Project Healthcheck

Overview

A Project Health Check is a formal procedure which is applied on an as needed basis to assess the status of a project at the time of the review and to recommend actions which will maintain or improve the quality of project delivery.

Format

The Project Healthcheck Review comprises the following:-

Definition of aims, sources of information and procedure to be followed
Interviews with key staff
Audit of techniques and processes used to manage the project in the context of defined best practice
Preparation of report detailing findings and recommended actions
Presentation and review of report

Actions agreed as a result of the review will be adopted within the ongoing project

Areas Assessed

The areas to be covered during the Healthcheck are shown below; please note that these may be adjusted to the focus of the healthcheck:-

Project description - include background, size (cost, revenue, man days), time-frames (including major milestone dates), expectations, assumptions, key milestones, major deliverables, dependencies internal and external to the project, and resourcing
Project documentation - contractual position (fixed price/time and materials/time hire), deliverables/services, terms and conditions, project baseline, statement of requirements, objectives, proposal, clarification documentation, plans and deliverables
Project organization - structure, organization, key staff, resource plan (including commitments versus requirements versus actual), understanding of requirements, terms of reference, roles/responsibilities, lines of communication, planned absences (training, holiday etc.) and staff schedules
Third parties - role/responsibilities (names, roles), contractual agreement, dependencies, structure, deliverables and plans
Sub-contractors - role/responsibilities (names, roles), contractual agreement, terms of reference, relationship with client and deliverables
Client - organization, key performance indicators and critical success factors documented, key staff (understanding of business objectives, roles/responsibilities, dependencies), steering group (organization, role/responsibilities, dependencies) and acceptance responsibility
Environment/special requirements - hardware and network dependencies, telecommunications limitations, number of sites, dependencies on other projects, interfaces to other systems, integration (with what and how), technically demanding requirements and imposed performance criteria
Current project status reports - most recent project status reports produced
Project plan - is it "realistic" and achievable (who says)? Can any changes to the baseline plan be tracked, quantified and managed through change control? Is this the same plan as approved at bid or included in the contract? Are all the items which have been completed or started part of the agreed plan? Have any activities been removed from the plan and are they documented? Covered by/resulting from change controls? Is it evident from the plan what work has been done? Is it evident from elsewhere that work has been done/accomplished? Has the plan been approved/accepted? What are the planned activities for the next period? Do these meet what needs to be done?
Client deliverables - have they been reviewed/accepted? Do they meet requirements/expectations and have they been signed-off?
Measurements - effort planned versus effort used, explanations for variances, are the variances covered by change control or explained and/or accepted by the Client?
Project risks - what are the risks and their likely impact? Is the risk register up to date? When were the risks last reviewed and by whom, what risks require management attention and who knows about them? What is the status of each risk? Have new risks been identified, evaluated and documented? Have the older ones actually materialized? Is there good evidence that senior Client management respond (in a timely manner, or otherwise) when issues are escalated to them?
Project financials - current spend versus budget, forecast spend versus budget, unplanned expenditures, reasons for the over/under spend, cash flow analysis done, what can be recognized, what cannot and why?
Client relationship - attitude to the project, the project management relationship, account management, team relationships
Next period?s activities - estimate to complete (revenue, cost and effort), risks, issues and actions. Does the plan include all anticipated items to complete the assignment? Are any items being added or deleted from the plan (using change control)? Has any additional effort or cost been identified, measured and approved? Are there any delivery date implications? Have suitable resources been identified and allocated (including client)? Acceptance strategy and plans prepared? Is pre-production planning underway and is it available to the team? Is training of Client staff/transfer of information planned/in progress/complete? Are the overall costs and delivery dates acceptable to Client?
Post implementation support - what is included in the Contract? Can this be provided by Client resources?

Results

Results from the Inspection or Review are provided in a report with the following contents::-

Scope and Objectives
Summary of key findings
Summary of Responses - Project Team Members
Summary of Responses - Management
Healthcheck Results - Summary