Acceptance Test Agreement
This acceptance agreement document works great in conjunction with the quality
acceptance protocol document to ensure a formal and signed agreement that the
described acceptance quality criteria have been approved. In practice, there will usually be
some conditions for approval and a list of follow-up issues. This is also incorporated into the
template to ensure that no matter how fantastic and informal a relation exits between the
customer and the vendor, it is a highly recommended project management practice to
ensure that a quality acceptance agreement is created. It is a critical decision
documentation for ensuring transparent project processes. Sometimes there may also be
legal or contractual requirements, where written acceptance of the delivered product is
mandatory.
Advanced Risk Log
The advanced Risk Log (also called Risk Register) captures more details about each risk
than what is proposed in the Simple Risk Log template. It also includes a 5-point scale
instead of a simpler 3-point scale for rating likelihood and impact. I would always suggest
starting out with the Simple Risk Log Template, unless you have a very large project with
dedicated time and resources for risk management or a very high risk project. Active risk
management effort is always worth the effort because you might have some vague
symptoms of a problem and all of a sudden everything collapses. However, it can also be
very time consuming if it must be done at a very elaborated level.
Basic Gantt Chart
A Gantt chart, is one of the most popular and useful ways of showing activities (tasks or
events) displayed against time. On the left there is a list of the activities and along the top
is a time scale. Each activity is represented by a bar; the position and length of the bar
reflects the start date, duration and end date of the activity. At a glance one can
determine:
– What the various activities are
– When each activity begins and ends
– How long each activity is scheduled to last
– Where activities overlap with other activities, and by how much
– The start and end date of the whole project
This Gantt Chart Excel sheet does not have any hidden rows or columns. If additional rows
or columns are required, select the last row or column, then, on the Insert menu, point to
Row or Column to insert the additional row or column. This will insert the row or column
before the last row or column. Continue this process until all desired rows or columns are
inserted.
Before and After
Most larger projects result in changes to the organization that they are stated in. As part of
truly succeeding with the project, the organization must then learn to become comfortable
with theses change as well. Yet, rapid organizational change is profoundly difficult and
requires very clear communication on the reason for change and the consequences. This
slide can summarize drivers for change and its benefits in order to win the support of the
affected people.
Basis for Management Decision
Often in project execution, you will need to present a decision proposal to a steering
committee or a management team. This template is a simple way to capture and present
decisions or relevant data and propose a recommendation by the project. This template
supports an informed and timely decision making process.
Brief Weekly Status Report
With this template you can quickly create a simple short weekly status report. By updating
the slide during the week, you can quickly finish it on a Friday afternoon and enjoy the
weekend. The format of this project status report is fitted to provide a limited overview to a
project owner or senior management stakeholders.
Simple Project Charter
A project charter is probably the single most important document in the project. It´s often
used as the social document that authorizes the project and defines the mandate provided
to the Project Manager. It can also serve as the primary sales document for the project
including details on the high-level business case and motivation for the project. Finally it
works as a focal point throughout the project as the baseline and framework for the
project, especially regarding scope management. Often the project charter will be
elaborated in iterations during the early stages of the project lifecycle. This project charter
is a simple word template containing the most basic elements and can quickly be pulled
out and used.
Charter Approval Document
The project charter is formally accepted and approved by the project sponsor and other
designated stakeholders. Formal approval acknowledges the completion, review and
acceptance of all the deliverables produced during the Initiate Stage. It is a commitment to
dedicate the required time and resources for the project and ushers in the Plan Stage.
Signatures on the project charter document mark final approval of the charter, which is the
go-forward agreement.
Project RASCI Matrix
A Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RASCI) can be a very useful communication tool in a
project to ensure alignment and clear understanding of responsibilities within the project
team. Just fill in team members names or roles and assign responsibility to key project
areas, tasks, processes, etc.
Executive OnePager Status Report
With this template you can get your professional (monthly) project status re-port done
quickly and easily. Update all fields in the Excel file, save it and print it as pdf. You now
have a clean and professional status report in pdf file format for reporting progress to top-
level management.
PDCA Form
PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) is an interactive four step problem solving process. It is also
known as the Deming Cycle, Shewhart cycle and Deming Wheel. It is mostly used in
manufacturing and quality control but can also be used to implement small process
improvements or entirely smaller projects. Use this template as a dynamic document to be
updated as needed. For all steps in the PDCA it is very important to have one responsible
person and a well-defined deadline. It is also good practice to highlight with color when
deadlines are completed or overdue. See the example provided where green indicates
action completed and red indicates a deadline is missed.
Decision Tree Flowchart
A decision tree is traditionally a decision support tool used in operations management. It is
based on a tree-like graph or flowchart of decisions. Typically, it is also used for highlighting
details about the consequences of such decisions which could be resource costs, utilities,
etc. I find that in many complex projects, you will encounter the need for presenting a
decision flow in a way that is simple to understand and interpret. With a flowchart like this,
your project stakeholders are quickly able to understand the decision process after a brief
explanation. Also, a decision tree doesn´t have to have many parameters: yes/no can
sometimes be sufficient. Remember the KISS principle!
Lessons Learned Report
By completing a lessons learned session after each project phase or at least at the end of
the project, the organization retains and documents both successful and unsuccessful
project activities for future reference. This way new projects can repeat successful
activities and avoid those that were not successful. This simple Lessons Learned template
ensures the team’s impressions of what worked well and what did not work well are
captured.
By completing a lessons learned session after each project phase or at least at the end of
the project, the organization retains and documents both successful and unsuccessful
project activities for future reference. This way new projects can repeat successful
activities and avoid those that were not successful. This simple Lessons Learned template
ensures the team’s impressions of what worked well and what did not work well are
captured.
Change Impact and Solutions
As a project manager, you will sometimes be responsible for facilitating the process in
making complex decisions with a large impact involving many stakeholders. Should the
company lay out 50% of the workforce and automate the work with robots instead? There
is more to such a decision than a simple financial cost/benefit analysis. This template can
be used to highlight selected key topics from an analysis phase and explain how these
topics can be managed including the severity of the issue compared to the other topics or
the consequences. It can be a very powerful tool to facilitate a tough decision process in a
steering committee meeting or management team.
Detailed Project Timeline
The detailed project timeline provides a comprehensive, visual representation of the
objectives of the project. It illustrates an exhaustive list of events in the project. It helps to
visualize the key components need to be displayed in chronological order on a time
schedule. It was made for reporting to management and clients, or any audiences who
need to understand the detailed minutia of the plan or project.
Generic Project Risks and Preventive Actions List
Risk management is crucial in maximizing your chances of project success by identifying
risks early on and planning how to manage them. The following list of risks and proposed
mitigations or preventive actions should help you in this process. The list is far from
complete but contains the most generic risks that I have encountered in numerous
business and IT projects. If you work with a Construction firm, political campaigns or a new
product introduction project, these sample risks can be used as well but may need to be
supported by specific risk catalogues as well.
High Level Work Estimate Worksheet
Scoping projects at a high-level during early initiation or planning phases re-quires
estimating project activities. However, creating estimates can be a daunting task! Most of
the time we only have incomplete and vague information about precise requirements. This
is combined with a multitudes of unknowns. this can make it difficult to pin down a fixed
range of effort required. Despite this, you must always do you best to estimate how long
your project will take. Any estimate is better than no estimate!
To get started download the worksheet and fill it out with total hourly estimates for main
chunk of tasks in each project phase. This is best done as s brainstorming activity with your
project team. Note that the Total Estimated Hours number is updated automatically by
clicking CTRL+A, followed by F9 (This works in Microsoft Word 2013 and later).
Micro Project Charter
The Micro Project Charter templates puts all the important information about the project
and puts them in a concise format on a single page. In a nutshell, this single page charter
provides a picture of where you are going, why you are going there, who will be impacted,
the main risks involved, and who is going to help you. It’s crucial that the charter not only
establishes basic information, but also that it reflects the key stakeholders’ common vision
Post Go-Live Performance Review
The project go-live is usually the culmination of months of preparation and groundwork. Ton
ensure a successful project completion it is important to remain in control before, during
and after a go-live. With this template you can appoint Track Leads or relevant
stakeholders in your project to provide a high-level status on performance within their
domain. Use the presentation to facilitate (weekly) performance status meetings and as
post go-live status communication.
Project Closure Questionnaire
A questionnaire or survey is an efficient way for the project manager to collect feedback
about how the project has been perceived by key stakeholders and team members both in
term of business results and project management processes. With a survey, it is easy to
gain feedback on project execution and results, test if expectations were met and what
worked and did not work during project execution. A benefit from using a questionnaire is
that people who may not speak up during a lessons-learned discussion will likely provide
important feedback through a project closure questionnaire. Finally, by using a likert
questionnaire like this template, you get project closure metrics in addition to the free form
comments and inputs collected throughout the Lessons Learned template.
Project Evaluation Questionnaire
A questionnaire or survey is an efficient way for the project manager to collect feedback
about how the project has been perceived by key stakeholders and team members both in
term of business results and project management processes. A benefit from using a
questionnaire is that people who may not speak up during a lessons-learned discussion will
likely provide important feedback through a questionnaire. Moreover, most people can
manage to add a few comments and cross out some boxes in a Microsoft Word file.
However, you will need to do some data consolidation once you have all completed
questionnaires back.
Project Milestones Overview
Projects are often full of milestones. This slide show is an easy way to show key dates along
the project schedule, especially when multiple project tracks or multiple teams are
involved. The purpose of milestones is not only help your team stay on track, they are also
useful to determine if your project is on schedule.
Project Phases Detailed Overview
Is it crystal clear all your project stakeholders when the phases, milestones and toll gates
are planned for your project? What about main project activities and the expected outcome
of these along with the responsibility for each work package? If yes, then you do not need
to adapt this slide. If you are not sure, then you should quickly make this overview
available to all project stakeholders to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts because the
parties involved does not share the same understanding of where and how the project
execution is planned.
Project Status Meeting Agenda
The first thing to cover in a project meeting is any major updates from the project manager
(team). This could be decisions from Steering Committee, organizational changes
impacting the project, etc. The second thing to cover is the action items from the previous
meeting. Each assignee states the status of their action items. Remember to remind team
members about this before the meeting. It should not be a surprise for them. It can also be
a great driver for them to get actions DONE! Afterwards, for larger projects each Task
Leader or Workstream Responsible provides an update. For smaller projects, this agenda
point is irrelevant. Review of issues and risks are natural next agenda points. Finally, before
discussing any other business (AOB), you can provide a quick review of total project
progress. For most projects, a status meeting should never take longer than 1 hours. 30
minutes on a weekly basis should cut it for most projects of low-medium size and
complexity. A quick tip: Distribute meeting agenda well in advances (a day or longer).
Sending out agenda just before the meeting is starting, at the meeting or not at all(!) will
create frustration among meeting participants.
Risk Management Plan
All projects can run into trouble – even the ones that are carefully planned. It is always
good project management practice to document how to manage risks within your project.
Such a risk management plan can be very short and simple. It doesn´t have to be a 50-
page document with tens of procedures, especially for smaller projects where a simple plan
will work. The important part is to have a well-considered, documented and prepared
process for how to monitor and handle risks. Sooner or later, your project will face risks
that can potentially have a major impact and throw you for a loop.
Simple Change Request Form
As project manager, you need to ensure change requests are managed efficiently in your
projects. This is done by ensuring that formal documentation of each change request is
completed. If you fail to manage such changes in a controlled process, you project may
quickly fall victim to scope creep. Utilize this simple Change Request Form as a help to
capture a minimum of information in order to approve or reject the change request.
Simple Project Decision Log
There are a myriad of decisions to be made during a project lifecycle. A lot of decisions are
of minor character and should not require to be documented beside mutual verbal
agreements, in emails, etc. Nonetheless, there are certain key decisions you will want to
keep a formal record of. Depending on the project, you might track decisions using different
tools and formats. This simple Word file is an easy way to keep a formal log of key
decisions including decision date.
Simple Statement of Work
The statement of work (SOW) describes the procurement item in sufficient detail to allow
prospective sellers to determine if they are capable of providing the item. Sufficient
detail may vary, based on the nature of the item, the needs of the buyer, or the expected
contract form.
The statement of work may be revised and refined as it moves through the procurement
process. For example, a prospective seller may suggest a more efficient approach or a less
costly product than that originally specified. Each individual procurement item requires a
separate statement of work. However, multiple products or services may be grouped as
one procurement item with a single SOW.
The statement of work should be as clear, as complete, and as concise as possible. It
should include a description of any collateral services required, such as performance
reporting or post-project operational support for the procured item. In some application
areas, there are
specific content and format requirements for a SOW.
Weekly ABCD Report
This PowerPoint-based ABCD project status report is an efficient way to provide a short and
simple status of project progress. Don´t forget managers and project owners are busy
people who don´t have a lot of time to read. If they want more details, they will ask for it.
The ABCD format is ideal for weekly status updates with regular short time intervals. The
status report is always a good way to highlight and credit a team member when credit is
due. You could for instance thank a team member for an additional accomplishment or a
difficult task that is completed.