• The 13 checks you need to make sure your project gets off to a flying start.
• 8 essential checks to do at the end of the design phase.
• The quality checks you need to do at every key milestone during delivery.
• The 10 vital checks you should do before going live.
• 11 checks to ensure a controlled project close.

Project Management

At the start of the Project

• 1. Have the project sponsor and key stakeholders been identified?
• 2. Did the key stakeholders participate in the planning?
• 3. Have the sponsor(s) and major stakeholders formally approved the Project Definition?
• 4. Are the objectives, scope and deliverables clearly defined?
• 5. Are the resource requirements adequate?
• 6. Do the team members understand the time required and the deliverables they are responsible for?
• 7. Have the managers of team members that are not allocated full time to your team agreed to have the people available when you need them?
• 8. Do the estimated effort, cost and duration appear reasonable?
• 9. Is there an approved project schedule in place?
• 10. Does the schedule contain the full project scope?
• 11. Does the schedule contain milestones that can be used for follow-up QA checks?
• 12. Does the schedule contain a quality assurance process?
• 13. Do Project Management Procedures exist to define how the project will be managed?

Project Delivery

The end of the initiation/design phase

• 14. Were the initiation phase deliverables completed? For example, Project Initiation Document (PID), Detailed Project Schedule, Risk Register, Project Management Plan, Quality Management Plan, PMBOK Management Plans.
• 15. Were the initiation phase deliverables signed-off by all pre-defined approvers?
• 16. Is the project following the approved project methodology? Are there any exceptions or exclusions?
• 17. Is the project set-up on the project management software?
• 18. Is the project cost management accounting in place?
• 19. Are all resources booked/confirmed for the next phase?
• 20. Is the project following appropriate company and customer guidelines and policies? Are there any exceptions/exclusions?
• 21. If the project won’t follow any appropriate company procedures have the exceptions been signed-off?

Quality checks at agreed milestones during build / implementation phase

• 22. Is the schedule being used to manage the work performed by the team?
• 23. Does the schedule accurately reflect the remaining work effort?
• 24. Can the project manager clearly explain where the project is vs. where it should be at this time?
• 25. Are all the deliverables specified in the Project Initiation Document on track to be completed?
• 26. Are the project finances being actively managed to complete within the budget?
• 27. Is the project on track in terms of cost, duration and quality?
• 28. Are existing risks being managed and new potential risks being identified?
• 29. Are issues being addressed and resolved in a timely manner?
• 30. Are change requests being properly identified and managed?
• 31. Were any major changes encountered that require that the Project Initiation Document be updated?
• 32. Are status reports and status meetings being utilized?
• 33. Are key stakeholders being communicated to effectively?
• 34. Is the customer happy with the project progress so far?
• 35. Are quality assurance processes being used appropriately?

Ahead of launch / go-live

• 36. Is an appropriate plan in place for go-live?
• 37. Is the plan sufficiently detailed so that the whole go-live team know what they need to do and when they need to do it. Are different time zones taken into account in the plan?
• 38. Is there a communication plan in place with contact details for everyone involved in the go live?
• 39. Is it clear who to contact in the event of a critical issue or emergency?
• 40. Are there appropriate roll-back plans in place in case of launch/go-live failure?
• 41. Are appropriate business continuity plans in place post launch?
• 42. Are any issues/defects/tasks outstanding? Is there a plan in place to complete them?
• 43. Has the customer approved the go-live/launch plan?
• 44. Have all resources required for go live been briefed and their time secured?
• 45. Have all users been trained?
• 46. Is there appropriate support in place immediately post go-live? For example, experts available on shop floor on launch day.

Project Close

At the close of the project

• 47. Have all resources been decommissioned?
• 48. Is there a plan in place to assess the benefits? In other words, how will you measure the success of the project against its objectives?
• 49. Have all deliverables been approved and agreed as completed/done?
• 50. Is there an appropriate plan in place to resolve any outstanding issues?
• 51. Has a post-project review meeting been completed?
• 52. Have Lessons Learned been captured and communicated with the project team and stakeholders?
• 53. Is there a plan in place to ensure lessons learned will be incorporated into company processes and methods?
• 54. Have all project close documents been completed?
• 55. Have all project close documents been approved/signed-off?
• 56. Have the project deliverables been transitioned/handed over to operations. For example, has new software been handed over with appropriate documentation to IT support?
• 57. Has the project been closed appropriately in the project management system?
• 58. Have the project accounts been closed and signed-off?