Typically, you might need a lot of team members for a project. Of course, not all projects need a huge team. Irrespective of the size and nature of the project, it would be better to have a Project Management checklist. In turn, as a Project Manager, you can manage the project with ease. The checklist will help all people involved in the project to stay organized. Even, it might help with the completion of tasks on time. Also, it will be possible to understand how the responsibilities of each member contribute to the success of the overall project. If you are a project leader, this checklist can be of great help with monitoring the project.

Project Management Checklist – Understand the Meaning:

A Project Management checklist is nothing but a document that is used for keeping track of all the goals, resources, deadlines and tasks essential for the project completion. This checklist is frequently used by supervisors, team leads and Project Managers of all projects in an organization. They use it for organizing and keeping an eye on the progress of the different elements of a project.

Importance of a Project Management Checklist:

You might be a Project Manager, leader or any other key person in this project. You can expect the benefits listed below when you have a Project Management checklist:

Easily Manage Multiple Responsibilities at the Same Time:

In some organizations, Project Leaders and Managers have a lot of responsibilities. With a huge list of responsibilities and tasks to perform, naturally, they can overlook certain things. But, when you have a Project Management checklist, it will help you keep track of all assignments. Even, you can effectively manage all people contributing to the project when you have this checklist handy.

Get Clarity on Where to Begin:

Projects can have many sub-tasks to perform. So, it can turn challenging for some team members to understand which tasks to focus on first. But, with a Project Management checklist, you as a Project Leader can get a greater ability to advise your team members. In other words, you can make your team members understand the tasks they should complete first. Also, you can explain to them in what order the tasks are to be completed. Even, the method to be followed for the completion can be explained to the team members.

Reduce the Probable Risks:

When you have a Project Management checklist, you can plan tasks and assignments in advance. In turn, you can bring down the possibilities of risks by judging issues before they actually pop up. As you know, prevention is always better than correction. In this way, the checklist can function as an effective tool for you.

Efficient Handling of Resources:

With a Project Management checklist, you can effectively plan your time allotment for different tasks. Not only time, but also you can plan effective management of other resources like money and your workforce in advance. So, last-minute identification of lack of resources can be avoided with this checklist.

So, for these reasons, similar to having a clear idea of Project Management process steps, it would be better to have a checklist for the project.

Project Management Checklist:

Now, you know the importance of having a Project Management checklist. But, what should be part of your checklist? 

A Clear Goal Statement:

The goal statement denotes the short-term goals to achieve not only for you but also for your team. The goal statement should undoubtedly be the base for each phase of the project. Your goal statement should be created in such a way that you can find the answer to the following questions:
 

• How will you reach your desired short-term goal?

• What outcomes do you expect?

• Why a standard process is necessary to achieve the goal?

It will not be an overstatement to say that the ability to answer these questions succinctly and quickly will turn out to be a goal-changer in each phase of the project.

Identify and Plan the Available Resources:

The creation of a resource plan is highly crucial as the chances of having access to unlimited resources may reduce as the project moves. It is better to ensure that you identify the software, equipment and people essential for your project completion.

A Work Breakdown Structure:

Your top management and clients can have a lot of ideas. Nevertheless, it is your responsibility as a Project Manager to establish whether those ideas are practical or not. Particularly, you should decide whether the ideas are feasible concerning objectives and resources. To make things clear, it is better to create a work breakdown structure or WBS.

It will aid you with defining every activity and task to be completed for finishing the project. It will help you with the identification of all your requirements. Then, you can break them down into completable tasks. Also, it will help you understand task dependencies and which task to be completed first and which should follow. 

When you have WBS, you will clearly see all the resources required for completing different tasks related to your project. 

Meet with Other Project Managers and Stakeholders:

In your Project Management checklist, you should include meeting with other Project Managers and stakeholders. Stakeholders are those, who have invested or going to invest in the project. It means that they will be particular about the outcome of the project. Also, they will have expectations for planning the project methods. So, as a Project Manager, it is your responsibility to meet with stakeholders. Also, you should plan a meeting with other Project Managers as well. Further, it is better to plan things with leaders in other departments, clients, vendors, individual contributors to the project and internal management.

Create a Project Plan:

One of the crucial checklists for Project Management is to ensure that you have a rightly-framed project plan. A project plan will work as a broader document that will provide details about the deliverables, scope, vision, objectives and goals of your project. Even, it will highlight all tasks, workflows and activities. You can use project planning tools for creating the project plan. You can use an online tool by providing all details about your project to create a project plan. The right project plan will help you in many ways like:
 

• Makes the process and activities clear towards achieving deliverables and output of the project

• Provides you with the information that enables you to make proper estimates and define the scope and output of the project

• Provide you the chance to visualize the whole project

• You can get to see the interdependencies between tasks related to the project

• Help you show who will be responsible for which tasks in your team. So, you can forecast your resource requirements accordingly

• Provides you with the milestones for tracking the project progress

• Enables you to keep track of the project and process progress

• Provides you the agreement of all crucial live dates related to the project.
   

Follow RACI Matrix:

The success of the project is the outcome of joined efforts. Yes, you will agree that you cannot move forward when your team does not work as per your plan. To make an ideal Project Management checklist, it is better to follow the RACI Matrix:
 

• R here denotes, who is responsible for which tasks

• A denotes the accountability for tasks

• C denotes consulted. It means who should be consulted for which tasks

• I denotes Informed, which means who should be informed of the progress of each task.

When you follow this matrix in Project Management process steps, you can gain better clarity. Even, it will help you with the delegation of tasks effectively. Also, you can gain complete clarity of the project progress then and there until the project completion.

Create A Vision:

Of course, you started the Project Management checklist with a clear goal statement. When this goal can be short-term, you should also ensure that your project has the vision to achieve it. It is hard to gain the momentum required to kick start the project without a proper vision. Similar to short-term goals, your vision should help you find answers to the following questions:
 

• How will the project benefit the stakeholders?

• What will be the overall outcome of the project?

• Where does the project fit into the overall business strategy?

A Proper Communication Plan:

An essential Project Management checklist is to check whether you have a proper communication plan. It will give clarity to all people involved in the project to know how to communicate all through the project. Communication is important between team members, team managers, leaders and other key people. The communication plan includes the following based on the project duration and type of project:
 

Methods to follow for documenting all communications

Communication intervals with stakeholders to give them project updates

When will be the first meeting of all those in the project before the project instigates?

Frequency of meetings between the team members and team leads.  

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Conclusion:

You know the importance of the right Project Management checklist. Yes, you are right. It can provide the right foundation for the overall success of the project. So, with these tips, create the best Project Management checklist. You will see how beneficial it is as the project moves forward.