.
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Template documents for the Project Issue and the Issue Log are in the Templates Guide.
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| 4.4 Recording and Managing Risks |
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Risks are basically events and situation that might happen i.e. a potential threat to achieving a successful outcome. You may already have recorded some risks in the Project Brief. As the project progresses it is likely that other risks will come to light.
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The Risk Log is designed to capture this information and to help you better understand each risk. The Risk Log will also act as a guide for carrying out analysis on each risk. A Risk Log template is in the Templates Guide.
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The nature of risks is volatile. Therefore all risks need to be monitored and, if necessary, actions taken to deal with the risk. This is called Risk Management. It is necessary for you to monitor the Risk Log on a regular basis.
You should note that any risks that are considered to be a medium-high or high level should be escalated to the Performance Board.
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Information on Company Names approach to Risk Analysis and Risk Management can be found in the Techniques Guide.
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| 4.5 Highlight Reports |
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The Highlight Report is designed to provide the latest information from the Project Manager to the Performance Board. Subject to the Performance Boards authorisation, it can also be sent to others who need to be kept in the picture.
The key benefits of Highlight Reporting are:
- Provides summary information no need for long reports
- Keeps the Performance Board informed of events on a regular basis
- Helps the Project Manager to stand back and look at the bigger picture
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The template for the Highlight Report is in The Templates Guide. When information is completed, the Highlight Report should be sent to the Performance Board. If there are any key points that need discussion, you might like to prepare a presentation for the Performance Board.
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For all levels of project, it is recommended that Highlight Reports are no more than one sheet of A4. If anybody needs more detailed information, then the project files can be viewed.
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| 4.6 Managing the Project Plan |
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As work progresses and products are developed, you should reflect progress on the Project Plan. If Project Issues are raised, and need actioning, then this is likely to change the plan too. Any re-work will need to be planned with consideration to the timescales and resources available to you. You will also need to refer to the plan when reporting progress to the Performance Board.
Basically your plan is the backbone to your project. You should keep a close eye on it and ensure that it is kept up to date at all time.
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| 4.7 At the End of the Stage |
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As work comes to a conclusion you will be approaching the end of the stage. At the end of the stage you will need to prepare the following information for the Performance Board.
- Summary of work completed during the stage
- Summary of outstanding Project Issues
- Summary of Risks
- The latest updated Project Plan
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You should present the above information to the Performance Board at a meeting. The meeting for Level 1 projects is known as End Stage Assessment C, and can be formal or informal. This presentation will help the Performance Board decide on authorising the project to move into the last stage Closing a Project. If agreed, then you can move onto the next stage. The authorisation should be recorded and filed in the Project File.
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| 4.8 Information Checklist Controlling a Stage |
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The following form should be used to monitor and track the information gathered during Controlling a Stage.
Performance Data (KPIs) on Capital projects exceeding £50K, should be reported to Property & Procurement for collation and benchmarking purposes. A data collection template is available in the appendices.
All projects can be recorded on the Councils SPAR system.
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| 5. Closing a Project |
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Before Closing a Project can begin, you must have received authorisation from the Performance Board. You will have presented the management products from Controlling a Stage, and a commitment to accept that the project is completing will have been made by the Performance Board.
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Closing a Project will ensure that the project is brought to a controlled and tidy end. The management products in this section assist with:
- Prepare for Project Closure
- Summarise outstanding issues
- Document Lessons Learned
- Get formal close authorisation from the Performance Board
The following table lists the Management Products that will be created in this process, and the information each will provide.
| Management Product | Information Provided |
| Lessons Learned Report | Information on what went well, what didnt go well, and what you
recommend for future projects. |
| End Project Report | A report on how the project was managed. Summarising
whether the project was managed and completed as planned. |
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| 5.1 Lessons Learned |
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Company Name is committed to continue improvement of project management standards. To support this initiative it is important to record management techniques that we would want to build on.
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The Lessons Learned Report is a simple report that gives the author the opportunity to feed back to the council details of what went well and what didnt. A template is in the Template Guide.
The main benefit of this comes when you refer back to this information in the future when starting new projects.
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| 5.2 End Project Report |
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The final step for your Level 1 project is to complete the End Project Report. The information in the End Project Report will include:
- How the project achieved its objectives (originally recorded in the Project Brief)
- Details of the projects performance against the timescales and costs outlined in the plan
- Summary of changes and how these were handled
- Summary of the products delivered and any comments on quality checks
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A template for the End Project Report is available in the Templates Guide.
In some projects it might be necessary to plan for a review to establish whether benefits that were originally identified are indeed being achieved. This is known as a Post-Project Review Plan. The actual review will happen some time after the project has finished.
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| 5.3 Project Closure Authorisation |
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In order for the project to be formally closed, the Performance Board need to review the project files. In particular, the End Project Report should confirm to the Performance Board that the project has delivered the products that were required - to the quality required.
The Project Closure authorization for Level 1 projects is known as End Stage Assessment D.
Once agreed, the project can be closed and the project files can be archived.
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| 5.4 Information Checklist Closing a Project |
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The following form should be used to monitor and track the information gathered during Closing a Project.
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