Creating Work Plans for IT Implementations

Introduction

In this context, the work plan is a mini-project plan or mini-statement of work (SOW); it focuses on a time-boxed component of a project to produce a deliverable or meet a milestone as opposed to the entire project effort. For instance, the work plan may describe a cutover to a new data circuit, a firewall implementation, deployment of a major software release, or installation of a new database server. For such endeavors, the timeline for implementation is tight, and the nature of the activities and their sequencing cannot be left to chance. The work plan acts as a script for action and gives all participants a central place for all relevant information and coordination. The work plan provides a mechanism all parties can use to rehearse the work prior to the start time and it also provides a checklist from which to work once the event has commenced.

The audience for this artifact is the project team or the particular subset of the project team producing the deliverable. The audience may also include service providers not previously involved in the project and/or those who may have only had minor roles.

Why More Documentation?

One of the first obstacles to a work plan the project manager may face is the team questioning (or complaining about!) why another artifact is necessary when the project is already subject to a charter, project …