The contents of the PID

This is the typical contents of the PID. Contents will vary between industries, project management methods and between organizations. READ ON FOR A LINK TO A FREE PID TEMPLATE.

• Document information
• Project description
• Purpose
• Project Objectives
• Scope and exclusions
• Project deliverables
• Interfaces
• Assumptions
• Acceptance Criteria
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Project Delivery
• Initial Risk Log
• Project organization Structure
• Communication Plan
• Quality Management
• Project Milestones
• Resource Plan
• Project Tolerance and Exception Process
• Appendices
• Record of amendments to the PID
• Deliverable / work package specifications
• Financial / Budget requirements
• Detailed schedules

Document information

• Title - [Project Name]
• Date - [use appropriate date format]
• Reference - a unique reference ID
• Version no. - [e.g. 0.1, 0.2 to 1.0 approved version]
• Author & revision record
• Approvals - record of reviews and approvals.
• Distribution - who received the document.

Project Description

Project summary

This section should give the reader a quick overview of the project so they understand which part of the Business Strategy or Program Plan it relates to, which departments and technology areas are involved, and what are the the key activities in the project.

Purpose

This section provides the rationale for the project and addresses some of the following questions.

• Why is this project being undertaken?
• Does it build on previous projects? What is the significant history of the project? What lessons have been learned and what are the implications?
• Is it a project which is being implemented to support another existing project?
• Is it a new aspect of work for the Business Strategy?
• What is the planned ROI (high-level)? This can link to the Business Case.
• What are the key touch points?

For most projects this section should be relatively brief, perhaps half a page. If a Project Brief has already been completed, it should provide the key information included in this section.

Project Objectives

This section identifies the key project objectives – what specifically will this project achieve? It should clearly link to the Program Objectives. It is likely to include active verbs such as replace, revise, provide, secure, create etc. It will reference Business Case, which is usually a separate document.

Scope and exclusions

Describe the major areas, deliverables, functions, and processes to be addressed during the project. This section could include a high-level work breakdown structure (WBS).

Example WBS: Get a template for a graphical Work Breakdown Structure

Get a template for a Work Breakdown Structure in Excel

Project Deliverables

Provide a complete list of the required deliverables/products/outcomes that the project must create or acquire. For a large project or program a number of deliverables might be produced which can be specified in this section. This section may include also links or references to each product’s Product Description.

Example table format:

Interfaces

Identify other groups or projects which have natural interfaces with this one and which need to be considered and consulted. The section should also set out any dependencies between aspects of this project and other activities within or outside the project. See example job descriptions for project managers

Assumptions

Outline the assumptions being made if the project is to be delivered to time and quality within the agreed resources. List anything that you have assumed when writing the PID even where you have no evidence to confirm. This should include assumptions such as any anticipated legislation, other projects delivering to time and quality or anticipated appointments to key positions.

Acceptance Criteria

Describe in measurable terms the criteria that Project Sponsor will use to evaluate and accept or reject the project deliverables and outputs. This might include conditions that are not related to products like delivery by a certain date.

Monitoring and Evaluation

This section should document how the project will be monitored and evaluated. For example:

• How feedback will be collected on the value of this project by users of the products.
• The monitoring and evaluation methods the Project Sponsor will use to determine that the project has been delivered to specification and has had the intended impact
• The time scales and key dates for collecting the above information
• How, when and to whom the feedback and the monitoring and evaluation findings will be reported.

Project Delivery

Initial Risk Log

Include the key risks to the successful delivery of the project. These should be specific to this project and not just a reiteration of the risks common to all projects. This section may include a table and will have typical risk register headings e.g. ID, risk description, impact, likelihood, proximity, mitigating actions, owner etc.

Project organization Structure

This section should include an organization structure for the project, preferably as a typical organization diagram. Also include the key roles and responsibilities. Some PIDs may include a RACI in a separate section.

Communication Plan

There may be two aspects of communication within a project: the first focused on the internal communication and reporting with regard to the delivery of the project, and the second focused on communication both internal and external about the nature of the project, its objectives and deliverables.

Internal Project Communication

Set out the process, timings and governance for internal project communication.

An example could be:
The table below may also be helpful:

External Project Communication

This section will not necessarily apply to all projects, but all projects are about delivering a change (something that was not previously there), for a business reason. To realise the business benefits a communication strategy will be needed, be that for internal staff impacted by the change or for external parties.

The plan could include: (amend as necessary)

• Communications Objectives
• The Audiences – both internal and external
• The Key Messages to be communicated to each audience
• The Channels of Communication
• An Activity Time line
• A Media Plan
• Evaluation method

Example table:

Quality Management

There are two aspects of quality management that can be considered with the PID: the first focused on securing high quality project management and the second focused on ensuring that deliverables are produced to scope, time and quality.

Quality Management of the Project

For some projects quality of project delivery may be provided through pre-existing governance provided by program, portfolio management or a project management office. In these cases this section may just require a reference to pre-existing policies and procedures.

Example text:

Quality Management of the deliverables

In this section document what the quality standards, quality assurance processes and quality checking will be for each project deliverable.

Example text:

For each deliverable specify:

• Deliverable: The deliverable title and ID.
• Quality standards: The standards against which the deliverable will be measured.
• Quality assurance: The processes needed to secure a high quality deliverable.
• Quality checking: The quality checks that will be made to ensure that the final deliverables meet the expected standards.

Project Milestones

List the project milestones (key points in a project life cycle). They might be target dates that must be met or delivery of important work packages or markers of progress. This section will likely contain a table with two columns one for the milestone description and the other for the milestone date. There may also be a third column for a milestone reference or unique ID.

Resource Plan

This section documents the resources - human and machine, that are required for the project. A description of all of the Roles and responsibilities will be included along with the named resources needed, their skill set, when they are needed, how long for and the associated costs. Get a Resource Planning Template.

Ideally this section will contain a resource histogram. A resource histogram is a bar chart that shows the amount of time that a particular resource is scheduled for over the project duration. This is hugely useful for resource planning and most project planning software will have reports or views which show a histogram for each resource.

Project Tolerance and Exception Process

Recommended Project Tolerance and a brief confirmation of the Exception Procedure to be followed in the event of a deviation from the approved plan which is forecast to exceed Tolerance (Project and Stage). Refer also to the Change Control Process that will be followed for this project. See example cost and time tolerances.

Appendices

Record of amendments to the PID

Keep a record of the amendments made to each version of the PID. This section may form part of a header/document information page, or if long may be more suited to an appendix.

Deliverable / work package specifications

Include the specifications for the work packages and project deliverables. For example, a unique reference for each deliverable, title, purpose, composition, format, owner, quality criteria, location/storage.

Example work package specification table:

Financial / Budget requirements

Document the budget, forecast, run rates, cost model as appropriate for the project.

Detailed schedules

Provide a detailed project schedule. For example, a Microsoft Project plan may be attached here or referenced in this section. Get ready made Microsoft Project Plans.

This may also include detailed team plans and resource plans. Get a Resource plan Template.