Guidelines
Note: all guidelines are subject to periodic evaluation for effectiveness.
Definition of project
In the context of these pages, a project is a PDP activity that consumes significant resources.
Resource consumption is significant enough to warrant tracking as a project, whenever the tracking overhead drops below 10%. Assume for the moment an overhead of 1 hour for the start memo, 2 hours for the quarterly status memo, and 4 fours for the final report. For a project lasting less than three months in calendar time, the threshold is then 50 hours; for a project lasting more than three months, the threshold is 70 hours.
Hours above are real hours spent working on the project. These definitions should be evaluated for usefulness as we acquire experience. The start memo is also relevant to expenses; if we apply the same rule, the threshold is anything costing more than 625 euros (standard figure for personnel 100k / yr = 62,5 euro/hr which is 10% of 625 euros).
- Rationale
- Why do these guidelines exist.
- 1P Memo
- 1-page memo motivating project start.
- Periodic Report
- 1-page memo about project progress each quarter.
- Final Report
- Memo and optional technical appendices accompanying project completion.
