The TenStep set of free templates are helpful as a very basis step to structured management of your project, and the most helpful piece was the Project Charter. Given my use in framing a relatively small project, I would also say that it has limited use for larger projects, but is still of value as a first cut for any project. That being said, my breakdown was framing a larger project into a smaller, shorter term project that would define the larder project. This could be a great way for others to use the product. Much of the benefit of using the Project Charter template was simply that I could concentrate on thinking about my project. This should be the case with any decent template product. It did enable me to just “get going” with my thinking and documenting. Here is a high level eval of what you can find with the Project Charter included in this free set:
- It was similar to other project plan and requirements document templates that I have used. That being said, it was pretty good, and was helpful to me in laying out a particular project.
- I will say that my project is pretty small, and I do think I would quickly find the template limited on a larger project.
- Project Executive Summary – adequate and basic
- Project Overview – forced me to think about the background and context
- Project Objectives - emphasized measurability, and hence shaped my entries
- Project Scope - very basic “in scope” and “out of scope” bullets, which I think are limited and may allow the user to miss something
- Deliverables Produced - a little redundant with efforts to the Project Objectives – since I really tried to make the objectives measurable, and therefore deliverable-oriented - but I used them to complement and reinforce the objectives
- Organizations Affected or Impacted - good, but as a proxy for the identification of stakeholders, it lacked attention to looking for individuals – both “types” of individuals, and actual people by type and organization
In addition, there was a section on Estimated Effort/Cost/Duration which was adequate and helped me set the stage for a WBS. The sections on Project Assumptions, Project Risks, and Project Organization were also helpful and adequate for what I was doing, and certainly for a first cut at a disciplined approach for many projects. You can check out the whole set of free templates at TenStep and for sale templates at TenStep.
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John Reiling, PMP
Project Management Training Online
Lean Six Sigma Training Online





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