What Every New PM Should Know
All the project templates, reports, and trackers can feel like a maze when you’re a new PM. The truth is though, project management documents are a PMs best friend. When you understand them and you use them properly, they bring structure, clarity and success to your projects.
I’ve managed and consulted on thousands of projects, so I’ve seen over and over how project documents can make or break a project. (It’s actually one of the reasons why I created my SLAY Project Management course – and why my course includes so many document templates!)
If you’re just starting out, and you’re a little overwhelmed by all the project docs, don’t worry! I’m going to simplify some key project documents and get you on your way to understanding and using them like a pro.
Scope Statement
This is one of the first project management documents you’ll create for your project. It defines exactly what’s included (and just as importantly, what’s NOT included) in your project.
Without clarity on scope, projects can spiral out of control with “scope creep” leading to missed deadlines and blown budgets.
It’s your job as PM to manage scope throughout the lifecycle of your project, so you want to fill this out with your project sponsor, and use it as a baseline for the rest of your project documents.
After Action Review
The AAR is a project document for supporting continuous improvement. It’s used at the end of every project or major project milestone to look at:
- What was supposed to happen?
- What did happen?
- What did we learn?
This document helps you capture lessons learned so you don’t make the same mistakes on future projects or milestones. It also helps to keep team discussions constructive, so you can focus on what was learned, rather than on pointing fingers.
More key project documents
There’s only so much I can tell you here, but there are more project documents I’d like to explain. To do that, I put together a video that dives into which project documents:
- Ensure everyone is on the same page before work starts
- Identify which project priorities are flexible and which are not
- Help you break down, organize, and assign project tasks
- Ensure changes to project scope are strategic and thoughtful
Follow me over to YouTube and we’ll keep chatting about this!
Want to lead every project to success? Make sure you check out my SLAY Project Management course where I give you all the templates, tips, and techniques to implement to SLAY your projects.
Adriana Girdler, PMP | Creator of Slay Project Management™
P.S. Check out what one of my students said recently about SLAY:
“Starting in project management without any formal training was challenging, but Adriana’s course was easy to follow and explained the business reality of how to succeed in any project.” HW
