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What are the 3 types of project deliverables?
Project deliverables can be created for both internal and external stakeholders. They are dependent on other deliverables at times. Also, a single deliverable can have several of its own deliverables stacked underneath it. Primarily, deliverables are classified based on the project stakeholders and the type.
1. Internal deliverables
These are the part of the product the client usually doesn’t care about. But, these are required for the project to run and never leave your organization. Activities like filing taxes and maintaining accounts are internal deliverables that are required to run the business.
2. External deliverables
These are the outputs the project delivers to external stakeholders and clients. These could be features, functionalities, and documentation that actually generate revenue.
3. Planning deliverables
Project planning deliverables include documentation like the project scope, the project charter, the project schedule, budgets, and other artifacts.
How to define key project deliverables?
Since objectives and deliverables are intrinsically linked, it’s best to work backward from the objectives. Identifying what’s expected of the project can help you identify and define the specific tasks that need to be done.
Here are the four steps to defining a deliverable in project management:
1. Ask the right questions
Take a step back and look at the big picture. You’ll already have critical information like the higher-level goals of the project and the measure of success. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is the purpose of the project?
- What does the client hope to achieve?
- What do you need to produce to achieve this objective? And how?
- What will be the cost and duration?
- How important is this part to the overall success of your project
This, by no means, is an exhaustive list of questions. But, this should help you get started in the right direction.
2. Gather the requirements
Answering these questions should have left you with a better understanding of the tasks you need to complete. You’ll have a primitive form of a deliverable and it’s now time to define the requirements for each deliverable.
Requirements specify the criteria for whether a deliverable is acceptable or not. Incomplete requirements mean there are going to be change requests and revisions that will essentially lead to scope creep.
You’d need to find the right stakeholder and what their priorities are for this deliverable. It’s also important to consider the end-users and what will make it a success for them.
3. Identify the KPIs
This is the stage the project manager delves deep into each deliverable and ensures that they are accurate and feasible. You can do this by breaking the deliverables into phases and smaller chunks. This has a two-pronged advantage:
- The whole project becomes way more manageable
- Develop a project timeline while better defining the deliverables
Now, develop the guiding metrics, deadlines, and goals for each phase. It’s important to establish these metrics while keeping the project scope and budget in mind.
4. Review and approve
Once the deliverables are defined and the project management KPIs are identified, it’s crucial to work with relevant stakeholders, review, and get them approved. Overlooking any of these will affect the quality of the project’s outcome and increase costs.
Checklist to manage deliverables in a project
Deliverables are a result of deliberate work and that means they must be specific and measurable. If you’re managing a fairly large project, chances are that there are going to be several deliverables. You need to track and manage them for your project to be successful.
Here is a simple checklist on how to manage deliverables in project management:
- Identify and define deliverables along with their requirements before your project team starts working. When you add new deliverables in the middle of the project, it can change the scope and add to your budget.
- Involve all key stakeholders while defining deliverables. Get their inputs and their acceptance criteria.
- Monitor the project progress with recurring meetings so you can identify red flags early on. This will help your team pace themselves and course-correct if they’re falling behind.
- Use good project management software to keep track of tasks, deliverables, and milestones.
Manage your deliverables with Kissflow Project
You need to closely monitor the data and track tasks to ensure the deliverables are completed on time. The challenge here is that there’s a need to need to assess risks, establish communication channels, and create comprehensive reports for your clients.
Project management software like Kissflow Project can help you create project deliverable templates, keep track and manage all these crucial activities, meet project schedules, and stay within the budget. Start using the Kissflow Platform today to enhance your project management efficiency.
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