(Project) SIGN OFF PROCESS June 21, 2010

Purpose The Sign Off Process ensures: a structured approach for the documentation, review and approval of key deliverables across the project quality and consistency amongst project deliverables shared ownership for quality of the Project solution with the Business groups and ITS teams

Guiding Principles To ensure efficiency in the process, the following will serve as guiding principles: All key deliverables and their RASCI assignments will be tracked in the Document Repository Tool for all project teams RASCI will be utilized to drive accountability of sign off of key deliverables on the project. Signed off deliverables will be presented to Project Management, saved to PDF and posted to the Document Repository Tool Major changes to the deliverables (such as process or technical scope) after sign off will require a new sign-off All key deliverables will require formal signoff prior to exiting a project phase

RASCI The RASCI Model will be used to track each Deliverable through the appropriate review and sign-off process : Decision Role Description Responsible Completes task or objective, or makes decision Leads due diligence process, including gathering necessary input and information • Responsible for the performance of the task Authorize Key decision maker(s) for the deliverable (note: Typically a PM, business user and possible a vendor counterpart) • Holds final decision authority for the content of a specific project deliverable • Granting of approval indicates the individual has evaluated the idea/project and approves it in its proposed form Support Provides assistance to the Responsible party for documentation of the deliverable Individual holds no approval authority and may or may not be impacted by the deliverable Consult • Individual possessing perspective or information valuable to a deliverable • Perspective taken into account/used at the discretion of the Responsible. The approver – does not need to agree with decision Inform Individual who needs to know results of decision to effectively carry out existing role •Notified after decision is made

Sign Off Process

Process Steps Ref ID Process Step Description Input/Output Time Horizon Owner 1 Identify Key Deliverables & Log Document Repository Tool w/ RASCI Mapping At the start of each phase, the team leads, with Project Manager, will define the key project deliverables and load into the Document Repository Tool. The R, A, C of the RASCI model will be assigned to each deliverable, with specific resource names. When vendor(s) are involved, ensure that the vendor(s) are also identified as the ‘R’ for each deliverable. Input: SOW List of Deliverables Output: Key Deliverables Matrix/Updated Workplan Start of Phase Team (R) 2 Coordinate Review Session & Forward Draft to Reviewers (A, C) When a key deliverable is deemed 50% complete, a review session will be scheduled with key approvers and reviewers (A, C) to review deliverable content and solicit feedback. The deliverable owner (R) will forward the deliverable in its current state as a pre-read for the session Input: Key Deliverable Output: Scheduled Review Session 17 days out 3 Review Draft Deliverable Prior to Session (A, C) Prior to the session, the approvers and reviewers should examine the contents of the deliverable, noting any comments, questions, etc. This will facilitate the productivity of the review session Input: Key Deliverable (50%) Output: Key Deliverable w/ comments 17 - 14 days out Business Process Owners, Reviewers 4 Conduct Draft Deliverable Review Session (R, A, C) The team lead will organize a session to walkthrough the deliverable content with approvers/reviewers, answer questions and solicit feedback. Output: Key Deliverable (50%) 14 days out Team (R), Business Process Owners (A), Reviewers (C) 5 Submit Deliverable Changes to Owner (R) During or upon further deliverable review following the session, the approvers/reviewers may provide changes/feedback to be incorporated into the deliverable. Input: Deliverable changes Output: Submitted deliverable changes 7 - 14 days out

Process Steps (continue) Ref ID Process Step Description Deliverable I/O Time Horizon Owner 6 Complete Deliverable Content, with Reviewer Changes The team lead will driver the deliverable to completion (50% to 95%), integrating all changes submitted during or after the review session into the deliverable. Ensure to communicate any major changes to the reviewers and to track these in the Version Tracking section of the deliverable. Feedback should be sent within 3 days of the session Input: Submitted deliverable changes Output: Draft Deliverable 7 days out Team (R) 7 Coordinate/ Conduct a Technical Review The Technical Team will coordinate and conduct a review session of the functional team deliverables. The team will review the deliverable prior to the session and come prepared with questions. Any significant changes resulting from the Technical review will require updates to the deliverables before signoff can be obtained. Any minor changes (i.e. formatting) will simply be captured in the Technical team scope document Input: Draft Deliverable (95%) Output: Submitted Draft Deliverable 7 days prior to Final Due Date or after completion of Initial Draft Technical Lead 8 Coordinate Review Session & Forward Final to Reviewers (A, C) When a key deliverable is deemed 95% complete and where possible the Technical Lead has completed signoff, a final review session will be scheduled with key approvers and reviewers (A, C) to review deliverable content and solicit feedback. The deliverable owner (R) will complete their sign off and forward the draft deliverable prior to the session. Reviewer feedback should be received within 1 day of the final review session. Providing no feedback to pre-reads prior to the final sign-off session will imply a level of agreement. If there are major changes received, the review session should be rescheduled and deliverable re-circulated for review. 3-5 days out

Process Steps (continue) Ref ID Process Step Description Deliverable I/O Time Horizon Owner 9 Conduct Final Deliverable Review Session (R, A, C) The team lead will organize a final review session to walkthrough the deliverable content with approvers/reviewers. Clarifications to the deliverable and modifications to the deliverable will be made as agreed by participants. If final signoff is agreed, proceed to step #9. If final signoff cannot be reached or there are significant changes to the deliverable subsequent to Process Owner signoff (process or technical), return to step #6 Input: Draft Deliverable (95%) Output: Final Deliverable (100%) 1 days out Team (R), Business Process Owners (A), Reviewers (C) 10 Post Final Deliverable in Document Repository Tool and Update Status At the close of the session, approvers and reviewers will be asked to provide a physical signature of acceptance. The signoff sheet will be provided to the Project Manager, scanned, PDF’ed and linked to the deliverable in Document Repository Tool. The actual final deliverable should also be attached to the deliverable entry in the Document Repository Tool. At the conclusion of signoff, the deliverable status will be officially updated as 100% complete in Document Repository Tool. Input: Final Deliverable (100%) Output: Posted Deliverable w/ Signoff sheet in Document Repository Tool 0 days out Team (R) 11 Update Final Deliverable and Contact Approvers Any material changes to the final deliverable will be updated in the original final deliverable, with Track Change functionality turned on. The document should be saved with these changes, and posted back to the Document Repository Tool so approvers can easily identify changes from the PDF version which has been signed off. The deliverable owner should contact the approvers to make them aware of any such changes for review. Significant changes will merit a new signoff Output: Revised Final Deliverable

Key Roles & Responsibilities There are several key roles and responsibilities necessary to ensure effectiveness of the Signoff Process. Role Responsibility Team Leads/ Team (Responsible) Ensure identification and tracking of all key deliverables in the Deliverables Matrix Ensure allocation of the RASCI to all key deliverables Coordinate and conduct review sessions necessary to obtain signoff Business Process Owners/Authorize Proactive participate in key design and decisions necessary to ensure the quality of project deliverables Review and approve all key project deliverables Team Members Complete key deliverables Integrate necessary changes submitted by signing authorities into the key deliverables Project Manager Conduct quality review of key deliverables Participate in signoff as consult party, as necessary

For additional information on this process, please contact… Contact Information For additional information on this process, please contact… Contact Name Email Phone Primary Laurel Dettman ldettman@uchicago.edu 773.702.3759 Secondary Deneeta Pope T-9dpope@uchicago.edu 773-702-8869