Sample project database: what does it include and how to manage it

Sample project database is a depository of project matters and facts explained in terms of numbers and quality, united and systematized into special frameworks or patterns which are used to facilitate and quicken processes of management. Such templates can be successfully applied to drive repetitive or typical projects. Let’s consider some essential elements which can be included into such a database :

budget plan – it is a document explaining how the financial resources of the project are used and managed. It may tell which financial sources and tools are recommended to be used, how finances are allocated, operated, controlled, reported etc.

scope plan – this is a fundamental framework describing the main objectives to achieve, and the overall scale and character of work to do in order to complete the project according to certain typical requirements.

communication plan – this is a plan of how specialists collaborating at the project are going to communicate, interpret and receive the essential working data along with tools, channels and methods of maintaining effective communications and keeping the communicated data in relevant and clear state.

execution plan – this is a plan of practical steps to take on performance of the project, how they should be driven through the existing organizational structure and approaches, including detailed formulation and description of all smaller tasks and working milestones.

quality plan – description of standards and measurements used to analyze quality of project inputs, outputs and actual processes, so no defections or improper elements can be engaged into the project.

staffing plan – the list of project personnel, including professional requirements and standard roles, sets of responsibilities and managerial hierarchy.

implementation plan – the plan of how the project can be implemented into the environment where it is supposed to function, so it can integrate there smoothly, being accepted by this environment, and how the negative effects can be prevented and minimized. 

training plan – it is a plan of how project staff needs to be trained in order to take assigned responsibilities, because perhaps the project staff should take certain trainings to study project’s specificity in order of being ready for some challenges.

risk management plan – this is a plan of how to manage and minimize risks which are usual and normal to this type of projects, including descriptions of risks’ probabilities and impacts, along with preventive and remedial instructions.

transition plan – this is a plan of how one project can smoothly come into another, so the results of previous one become a basis for a new one.

control plan – this is a plan explaining how to keep abreast of primary and secondary project performance parameters to identify and evaluate the project progress. 

A specific example of PM software:

VIP Task Manager is a tool which can be used to manage and store sample project work plans that can be applied in situations of repetitive or typical projects. Basically it is a multi-user (client-server) application which can be used to plan and control tasks in real-time regime. With its help you can easily plan and control time parameters, costs, priorities, assignments, different quantitative indicators and other attributes of your project’s tasks and objectives which can be shared through a virtual network spread over your corporate LAN or the Internet.