ABSTRACT
The real work for the project manager begins with the development of the scope statement. It is a document that will detail the work that needs to be done in the project. The “meat” of the project charter will contain five key pieces of information: An overview of the project, the project’s authority, high-level milestones, project organization, and key project escalation contacts. The most important document the project manager will create is the work breakdown structure (WBS). The scope statement includes a detailed description of what the project is expected to provide, and, very important for clarity, what the project is not expected to provide. Microsoft Project, a popular scheduling tool, uses a diamond shape to represent a milestone. It is used to measure the progress of a project. The Project Management Institute™ defines the WBS as “a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverable.
