In international projects the plan runs at head office and implementation runs locally. Weekly reports and change requests create a regular flow of translation, and consistency of terms has to be maintained for months.
Project charter
The purpose, scope, stakeholders and limits of authority are defined. It is the first document looked at in arguments over scope. The definitions are not widened.
Scope statement
What will be done and what will not be done are stated separately. The out-of-scope list is at least as important as the scope. The list is carried over in full.
Work breakdown structure
Work packages are numbered hierarchically. The numbers match the budget and the schedule. The numbering is kept.
Schedule
Activities, their durations and their dependencies are shown. Activity names must be the same as in the work breakdown. Different naming prevents tracking.
Critical path
The chain of activities that determines the end date is marked. A delay in this chain is passed straight on to the project. The marking is kept in translation.
Resource plan
Who will work on which activity and for how long is planned. Role names match the organisation. Durations are given in person-days.
Budget tracking
Planned and actual cost are compared. Item names are kept fixed. Variance explanations are short and must be concrete.
Status report
What was done in the period, the obstacles and the next steps are reported. The report format is fixed. Section headings are kept.
Traffic light indicators
A colour-coded status is given for scope, time and budget. The colour definitions are explained in the document. Without the explanation a colour cannot be interpreted.
Risk register
Risks are listed together with likelihood and impact. For each risk a measure and an owner are stated. The match is kept in the table.
Issue log
Problems that have materialised are tracked in a separate log. A risk and an issue are different and are not mixed up. The two logs are kept separate.
Change request
The request is submitted together with a justification and an impact analysis. The effect on scope, time and cost is stated separately for each. Implementation without approval is prohibited.
Chain of approval
The level at which a change is approved depends on the authority matrix. The reference to the matrix is kept. Approval dates are recorded.
Acceptance criteria
The acceptance criteria for the deliverables are defined in advance. The criteria must be measurable. A vague criterion gives rise to a dispute.
Handover records
Each delivery is recorded in a handover record and the outstanding items are listed. The list is numbered. Closure is tracked through these numbers.
Lessons learned records
At the end of the project, what went well and what went badly are written down. These records are passed on to later projects. The text is translated without being summarised.
Stakeholder communication plan
To whom information will be given, how often and through which channel is planned. The plan table is part of the translation. Expressions of frequency are kept.
Consistency of terms
Hundreds of documents are produced over the course of a project, and most of them refer to one another. The termbase is set up together with the charter and updated with every new document. Without a termbase, consistency between reports is lost.