Controlling a Stage
Controlling a stage is how we ensure deliverables are met by keeping the focus on product delivery. This is a pretty hefty statement for a Project Manager as this is essentially where the Project Manager does most of their work.
During a Stage a PM will distribute Work Tasks to various teams, monitor and record the quality, update and maintain the business case as well as recording and managing risks & issues.
We often take input from the various teams with regards to their work and and deliverables, recording these in places such as the Quality Register and use those details to produce Highlight Reports.
A highlight report..
The Highlight Report is the method through which we report project progress to one or more key stake holders . These key stake holders might include one or more of the following:
- Project Board
- Steering Committee
- Project Sponsor
- Senior Management
- Product Owner
- Executive Committee
We use these highlight reports to provide brief updates with regards to successes, concerns, recent deliverables and planned deliverables. The highlight report would typically use RAG Status indicators for Budget, Scope, Schedule, Risk, Issue, etc.
The output from this highlight report can be used by your stake holders to decide if the project needs help, more money, more people, a more experienced PM or that perhaps the impact to budget and scope vs the risks might mean that the project is no longer viable.