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Managing Project Documents
Amila Hendahewa, PMP
28th April 2011
2Managing Project Documents
Content
• Definitions
• Document Life Cycle
• Document classification
• Advantages of project documentation
• Disadvantages of documenting
• Impact of poor document management
• Selecting the optimum set of documents
• Document management as a strategic tool
• Tools & technologies
• Summary
3Managing Project Documents
Some Definitions (AIIM )
Document
“Recorded information or an object which can be treated as a unit"
E.g. Paper, Picture, Email, Sound, Movie, Fax
Document Management
The use of a computer system and software to store, manage and track electronic documents and
electronic images of paper based information captured through the use of a document scanner.
Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
Is the strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and
documents related to organizational processes.
Records Management
The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt,
maintenance, use and disposition of records, including the processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of
and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records.
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Document Life Cycle
CreateCreate CaptureCapture ProcessProcess ArchiveArchive
ExceptionException
DisposeDispose
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How many documents / document types will be used in a typical project ?
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• Project charter
• Project management plan
• Scope statement
• System requirements
specification
• WBS
• Project schedule
• Activity list
• Resource calendars
• Risk register
• Cost estimates
• Contracts
• Quality management plan
• Progress reports
• Change requests
• UAT
• Issue log
• Procurement documents
• Agreements
• Meeting minutes
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A simple project document classification
Permanent Temporary
External Deliverable
Permanent documentation as a deliverable from the project
Temporary documentation that is an external deliverable from the project but has no value once the project has been completed
For Internal Usage
Permanent documentation to support the maintenance and enhancement of the system
Temporary documentation which is only for internal communication
In terms of the lifespan and usage of project information, there are 4 main scenarios.
"Help" information, User Manuals,
Training Materials, Forms
discussion papers, draft documents, interim progress
reports
"Design Specifications,
Database Definitions, source code, process
diagrams
ideas, issues, control, working
papers
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Not all documents are the same
• external deliverables need to be of high quality,
whereas internal documents may be informal and
incomplete.
• permanent documentation will need to be updated as
circumstances change, but temporary documentation
will usually be left unchanged.
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Advantages of project documents
• As a means of proof (“If it is not in black and white, then it really
was not said”)
• As a point of reference for any clarifications the team may face
• Will minimize the possibility for different interpretations
• Is the primary medium for communicating
• It can minimize rework / errors (e.g. SRS)
• Allows for standardization of projects
• For future reference – lessons learned
10Managing Project Documents
Disadvantages of documenting in projects
• Considered as too administrative / bureaucratic
• Additional time and effort spent – increased project
cost
• Considered by team members as non-value-adding
• Ambiguity – who will create / own which document?
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Impact of poor document management
• More time spent on finding documents
• Confusions and conflicts
• Rework
• Loss of information
• Lack of visibility
• Strategic disadvantage
12Managing Project Documents
The key is to select the optimum set of documents for a project
Small Projects Medium size projects Large Projects
SRS Project charter Project charter
Design Document Inception Report Inception Report
Project Schedule SRS SRS
Issue List Project Schedule Project Schedule
UAT Design Document Design Document
Deployment Plan Deployment Plan
Partial UAT Partial UAT
UAT UAT
Technical specifications
Vendor Contracts
Test Cases
13Managing Project Documents
Document Management as a key differentiator
• Document management is an often less considered discipline
• The manner in which project documents are managed by project
managers can either be the driving force behind a project’s success
or a bottleneck.
• Project managers need to balance their time between administrative
work such as documentation and core activities such as managing
the project team and stakeholders.
• Having an effective document management system will help project
managers to minimize the time spent on documentation.
• Your document management strategy could make your organization
different in delivering projects
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Tools & Technologies that will help project managers on managing project documents
• Document Types & Templates
• Versioning
• Check in – Check Out
• Co-authoring
• In Place Records management
• Document Sets
• Unique document ID
• Document Capture & Archiving
• Manage emails
• Alerts
• Offline Support
• Mobile access
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Document types & templates
• Standardization / Ability to manage (update) from a central place
• Ability to run rules / workflows based on the template
• Ability to enforce relevant metadata
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Versioning
Manual versioning
• Separate file for each
version (Different file
names)
Automated versioning
• Single file (same file
name)
• Track history
• View and compare
• Restore at any time
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Check in – Check Out
• Avoid confusion while editing documents
• Control version numbers and metadata
• Find out who is currently editing a document
• Draft documents
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Co-authoring
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In Place Records Management
• Ability to declare a document as a record in the same location
Instead of moving the document to a specific Records Center
• The file stays where it is so the users can still find it
• Ability to implement rules once declared as a record
• Ability to declare documents as records either manually or
automatically. (e.g. six months after the last time that a document
is modified, the document becomes a record)
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Document Sets
• Ability to group different document types as one entity
• Ability to share same metadata (more consistent)
• Ability to version all documents as a whole
• Ability to download the whole document set together
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Unique / Permanent Document ID
• When content is reorganised, hyperlinks emailed that point to a
document will become invalid.
• Solution - Ability to assign a unique document ID that will not
change when a document is moved.
My Document
MKHYF5V6GAFS-1-1
JohnD JohnD
http://sitecollection1/_layouts/DocIdRedir.aspx?ID=MKHYF5V6GAFS-1-1
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Document Capture & Archiving
• Converting paper documents in to electronic format is
an integral part of any DMS.
• Especially used for contract documents.
• The ability to quickly retrieve a scanned document
(full text search)
• It can save lot of time and cost for the project team.
• Can extend in to Forms processing, workflows etc..
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Managing emails (and attachments !)
• Ability to save e-mail messages
in to the DMS (drag-and-drop or
a 'save on send‘)
• Share document links instead of
attachments
• Link email headers as metadata
to documents metadata.
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Alerts
• Is a very useful tool for everyone
• Email or SMS
• Send alert when– All changes, new item added, deleted, edited
• Frequency - Immediately, daily, weekly
• Contains a hyperlink to the relevant document
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Off-line Support
• Ability to work remotely / offline is a critical
requirement for modern day projects
• Enables team members to collaborate and be
productive even when they’re not connected
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Mobile Access
• Exponential growth of mobile device
usage
• Ability to access / view as well as
create / capture documents from
mobile devices
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Summary
• A document is not only a printed paper
• Importance of documenting - “If it is not in black and white, then it
really was not said”
• Lack of focus on document management as a knowledge area
• Proper document management could be a strategic differentiator
for your organization.
• Not all documents are the same. Selecting the right set of
documents is crucial for project success.
• There are many tools available that can help save lot of time and
effort for project managers – e.g. Co-authoring
29Managing Project Documents
Thank you
Questions?
W : www.sanje.com / www.TechOneGlobal.com
30Managing Project Documents
References
• PMBOK
• AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management)
• Managing the project document - By Neil Stolovitsky
• Get your project's documentation right the first time - By
Jason P. Charvat
• The ePMbook - Simon Wallace
• Practical Project and Process Documentation By
Neil S. Potter and Mary E. Sakry