3. Describe the product and define the deliverables
Documenting a description of the product is an important task as these descriptions will be used to produce the deliverables. It may be helpful to think of the product as the whole or ‘bigger picture’ and the deliverables as the pieces that fit together to make the product. The description of the product as a whole is generally what is negotiated with the client and needs to be absolutely clear so that no miscommunication can occur.The deliverables, on the other hand, are the real/solid action you take within a project and are often used internally to keep track of how to create the product. There can be any number of deliverables within a single project and each should be documented in detail, despite their size or time they take to produce.
Deliverables can be items that are expected to be sent either internally or externally to a customer by a certain date! This action indicates a key milestone has been met.
Often , deliverables are dependent on another deliverable being completed first. This is common when managing a project with a multiple milestones, such as events.
4. Identify your team and other stakeholders
Identify your team to work on accomplishing the goals of the project, making sure you have the right people with the right skills, expertise, knowledge and experience to contribute is imperative to the success of the project. It is necessary to determine who on the project needs to approve which parts of the plan.The Team players can be broken into the following - Project sponsor, Project manager, Project team, End users, Others!
There needs to be a high level of commitment to achieving the common objective. There has to be effective participation and personal responsibility that the team members are up for the specific challenge of this project.
Similarly, the term ‘stakeholders’ refers to an organisation who may affect/be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project. There are two categories - Internal stakeholders and External stakeholders. You need to document who are your stakeholders on any project, as by defining who these are, you ensure that you cover all of their needs.
Stakeholder analysis is a key project management skill for classifying people who have influence over your projects.
You will know your project is successful if all of your stakeholders are happy