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Commissioning
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There will be times when a project will need substantial help from colleagues elsewhere. For example, if a new building is a key part of the project, but not the whole project.
In these cases, a contract or service level agreement is unlikely to be appropriate, but a formal relationship is still needed to clarify:
- Exactly what is being asked for
- How this will support the overall project
- Where responsibility for different aspects of delivery lies
- What will be delivered and when
This might be covered as part of a work package – if you have them in your project. But sometimes you may need detailed information near the beginning of the project. In which case, the commissioning brief or checklist has been designed to help.
How it works
The brief provides a checklist of information that the project manager either must provide –or must be given, for the relationship to work. Take for example a project aimed at improving a local community. A key part of the project is a new community centre. Colleagues in DEL will take this part of the project forward as a work strand. Clarity will be need on both sides about a range of issues to make it work, for example:
- A clear specification for the centre (who will use it? What are their requirements? How many people, and what sort of activities?);
- The reporting arrangements (do you want regular meetings? Who should attend? What about management information?)
The benefit of using this brief is that it helps the project manager be clear about what it is they actually want to commission and provides a sound basis for managing the relationship. The brief covers information that may exist already, but in some cases, could be a new requirement. The questions are aimed at project managers, but ideally should be completed as part of a wider discussion with the team you are commissioning the service from.
The next section pulls all of the previous work into one of the key documents in the Sheffield Project Management Process; the Business Case.
The next section pulls all of the previous work into one of the key documents in the Sheffield Project Management Process; the Business Case.
Downloads
The Project Commissioning Brief is used when commissioning another party (e.g. another service area) to deliver part of a project. (34 KB)
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