The purpose of a critical review is either: • To confirm the achievability, desirability and affordability of a proposed project prior to an outline business case being submitted for approval. Or • To confirm the ongoing achievability, desirability and affordability of an in flight project, and if necessary, to recommend remedial action be taken to give an overall green RAG status. This should include alignment to the Organisations / Programmes outcomes and that the project is on track to achieve these. Critical Reviews for a live project provide an opportunity to assess the ongoing achievability, desirability and affordability of the project through assessing the business context and the performance of the project to date. This also provides confidence to stakeholders that: Project is delivering to schedule/sprints are delivering business value Budget allocated is sufficient Deliverables are achievable Risk and Issues are being controlled Changes are being managed S.M.A.R.T Guidance Specific The priority of this measure should be in identifying the requirements for achieving the project goal. Documents must be able to evidence defined deliverables with identifiable scope / not in scope areas. Does the project have specific, clear and validated: - Deliverables - Plan of activities - Benefits - Resources - Budget Measurable The project objectives should be measurable so that success or failure can be determined. Where there are objectives, there should be a benchmark or baselined to measure progress against. Achievable The objective of the project should be deemed appropriate and attainable within the budget, time and capability of resources available. Relevance Project should show how the outputs align to the Organisations / Programme strategy, vision and objectives. Timely For each deliverable, activity and benefit there should be target date for completion, realisation or implementation. This would normally be expressed within a Project Plan or Business Case. Critical Review key questions Area Review requirements Outcomes & Scope Does the project have a clear scope of activity deliverables / outcomes / benefit. This clarity must pass the S.M.A.R.T test (see slide 6) Alignment Does the project align with Organisation / Programme strategic outcomes? Change Has engagement with Change management started to ensure, there is capability and capacity to achieve and embed project into organisation. Budget Has a high level project budget been created, with an indication of contingency. Is the project considered affordable, fully funded and considered value for money. Plan Has the project produced a high level project plan? Include high level milestones. Has there been consideration of embedding a contingency into the plan. Resource What resources are required to deliver the project. Has consideration been made on creating a resourcing plan. Has the project engaged with HR to ensure this is achievable. Risk Has the project captured risks and issues, through a PESTLE analysis, with thought and clear actions in place to mitigate. Benefit What are the proposed Benefits? Are these S.M.A.R.T Stakeholders Have stakeholders (internal & external) been identified and engaged (captured in a RACI), including sponsors and wider business / functions impacted Procurement Has the project identified whether external contractors / suppliers are required?. Critical Review outputs For each area, a review is undertaken to answer the core requirement areas. Area Outcomes & Scope Alignment Change Budget Plan Resource Risk Benefit Review requirements Inflight Project Review This review provides an opportunity to assess the ongoing achievability, desirability and affordability of the project through assessing the business context and the performance of the project to date. This also provides confidence to stakeholders that the project is being managed and should continue to be progressed. Area Review requirements Outcomes & Scope Have the original scope, deliverable or outcomes deviated? Is the project delivering business value? Does there remain a purpose for the project to be delivered? Either to achieve Strategic / Programme outcomes / target or deliver specific benefit or Alignment Will the project meet its original purpose and alignment to strategic outcomes? Change Has there been engagement with Change Management to ensure deliverables are achievable to implement / realise from a capacity and capability of BAU perspective. Where there are changes within scope, schedule or budget, have these documented and approved. Where likely decommissioning of legacy systems is involved, have these been planned for, change controlled and communicated to users? Budget Has the finance tracker been updated / re-forecasted regularly and aligned to the approved finance tracker / Business Case. Where contingency has been used, has this been documented? Where total forecast is not aligned to Approved spend, provide explanations of variances. Has a Return on Investment analysis been performed? Has a deep dive into all finances taken place? Plan Has the detailed project plan been updated. Include milestones, major and minor activities. Is the project on track and achievable within the original timeline. Where the timeline diverges from approved Business Case, this should be evidenced by Change Requests. Where delays are encountered, how are these being managed and controlled? Resource Is there sufficient resource (capacity and capability) in place to deliver the project. Have roles and responsibilities been recorded? (Business Case) Has a resourcing plan (found in finance tracker) been created to phase necessary resources in and out of the project. Has the project engaged with HR to ensure this is achievable. Risk Have all risks and issues been mitigated and updated recently? Has a return to green mitigation plan been established? Benefit Have benefits been reviewed and validated? Is there sufficient detail within the Benefit Log, identifying owners, methods of measurements, realisation efforts and due dates. Has the benefit owner, validated and confirmed realisation methods and dates to track and report benefits. Where will benefit records be kept and reported to? Where there is deviation from the original benefits, have this been recorded, managed and approved through the change request process. Stakeholders Have all Stakeholders / Sponsors (internal / external) been identified, recorded and engaged with? How is engagement being managed? Is this aligned to change management strategy for the project? Where there is IT infrastructure changes. Procurement How well are external suppliers being managed? How is performance tracked and managed? Project should confirm how well contract is negotiated and managed. Inflight Project Review - Output Area Outcomes & Scope Alignment Change Budget Plan Resource Risk Benefit Stakeholders Procurement Review requirements
