The next stage of the Initiation phase is preparing and agreeing upon the contract with the Client and official project launch. This requires the Project offer that was agreed upon with the Client and the Project development plan.
The production team that prepares and agrees the contract includes the Client, the Account Manager, the Project Manager and the manager of the development department or similar position (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9 Team structure and responsibilities on the stage of preparing and approving the contract
The contract preparation and approval processes do not branch and are executed one after another (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10 General process of preparing and approving the contract
Creating a high-level project plan
After agreeing on the commercial offer with the Client, an implementation contract must be drafted. The first stage involves creating a high-level project plan. The project manager gathers all information about the pre-project survey and sends an inquiry to the Client. The inquiry must include:
•Client’s project team request
•List of documents
•Business case request
•Questions regarding project’s “blind spots”.
After this, begin planning project tasks. The high-level plan includes:
•Project stages
•Expert scope of work
•Developer Team Lead and Business Analyst Team Lead scope of work
•Splitting tasks into stages for different experts.
Determining exact project start date
The next stage of contract preparation includes determining the exact project start date and “reserving” experts.
1.The Developer Team Lead, along with the Business Analyst Team Lead analyze the tasks of the high-level project plan and confirm labor costs.
2.The Developer Team Lead, along with the Business Analyst Team Lead choose project experts based on their skills and workload.
3.The Project Manager obtains information about the chosen experts and agrees the project start date with the Account Manager. If the project start date cannot be agreed upon and approved, the issue must be escalated.
4.The approved project start date is added to the contract. Chosen experts are added to the project plan.
Note
The “reservation” of experts is valid for a limited term (usually set by the Vendor company) and the Client must be notified about it.
Preparing and agreeing the contract
On the next stage, the Account Manager prepares and formulates the contract and then submits it for approval. After the internal agreeing the contract the document is passed for the Client’s approval.
Official project start
The goal of the official project launch process is to gather all documents on the sale of services, ensure that they are correct and approve the project itself. Without this, project tasks cannot be started.
To launch the project, sign the implementation contract with the customer and meet the conditions specified in the contract as those required to launch the project (for example, receive prepayment).
See also
•Planning and Project proposal
See also
