NAME: _______________

PROJECT PLANNING: THE CRUCIAL QUESTIONS

PURPOSE/VISION
Whats your mission statement/vision/purpose of your project? Why are you doing
it? Why are you doing it now? What happens if you dont do it now?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
SCOPE
Whats the scope of the project? What is outside the scope of the project? What will
success look like at the end (deliverables, documents, etc.)? How will it look, feel,
taste, sound? (Ex: When this project is completed, I will have ______________; I will
be able to do _____________; and contribute by__________________ _________________).
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
What are your project goals and objectives in terms that are specific, measurable,
realistic, time-bound? What data are you going to track to show that the project is
successful (e.g. grades, job interviews, etc.)?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
1. Do I want the best for ________?
2. What does ____________ want to do to make a difference in this world?
3. What does he need to do to get there?
4. How much money does ______ need per year?
5. How much money will he/she make?
6. Where does he want to go to school?
7. By when does he need to apply?
8. What exams does he/she still need to take?
9. By when does he/she submit scores?
10. Could ________aim higher?

NAME: _______________

11. Do we need to schedule a college match appointment?

THE PEOPLE
Who do you need involved? When? For how long? To do what?

Who

Role

How will I maintain a

good relationship?

When

How
Much (#
of hrs.)

COMMUNICATION
How are you going to communicate with stakeholders throughout the project? Who
needs to be looped in/informed of progress/in on decision-making along the way?
When are the critical points?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNTABILITY
Whos the owner of this project? How is progress monitored/enforced? How are you
ensuring all stakeholders know their role and are executing on their tasks? When is
the project team going to meet? Who is setting the agenda?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
THE RESOURCES
What resources do you need? Money? Tech? Supplies? Do you have the authority to
get these resources? If not, how/when are you going to secure it?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

NAME: _______________

Are there resource constraints? If so, what are the priorities in the project? Are there
tradeoffs that you are going to have to make? Do you have the resources to meet
your scope?

RISKS/CONTINGENCY PLANS
What could go wrong? What are you going to do to mitigate or manage these risks?
Where you cant prevent risks, what are your contingency plans for dealing them?
How can you routinely assess/monitor the potential risks?

MILESTONES
What are the milestones? How will you know youre on the right path? What are the
incremental steps that allow you to know youre on track?

EVALUATION
How will you know if the project is successful? Think about both the end product and
the process (did you allocate the right resources, were the right people involved)?

NAME: _______________

Project: ________________________________________________________________
Purpose/Goal: ___________________________________________________________
Vision: _________________________________________________________________

Person
al

Motivati
on

Abilit
y

ocial

NAME: _______________

Structu
ral