You are kicking off a project, majority of people on your team are not project managers, so ensure everyone is on the same page to get the work done.  We all need to understand what is a project framework – essentially – the platform from which we all stand upon and follow and work together to achieve objectives and deliverables.

Below is a basic checklist to help stakeholders not experienced in PM.  It helps identify areas that may need additional support to get up to speed and enhance their PM understanding - so we all are on the same page :-)  
  1. Do you understand how to link the project with business value-add
  2. Is it clear to separate between the project vs operations vs strategy
  3. Do you understand how the project fits into the “real work world” once it is done
  4. Do you understand the support systems to help manage priorities, accountabilities, risk, change & stress
  5. Is it clear how the team and company will initiate the project in a formalized, structured format that also follows globally accepted best practices
  6. Does everyone understand the project lifecycle and how you will flow through the project start to end (initiate, plan, execute, monitor, control and close a project
  7. Is the project plan broken down into clear knowledge areas (Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, HR, Communication, Risks, Integration, Procurement, Stakeholders, Safety, Claims, Environment, Financials, Records, Relations)
  8. Is it clear who the client is and how to manage that relationship
  9. Do you understand how to clarify priorities and then when there is conflict how to manage the trade-off decisions
  10. Do you have a system to help manage influencers (risks, assumptions, constraints, dependencies)
  11. Is there a system to help identify future solutions that are aligned with the business to further maximize value (future strategies, lessons learned)
  12. Is there a understanding of the learnings you will get from this project and how it will also align with your career path
  13. Is it easy, clear and prepared so you can leverage templates for the project
  14. Is it easy, clear and structured so you can understand how the work will follow/fit within a management system (overall way that the project will be started, delivered and ended)
  15. Do you know of other systems, templates, methodologies that you can also bring to the table to help this project have a higher probability of success (we are all part of the success factor and each project is unique)




Often we spend so much time training our PMs and ensuring they have all the tools, but don’t forget the other 99% of the team that also needs to understand project frameworks and methodologies. The trick is to find the balance as to what level of detail do they need to know.  Today we have flatter organizations and also stakeholders that want to be more empowered and take a more active role.  Checklists help narrow down the areas that can be addressed or enhanced asap.