Project Management

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Project File Structure?

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Robert Neil Wood North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I'm starting a new project and a perenial problem is how to set up a useful file structure. I can set up one up of my own devising that seems to fit the bill well enough, or I can ask the team for recommendations, or I can use the org template, or I can ...

Just wondering if someone's nailed this already.

Some of problems I'm trying to minimize:

1. Something people will easily understand and use/align with
2. Has a reasonably well understood place for all the documents we'll create
3. Finding stuff is as easy as it can be with minimal effort
4. Isn't just focused on being a PM's view of where documents should be stored, something the project team members will actually want
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Anton Oosthuizen Senior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self Employed Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Nov 28, 2018 12:41 AM
Replying to LK Gahlot
...
Robert, I think it can be any folder structure as long as it is reasonably organised in a way that suites the project team. But then there are always issues with each structure.

We found a workaround to this problem by creating a 'Master Document' that contains the path/name of the document of every key file and folder. This document is usually a spreadsheet and at the root of the project folder. The only drawback is that you need to keep it up to date but then it works!
Good suggestion LK. I actually forgot that we use to do this on big construction projects where they required hard copy of all submittals and this approach helped us to satisfy part of this since the index needed to the printed as well. We did however automate the index by using a CMS. The index would be rebuild whenever a change is made in the structure or content.
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Sandip Lanje IT Operations Manager| Waagner Biro Bridge Systems Gulf LLC Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Dear Robert, Do you have someone in your Team who can do document control for you?

As a PM you need to develop him do manage Documentation, which are combination of worksheet and Folders. Worksheets are registers and you link the document paths to that worksheet. First two levels recommended are commercial and Project every thing to do with execution and schedule estimation is in a folder called Project and everything about costing in Folder called commercial. ..Sandip
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Drew Craig Sr. Agile & Product Coach| Vanguard Philadelphia, Pa, United States
Keep the structure simple, sensible, and consistent.
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Robert Neil Wood North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Thank you to all above. Great suggestions and comments.

This is far from the most important part of project structure but it's a piece that I struggle with each time I set this up. Then I move on. This time around I thought I'd ask the experts.

Re: the index, I've also done that before. Though I like it it also requires management and if not sufficiently up to date it becomes too stale and not used. But maybe we can make it work well enough in this case.
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John Herman . Us, Aa, United States
I believe that the folder structure should be dependent on the needs of the project (and project team). Just as there is no one clear cut methodology for all projects, the folder structure can/should be dependent on needs. A general template (perhaps approved by the PMO, Chief Project Officer, or a consensus of PMs) would be a good start. Whether it is necessary to have a folder (empty) for Vendor or Contract Management when there are no vendors or contracts is a matter of personal taste and/or corporate standards.
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