Here is an outline of a typical assessment report:
- Background
- Sponsor
- Charter
- Trigger event
- Assessment team members
- Date of assessment
- Scope of review
- Key findings
- Recommendations
- Immediate action plans
When developing the assessment report, we analysed the project plan according to these criteria:
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
- Does one exist?
- Does it allow adequate tracking and control of project?
- Does each work package end with well-defined acceptance criteria?
- Does each work package end with a physical deliverable?
- Does the work include everything that we must do?
- Did the project team assign each work package to a resource?
Network diagram
- Does one exist?
- Does the project team update and maintain it regularly?
- Is it complete?
- Does it enable the project team to make schedule forecasts?
- Does it enable the project team to make resource forecasts?
- Is there evidence of constant schedule slips?
Resources
- Do resource histograms exist for each skill type?
- Do estimates of resources seem accurate?
Metrics
- Earned value
- Tasks completed
- Requirements change
- Configuration change
- Voluntary staff turnover
- Overtime rate
- Defect data
- Problem data
Variances
- Cost variance
- Schedule variance
- Resource flow variance
Key project indexes
- Cost performance index (CPI)
- Schedule performance index (SPI)
- To-complete performance index (TCPI)
Status tracking and reporting
- Verify that all work reported as "done" is in fact completed.
- Validate the current status of all activities.
- Investigate weekly and monthly status reports, problem and issues logs, and memos.
Management system and control processes
- What regularly scheduled meetings does management hold? With whom?
- How does the project team track and manage problems and issues?
- What reports are used? Who is using these reports? For what purposes?
- Is the project team tracking labor hours?
- What metrics and control structure is the project team using to manage the project?
- What processes are there? Did the project team document these processes? How adequate are they, given the project context?
In addition, during the assessment phase, project work must not stop. Work continues using a prioritisation scheme. Intensive communication among team members is essential during this phase in order to feed the work authorisation process.
6%
1%
