1. ESTABLISHING A PROJECT PLAN MODULE 18
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ECM SPECIALIST COURSE 1

2. ECM SPECIALIST COURSE Section 1: ECM Business Strategy Section 3:
ECM Applications and Solutions
Section 5:
Foundations and Planning
Section 6:
Design, Deliver and Deploy
Module 1:
Introduction to ECM Program Delivery
Modules 8 and 9:
Applications and Solutions Parts 1 and 2
Modules 14, 15 and 16
Building a Foundation
Parts 1, 2 and 3
Modules 20 and 21
Design Parts 1 and 2
Module 2:
ECM Program Strategy
Exam 3
Module 17:
Creating a Project Roadmap
Module 22:
Develop
Module 23:
Deployment and Operations
Module 3:
ECM Business Case
Section 4:
Business and Technology Assessments
Module 18:
Establishing a
Project Plan
Exam 1
Module 24:
Continuous Improvement
Section 2:
Change Management and Governance
Modules 10 and 11
Business Assessment
Parts 1 and 2
Module 19:
Client Engagement
Modules 4 and 5:
Governance
Modules 12 and 13
Technical Assessment
Modules 6 and 7:
Change Management
Exam 2
Exam 4
Exam 5
Exam 6
ECM SPECIALIST COURSE
There are a total of 24 modules in the ECM Specialist course. We are now in Section 5, Module 18, “Establishing a Project Plan”. This module continues the foundational activities related to building a project roadmap and project plan as part of an ECM deployment project.

3. AGENDA What is project management? What is a project plan?
Components of the project plan
Overall release functionality
Infrastructure and design dependencies
Risk plan
Acceptance dependencies
Training plan
Communication plan
Managing parallel activities
Module recap
This module will step through some of the common definitions of project management and outline the essentials of a project plan. We’ll discuss how to document items that were scoped and planned in our roadmap discussion, in Module 17. We’ll show examples of how to document release functionality, dependencies, risk plans, acceptance tests, as well as training and communication plans. We’ll also discuss the importance of managing parallel activities, acknowledging that many of the tasks in our planning and foundational phase of the ECM deployment will happen concurrently.
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4. PROJECT PLANNING – PHASE 3
Coordination of project manager and ECM specialist roles
Project management activities are now focused on design, develop, and deployment
A well-defined ECM project team will include, at minimum, a project manager and an ECM specialist. The role of the project manager is to handle project logistics, and the role of the ECM specialist is to define and manage the tasks related to requirements, tool selection, business rules and architecture. The project manager will need the ECM specialist to outline the specific tasks that comprise the overall project.
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5. WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
A Project is a temporary group activity “designed to produce a unique product, service or result”
Definitions from Project Management Institute
Project Management is application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects
Structure, process and procedures
Project manager
Individual accountability for delivery
Empowered to make scheduling and logistic decisions
Project management support
Integration across the program
This course is not a course on project management methodology. There are in-depth programs and certification specific to project management techniques, including those offered by the PMI (Project Management Institute). A project manager is often a full-time role in larger organizations.
Including a skilled project manager in the ECM project team is advisable. The project manager does not, however, need to be an ECM specialist. Our focus in this ECM Specialist course is a basic education on the definition and role of project management within an ECM project context.
A project is a temporary assembly of skilled resources - internal or external - in order to produce a unique product, service or result. We define project management as the application of knowledge, skills and techniques in order to execute projects. This includes the structures, processes and procedures based on the organization's preferred project management methodology.
The role and responsibility of the project manager is to make decisions and balance resources across the ECM deployment, and to make sure that all projects are working to a set of shared requirements. The project manager monitors plans and progress across all projects in the ECM delivery, to ensure coherence and integration across the whole program. They need to monitor progress of multiple groups, and understand how problems or delays can affect dependent groups or activities.
The project manager does not need to have any experience with ECM. Their focus is to manage the project, not the technology or its use. Your project team, of course, ought to include individuals who understand ECM and can act as subject matter experts, but the project manager need not be one of these experts. The project manager is an expert in coordination, taking and assigning accountability for delivery, making scheduling and logistical decisions, and integrating activities across the various elements of the program.
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6. WHAT IS A PROJECT PLAN?
Documented, approved approach to execute, manage, monitor and control a project
Definitions from PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)
Creates specific tasks with inputs from:
Business and technical assessments
Overall release functionality
Risk identification
Infrastructure dependencies
Design dependencies
Acceptance procedures
Communication and training strategies
Defining the project plan is the next activity. A project plan might contain sub-project plans depending on the complexity and size of the project. The project plan defines the phases, tasks, resources and level of effort to complete the tasks. Depending on your organization, your project manager will utilize various tools or templates to manage the project.
The intent of this module is to learn how to align the tasks of the roadmap for the first iteration into a project plan. This stage aligns the tasks needed to deliver the roadmap for the current iteration into a project plan using the tasks and deliverables that we have already covered as the inputs to this plan.
To reiterate, these inputs are: business and technical assessments, overall release functionality, risk identification, infrastructure dependencies, design dependencies, acceptance procedures, communication and training strategies.
An essential addition to the ECM implementation team is a certified or experienced project manager, familiar with the preferred project management methodology of your organization. What we’ll discuss in this module are specific issues that should be put into the project plan for the ECM deployment.
Testing and deployment are only covered in this module at a cursory level. It is advisable to have expertise on your team that is specific to software solution testing. What is covered in this module regarding testing is the type of testing framework to be documented as part of the project plan. Our ECM Specialist module 23, called “Deployment and Operations”, will offer detailed approaches to testing an ECM system.
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7. WHAT IS A PROJECT PLAN?
Here is an example of a typical project plan. In this example, specific tasks related to the strategy development and design phases are shown.
Your organization may use specific project management applications, such as Microsoft Project, or high end specialized tools to manage project activities. For smaller, simpler environments a spread sheet or collaboration workspace might suffice. Use the project management tools and methods that are most suitable for your project team, ensuring it can manage the overall project, along with any sub-projects or iterations.
Tracking what has been done, what is yet to do, ownership, resources required, expected versus actual time to accomplish the tasks are the key items the tool should support.
Source: Mike2.0 Open Methodology
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8. CONCEPTUAL VIEW OF A PROJECT PLAN
This graphic shows an abstracted view of the amount of work done throughout a typical information management project, and the extent to which sub-tasks extend across the project lifecycle, as well as where most activity within a sub-task occurs.
This conceptual view of a project plan demonstrates when the bulk of work will be expected across the different phases of the ECM deployment cycle. Notice the bump that represents the significant amount of upfront strategy and business case development that needs to be done. Also notice a constant referral and refinement of the strategy throughout the lifecycle, and that infrastructure remains a highly active set of tasks during the active design, build and deploy aspects of the project.
A slow build-up to Production Services is visible as well, and should reflect the planning work to be adequately staffed, trained, and with appropriate support materials when roll-out ultimately occurs.
Source: Mike2.0 Open Methodology
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9. RELEASE FUNCTIONALITY
Information for the project plan comes from list of action items determined in the roadmap strategy portion of “Phase 3”
Document the goals of this development iteration
Document targets for completion, or incremental improvement for this iteration
“Detailed Work Breakdown” is term used in waterfall project management approaches to describe task definition, level of effort, resource identification
Our first task in completing the project plan is to describe the “Release Functionality”. Release functionality is used to specify the goals of this iteration of development. We need to outline the required tasks, resources and level of effort for the iteration.
Generally, during the first pass of the project planning phase, the purpose is to break the project down into the specific targets for completion, or incremental improvement, that must be required for each iteration of work. This is done by using the high level requirements for the project, working on the risk assessments and dependencies, and outlining the exact work needed to be done at this stage.
This begins the process of “real” development work and detail, taking the assessments built during the phase 1 business assessment and the phase 2 technical assessment. Now, we are ready to create activities at a level of detail that allows the team to proceed with phases 4 and 5: to design, develop, test, deploy and operate.
The term “Detailed Work Breakdown” is used with traditional project methodologies to define the work, level of effort, resource and dependencies to complete the work, but it is for the whole project, not an iteration.
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10. RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN What is Risk Management?
Systematic approach to setting best course of action under uncertainty by identifying, assessing, understanding, acting on and communication risk issues
Qualify and prioritize risks as identified in business case and roadmap document
Document in the risk register along with mitigation steps
Risk management is an important phase of creating and maintaining a project plan. Risk management means identifying and setting the best known course of action in situations of uncertainty. It helps organizations identify, assess, understand, act upon and communicate potential areas of risk.
Your organization may use a particular risk management approach, with templates designed for your preferred project management methodology. For the purpose of this ECM Specialist course, think about the risks that face your particular ECM deployment. Are they related to technology? vendor selection? dependencies? budget?
Identify, qualify and prioritize the risks unique to your organization. A risk register or log is a useful document to be used for this identification, tracking and update activity. Communication of risks and proposed approaches to mitigation are essential throughout the entire ECM deployment project cycle. When risks are clearly articulated, and plans of action conveyed to management, business users and other stakeholders, the ECM project team can minimize bottlenecks and unpleasant surprises if problems should occur.
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11. RISK REGISTER Complete the risk register
Here is an example of a risk register used by a government agency. Your organization may have a different template or approach, but the elements will be similar. Each major risk should be identified, stated clearly, assigned to an owner, outline possible responses, and assess the impact and probability levels. Remember to evaluate the risks at each stage of project iteration, and update or re-assign as more is learned about the risk.
As part of completing your project plan, pull out the risks we’ve identified already, and map them into a register, assigning ownership, and providing information on status, impact, probability and recommended responses. How we choose to mitigate or respond to the risk will reveal tasks needed to build out the project plan. For example, if the risk is that performance may not support client needs, as pictured here, the plan could be to delay rollout until servers are upgraded, or to reset expectations with the client and find workarounds to performance.
Source: Government of Canada
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12. INFRASTRUCTURE DEPENDENCIES
Outline the progression across the ECM deployment environments
Development
Staging / testing
Production
Back up and recovery system
Note the milestones indicating transitions
This graphic demonstrates the progression from an isolated development environment (the left column), to a staging/testing environment (the middle column) and through to production and integration with a backup or disaster recovery system (the right column). As part of creating the plan, outline the timeline for the project in general, from initial assessments to “go live”. Also specify milestones indicating when transitions between environments, such as described here, occur.
Source: AIIM.org
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13. TEST PLANS
Describe the roles, responsibilities, schedule, sample data, entry and exit criteria for each of the testing phases as defined in the roadmap activity
Create plans for tests including:
Functional
System integration
User acceptance testing (UAT)
Product verification testing (PVT)
Test plans must be created for the different types of tests that will be needed across the project. Plans should be defined for the functional, system integration, user acceptance and product verification tests. We can now document the plan with roles, responsibilities, schedule, source of sample test data, entry and exit. The Test Plan identifies the test scenarios that are to be executed at a particular stage of the project.
Example test plan via Mike2.0 Open Methodology
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14. TEST PLANS Define scope and approach for each testing cycle
Which business or technical functions need validation?
What kinds of tests are needed?
What are any dependencies between test cycles and what development is needed?
What kind of test documentation will be used?
Define entry / exit criteria:
How are defects defined, ranked and escalated?
What are the sign-off and handover procedures?
Define testing resources and responsibilities
Create a skills development plan and assign responsibilities
Define testing tools and environments
What test case libraries can be used?
Prepare traceability matrix
Creating a detailed series of test plans will require information from the technical and development teams. The major deliverables in a test plan includes the following items:
First, we’ll define the overall testing scope and approach. The tasks here include defining the scope of each testing cycle, identifying the business and system functions that require validation, identifying the different types of testing required, determining any development dependencies between test cycles, and defining the test documentation and baselines.
Next, we can define entry and exit criteria for testing. This means determining how to judge success or failure so that issues discovered can be appropriately addressed. Here we define defects, how to rate defect status, escalation procedures, and outline the signoff process and handover procedures.
The next task is to define testing resources and responsibilities. A skills development plan may be needed to ensure testers are equipped and qualified to perform testing. We can then assign responsibilities, test environments and configurations, define the testing tool suite (as some software testing can use automated test scripts), define the test case libraries, select the defect report template and prepare a traceability matrix so that resolutions and fixes can be monitored.
Example test plan via Mike2.0 Open Methodology
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15. TRAINING PLAN
Outline the approach, roles, requirements, curriculum, schedule and metrics for user training
Plan for different curriculum and delivery methods for different skill sets and roles
Include technology training, functional training and include any new business rules or updated processes
Training is essential to user adoption and change management
Providing effective training is a key aspect of the preparation for an ECM deployment. Different categories of support staff and users will need to receive training. The training plan should be aligned with the overall project plan so that users receive the information and education as they are being rolled into the testing, pilot or production environments. There is a risk of delivering ineffective training and wasting resources if it is delivered too early or too late in the deployment cycle. Ensure that specialized or advanced training is planned for system administrators, developers, help desk or other “power-users”.
Explore different delivery styles and channels for the curriculum to accommodate for different learning styles, geographical limitations, or availability of classrooms. Online training, for example, can be a cost savings, but may not be as effective for advanced topics. Each organization will have a different balance of in-person or virtual training delivery depending on budget, location and complexity of solution deployed.
Do not neglect training on new processes or business rules, in addition to training on the new tools. Providing a real-world context to training will typically be more effective than generic tool overviews.
Image source: Mike2.0 Open Methodology
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16. COMMUNICATION PLAN Create a communication plan Start with the “Why”
Anticipate and Explain “What’s In It For Me?” from user perspective
Document communication goals:
Educate, inform, prepare, change behavior
Use variety of channels and media types
Listen to and incorporate feedback
A communication plan checklist can help your team craft information-sharing tactics, and map the deliverables and milestones into an overall project plan for the ECM deployment. Your organization’s internal communications team or project managers may have a template or checklist already prepared. There are good examples of simple templates available from many online resources. The screenshot and link on this slide is an example that is used by Yale University for their internal communication.
Understand that communication is not a one-time activity. Ongoing education explains the business goals and timelines to the teams affected. The “Why” - or specific company goals to be met - is important in order to frame the entire project in context. It’s also important to put yourself in the place of a typical end-user, and be able to document and explain the benefits that the new ECM system will bring. Selling the users on benefits and encouraging adoption is far more effective than imposing change from top-down without context.
A typical communication plan includes elements such as: a statement of project purpose and vision, a list of objectives the communication program is intended to achieve, the target audiences, and essential messages for each audience. Typical plans will also include an overall communication schedule, and the variety of channels and media forms that can be used. For example, a blend of , video and podcast updates may be useful for large distributed organizations, while in-person management Q&A sessions could be suitable for small centralized organizations.
Think about how you could craft a basic communication plan to keep your ECM stakeholders up-to-date and encourage user engagement and buy-in. How would you begin?
Source:
(MS Word Download)

17. PARALLEL ACTIVITIES AND ITERATIONS
Projects activities will overlap and ECM Specialists should be prepared to work on parallel activities.
Once a planning and delivery cycle is completed, the next iteration will work on new tasks based on any required changes or updates from the completed iteration before it. Momentum moves from big tasks to smaller ones. Activities are broken down into more specific components, and continuously building on top of each iteration, always aiming to create working solutions that can be vetted and tested with appropriate users, sponsors and stakeholders.
Sub-projects may also be ongoing at the same time. The reality is that projects do not run sequentially and in perfect order. Ensure that periodic sanity checks are implemented to be sure that the work being delivered aligns with the requirements defined in the assessment and strategy portions of the upfront work. Activities may be run in parallel, and the project team should fully anticipate needing to “loop back” within the project, to confirm or deny new information and its impact on the project.
What is an example of parallel activities? Perhaps the information management project lead has to develop an electronic content management policy for the organization and obtain the approval of business leaders. To do this, surveys or assessments must be conducted to locate and log the legacy or current content; in other words, all the content, data, files and records you already have that may be relevant to ECM.
The technical lead may be focusing on a data cleansing project that will be needed after the information survey to identify the current versions of all content, to reduce or eliminate duplication, provide missing metadata, and to identify documents that need to be declared as records or otherwise actively managed within the ECM environment. Following data cleansing, there will need to be a project to prepare all electronic content for moving into the ECM repository.
Both work streams need to be performed, have dependencies, yet can progress in parallel with clear, documented check-in points and joint milestones.
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18. MODULE RECAP What is project management? What is a project plan?
Components of the project plan
Overall release functionality
Infrastructure and design dependencies
Risk plan
Acceptance dependencies
Training plan
Communication plan
Managing parallel activities
In this module we have described what project management and project planning is, and reviewed the main components of the project plan needed to deliver your ECM deployment. These components include: release functionality, infrastructure and design dependencies, risk planning, acceptance testing and dependencies, training and communication. We’ve also reviewed the importance of being prepared to manage ongoing parallel and often overlapping activities.
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