Lesson 3 Overview

Now that we've discussed what a project is and how it fits into the organizational system view, we can begin to define a project. A critical aspect is what the project will accomplish. In this lesson, we will discuss how to select projects carefully and define projects precisely. We will look to the scope of the project to meet these needs.

Learning Objectives

By the end of Lesson 3, you should be able to:

• understand how GIS projects and GIS use should address an organization's mission and business needs
• describe how strategic planning should influence projects undertaken by an organization
• define the scope of a project and its relationship to deliverables
• understand how to identify project benefits and prepare a convincing business case justification
• describe the importance, use, and design of a project charter

See the checklist page for readings, quiz, and assignment work in this Lesson.

Questions?

If you have any questions or would like to brainstorm ideas, please contact the instructor by phone or email. Also, feel free to communicate with your fellow students via the Discussion Forum or email.

Lesson 3 is one week in length. (See the Calendar for specific due dates.) This lesson deals with project scope—defining the project work and how that work will be carried out. To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions.

Before we begin discussing what the scope of a project is and why it's important, let's discuss how an organization may identify potential projects.

In the previous lesson, we discussed the mission statement, which can be thought of as the reason an organization is in business. Some government, non-profit, and private-sector organizations have both a mission statement and a formal "vision statement". Think of the vision statement as a description of the nature, characteristics, or "personality" of the organization—what it is now or what it strives to be in the future. The Mission statement complements the Vision by saying how the organization will sustain or realize that vision in the future. It also quite common for an organization to include a set of high-level goals to augment and elaborate on the mission and/or vision—usually about 5 to 10 concise, future-orientated statements that serve to guide and direct the organization's work.

The strategic plan addresses long-term objectives of an organization and ties the organization's mission to its business requirements. Organizations may have a strategic plan that directs activities for the entire organization, but there are often strategic plans that provide a long-term picture and direction for major IT or GIS initiatives as well (e.g., full development of a multi-departmental enterprise GIS program for a large city government). The specific format and length of strategic plans vary considerably, but good ones include the following "strategic foundation" components, including:

• identification of internal and external stakeholders
• context—the organization’s mission and goals
• critical success factors (technical, organizational, or financial variables and requirements with major influence on plan acceptance and accomplishment, e.g., staff skills, senior management support, continued funding)
• mission statement (and sometimes an accompanying vision statement)
• high-level goals—referring to a range of technical and organizational development areas that can be addressed by projects

Some strategic plans are more detailed, containing additional information on high-level work initiatives, schedule, cost projections, and a business case which financially justifies the allocation of resources to do the work. A well-crafted strategic plan provides a clear basis for specific projects that are carried out to meet stated goals and to keep project work on track. The strategic plan is also an effective tool to communicate with and engage stakeholders, senior management, and external organizations, the long-term purpose of project work.

Take a look at the following excerpted GIS strategic plan for the City of Rio Rancho, NM. The purpose of this plan was to provide high-level direction for a major citywide enterprise GIS development—which encompassed a range of technical and non-technical project activities. This strategic plan shows how to tie the organization's strategic direction with this major GIS development effort.

As discussed briefly by Schwalbe (subsection 4.2) and Croswell (subsection 2.5.2), there are different methodologies for evaluating current status of GIS in and organization and capturing information useful in strategic planning. One of these is "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges" (SWOC) evaluation. Note: Sometimes a "T" for "threats" replaces the "C". SWOC evaluation is an organized way to summarize essential points about current status and factors on which to focus project work. Table 3-1 shows the basic format of the SWOC matrix.

An actual example of a SWOC matrix for a GIS program is shown in Table 3-2. This was one output from a GIS needs assessment—for development of a campus-wide GIS program in a mid-size University (to map and manage buildings, utilities, roads, parking, etc.).

Project Scope and Deliverables

Once a project is identified as something that an organization would like to pursue, the first step is to define the scope. The scope refers to all work that will be done to complete the project and what processes will be followed to accomplish this work. Clearly defining the scope is a critical component of successful project management. Poorly-defined scopes can result in clients getting less than they expected, project workers doing more than they expected, clients being unable to use the results, or project workers being unable to achieve the required results. If a scope is not clearly defined, it is not possible to prepare an effective work plan (defined tasks) and schedule.

Deliverables are products or specific results that are identified and defined in the project's scope of work. For example, in a project involving the design and development of a custom Web-based GIS application, the main deliverable is the fully developed, tested, and deployed application (ready for access by users). This and other types of GIS projects may have other defined supporting deliverables, such as an application requirements/design document and user documentation. A main deliverable for a field data collection project would be the final data (after quality reviews) loaded to the organization's GIS database. For effective management of the project, it is critical to include, in the project's scope, a description or specifications of each deliverable—to guide the work and manage quality.

Managing the scope of a project involves all of the process groups we discussed in Lesson 2 — initiation, planning, definition, controlling, and closing. In this lesson, you will initiate the project by creating a project charter (an internal document for the City) for the City's geodatabase design and development project. In the following weeks, you will plan and define the scope of the project. An important aspect of this will be to create a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS), which we will discuss, and you will create in Lesson 5. Some of the most challenging problems in project management are changes or requests for changes to the scope that occur during the implementation phase of a project. Change control is vital with such issues. The topic of change management will be addressed in Lesson 8.

A project charter is a document that formally establishes a project and the commitment made by the organization to carry out the project. An effective charter provides a high-level description of the project and specific commitments for resources or participation by stakeholders (e.g., specific departments or offices in an organization that will have major roles in project work). In a sense, a project charter is an internal agreement among project stakeholders (senior managers of organizations or departments) that confirms and documents commitments by project participants. The PMI recommends that a formal charter be prepared for ALL projects (see PMI PMBOK Section 3). In practice, formal project charters are not the norm—but they should be. Sometimes, other types of formal documents or instruments may serve the same purpose as a charter (e.g., memoranda of agreement or inter-agency agreements). It is a best practice to prepare a project charter for major projects in which there are multiple departments or organizations participating in project work or providing funding for project support. Some organizations may create a project charter from a standardized template, while other organizations may take a more free-form and adaptable approach. The best project charters are relatively brief, with summary information about the proposed project. In some cases, they may reference more detailed, external documents (like a cost-benefit analysis or business case). While there is no single, accepted format for project charters, well-designed project charters should not include extreme project details and usually contain the following major parts:

• Title (including clear name of the project), author name and affiliation, and date
• Summary of project purpose and objectives
• Anticipated start date and project length
• Project manager's name
• Project sponsors (senior officials who acknowledge support for the project)
• Summary of scope and deliverables
• List of stakeholders and the group(s) for which deliverables are being prepared (e.g., users, customers)
• Projected budget and resources required (including contract or vendor costs and expected internal staff resources required)
• Business Case (summary of benefits for the organization)
• Identification of the project manager and key project team members
• Management approach (summary of approach for communications, monitoring, and status reporting)
• Initial risk and major assumptions
• Formal sign-off: name, title, affiliation, and signature of senior managers and decision makers who contribute money or staff resources for the project

See Croswell (2022), Subsection 2.10 for more information about project charters. There is not a single, accepted format for project charters, but they are written for senior people in the organization. For this reason, charters should not include detailed scope or work plan information. Keep the charter high-level with a focus on how the project supports the organization's mission and business, the resources required, how it will be managed, and how it will benefit the organization. One example of a GIS project charter is this City GIS Web Mapping Project Charter.

Now that we've talked about a project charter, you will have an opportunity to create one! The Assignment 2 Web page provides directions for project charter preparation.

Assignment #2 Overview

Assignment #2 is to create a project charter for the City of Metropolis Geodatabase Design and Development Project.

In this scenario, you are the City's project manager (Lucille Geodata in the Public Works Department) assigned responsibility for the City of Metropolis Geodatabase Development Project. The City of Metropolis RFP for contractor services was prepared by you and other City project team members. This request for proposal (RFP) document provides detailed information about the project scope and management and is the formal means for soliciting proposals from and selecting a contractor to carry out project work in collaboration with the City's project team. As stated in Section 1 of the RFP, the project involves the development of an ArcGIS geodatabase (that contains up-to-date data on City signs, pedestrian walk signal devices, and ADA pedestrian hazards) AND custom GIS applications that support future City access and update of the data. Work includes database design, evaluation and use of existing data sources, field data collection, and application development for ongoing City database updates.

As City Project Manager, it is your responsibility to create a charter for this project as a way to summarize the project scope, timing, resources, management, business case, and confirm commitments from key City stakeholders. The sponsor of this project, the Director of the City's Public Works Department, has asked you to prepare the project charter.

Your Submittal for Assignment #2

For Assignment 2, create a charter for the City of Metropolis geodatabase design and development project. The Charter serves the key role of providing a high-level description of the project, its benefits for the City, and commitment of resources (monetary and staff time) for carrying out the project. This commitment of resources positions the charter as a type of “internal contract” documenting the formal participation of commitment of resources by the various stakeholders (City management and participating departments). The charter, therefore, is not just a summary of elements from the RFP; it should persuade upper management that the project is good for the organization and that it’s worth the commitment of the required resources.

You know from the course content and readings in Lesson 3 that there is not a single prescribed format for a project Charter, but the general rule is that it is a high-level document—concise and aimed at senior management, not technical staff. This is a City document—the selected contractor is not involved. You should assume that this charter is prepared at a date prior to any selection of a contractor (although the RFP document preparation is in progress).

At a minimum, the Charter should include the following topics and parts:

• Cover page with a prominent title and all necessary information identifying the course, assignment, author, and date. The main title of the document should be "Project Charter". The Cover Page should also reference "City of Metropolis" and the full project name. At the bottom of the Cover Page (right side is best), include the course name and number, assignment number, your name, and date.
• Table of contents.
• Brief description of what this Charter is and its purpose.
• Summary of project background and purpose: Mention the lead role of the Public Works Department, overall objectives, and the decision to use contracted services (via RFP) to carry out major work elements of the project. Emphasize that this is a City project—the Public Works Department is the lead, but other City Departments are involved. Make sure to make it clear that a City Project Team has been formally assembled (with Lucille Geodata as PM with representatives from multiple departments). mention the poor state of City and data and records and problems this is causing, and that this is the main driver for this project. Mention that the City intends to hire a private contractor to do much of the work and coordinate with the City Project Team—an RFP is in preparation at the time of this Charter (the RFP has not yet been released, and the City has not yet selected a contractor).
• Summary of project scope and deliverables: Include a description of major project activities and deliverables. You do not need to include all the project technical detail from the RFP document but include some narrative describiong the overall objectives and identify and describe each SD and MD deliverable. Stress the fact that the project will address current limitations with City data and records by carrying out a complete GNSS-based field data collection for signs, etc. (accurate locations, aattributes, and digital photos) and that the data, after quality checks, will be compiled into new geodatabse feature classes and loaded to the City's GIS database.  Also make mention of the MD4 custom GIS applications giving City personnel and effective way to keep the data updated (AFTER completion of the project).
• Project stakeholders and organization: Identify the City sponsor, Departmental participants (those City Departments that have staff people assigned to the project team), and the overall project team organization. Make note of the fact that the intention is to use contracted services to work with the City team to carry out much of the project design and development work (with oversight and quality checks by the City. A project organization chart is a good way to present this.
• Business case and main benefits*: Begin with a strong statement about why the City is launching this project (e.g., incomplete and poor quality data causing problems with operations and regulatory compliance) and include some narrative about how this project will address these problems. Then, include a bullet point list  of benefits that the City, general public, businesses will get from the project results. The RFP document hints at some of these but you will need to put yourself in the place of the City PM to come up with benefit ideas. There is no need to provide a lot of detail about each benefit, but this is an opportunity to “make the case” for the allocation of resources (time and money) for this project. Here's an example of a benefit: "Improved access to up-to-date sign and signal data, in GIS format, will add efficiency and cut down on time for infrastructure inspections and maintenance".
• Anticipated timing: This is a summary of the timing (dates) for key milestones (specific points in time) for main activities and deliverables of the project. A detailed schedule for project tasks should NOT be included here, just a few key milestones about project execution. Do NOT include milestone dates associated with the RFP and procurement process (e.g., RFP Release, Questions from respondents, proposal submittal due date)—start with the beginning of the project (see anticipated start date in the RFP).  It is appropriate to include 6 to 10 project execution milestones and dates. Be clear that this timing is a projection at this point.  The schedule will be formalized in the future with an approved work plan prepared by the selected contractor.
• Project budget: This is just a statement of the projected cost for contracted services. Don’t worry about coming up with a detailed budget—we will do that in Lesson 6. Just assume that a budget has already been approved and a project budget cap of $250,000 has been allocated. Put in a single dollar amount. Make sure to state that this number is just for contracted services (for contractor to be selected through the RFP process), not costs for City project team staff or expenses. The actual contractor budget will be defined through negotiations with the selected contractor.
• Formal sign-off: Identification of key senior management from the City departments that are formally involved and are committing resources for the project. In addition to the main sponsor and heads of participating departments, it is not a bad idea to include City leadership (e.g., City Manager). The Charter should have actual signature blocks for senior management people (identifying their affiliations and titles).

*There is no existing document with a list of benefits for this project, so you have to do some of your own "brainstorming". See Croswell, Section 2.6 to get some ideas about defining GIS benefits.  But there are other benefits too. Have some fun with this and come up with a bullet list of benefits that impact City departments as well as a broader community (e.g., business community and citizens).

The Assignment #2 submittal should be about 1,200 to 2,500 words in length. As is the case for all written assignments, the word count is a target to give you an idea about the level of detail expected. As a general rule, it is best to keep it concise and as brief as possible while still covering the necessary topics. No points will be deducted for submittals if they exceed the maximum word count by a small amount.

You can include other information in the Charter but remember to keep it concise, high-level, and to avoid technical detail. It is good practice to make reference to any important external sources or documents (e.g., the City’s RFP). 

As in all written assignments, you should include a cover page that includes the following information: a) course number and name, b) assignment number and name, c) your name, d) submittal date. The cover page should also have the full project name and document title ("Project Charter"). Your submitted assignment should be formatted as specified in the Format Quality of this assignment’s rubric below to earn maximum points. As you prepare this assignment, start with an outline, with sections and subsections that cover the topics above. We recommend that you use the Outline/Heading feature of your word processing software in document preparation. It is expected that you will organize the document into numbered and named sections. It is best practice today for technical and management documents to use a "decimal" outline numbering scheme (1., 1.1, etc.) as opposed to the older Roman numeral numbering approach. Submitting the Assignment

Assignment Submittal and Grading

View specific directions for submitting Assignment #2 and the Canvas calendar due date.

This assignment is worth 50 points. The grading approach is explained in the table below.

The instructor may deduct points if the Assignment is turned in late unless a late submittal has been approved by the Instructor prior to the Assignment submittal date.