Evaluate Work Package Status
The job of the project manager is to first plan the work and then to give it out to the team. This is done via the PRINCE2 work package description.
This activity provides the means for regular assessment of the status of the work package. The frequency and formality of this activity will usually be aligned with the frequency of reporting defined in the work package description and supported by the stage plan for the current stage.
Recommended actions for the project manager for each work package in progress:
- Have informal conversations with the team manager to maintain the relationship and understand any issues or risks they may have with their work package
- Collect and review progress information from the checkpoint report for the work package being executed.
- If necessary, update the project log.
- Update the stage plan for the current stage with actuals to date, forecasts, and adjustments.
Once the team have accepted the Work Package they will then start creating the specialist products (executing a work package), and as a result of that, give regular progress reports to the project manager in the form of a Checkpoint Report.
This ensures that the project manager receives a regular assessment of the status of the work packages.
Of particular importance, is the progress being made in the creation of specialist products.
There are broadly three steps to this: first, the product is created, and this results in its draft status, then the quality check or quality review is carried – out independently from those who created the product, and finally approval is given by the appropriate person.
How often the Checkpoint Reports are created will be stated in the work package, and this also includes how formal such activities are to take place. For example, it may be a simple e-mail sent perhaps once a week or it may be a meeting.
The formality and regularity of the checkpoint reports will depend upon the level of risk, complexity, and experience and knowledge of the specialist team creating the products.
The project manager will want to gather progress information contained within the checkpoint reports to determine the progress being made.
The project manager will also want to assess the estimated time and effort used thus far, and also the estimated time and effort remaining for any unfinished work. This unfinished work may include current tasks or tasks yet to be started.
As part of accepting the work package, the Team Manager, or the team members themselves may have created a Team Plan. This Team Plan may have been passed in full detail to the project manager.
But if commercial circumstances and questions of confidentiality are considered, the project manager may only receive a milestone extract from the Team Plan.. The project manager will use this information to determine whether the work is being completed on time and to budget.
In addition, the Project Manager will ensure that the specialist products are meeting their quality criteria as laid out in their Product Descriptions and that issues and risks are being managed appropriately.
The project manager will review entries in the quality register to determine the actual current status of all quality management activities that have been undertaken, and liaise with the configuration management people (Project Support), to confirm that the Configuration Item Records for every product matches its current real-world status.
The project manager will also review the risk and issue registers and if required update them with the latest status.
Throughout the stage, the project manager will use the stage plan as the baseline reference points against which to manage monitor and control the stage. Therefore the stage plan should be updated at regular points with the latest status, current forecasts, and any adjustments needed to reflect future progress.
There is another activity, called a review of the stage status which I shall be discussing in another article. However you must understand that this activity, review the work package status, will now be used to review the stage status to ensure that the stage is continuing on plan and within tolerances.
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