Give us the information and we will start the job.
Paraphrase of Sir Winston Churchill radio broadcast February 9, 1941. “Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”
This is one of the first project documents to be produced, if not the first for the project manager. It kick‐starts the project and acts as a brief to initiate activities and the production of documents identified below. Its purpose is to regulate and standardize interactions within the project team and with the client.
Key coordination information needs to be issued as promptly as possible. Consequently, the subject matter covered by project management procedures may only be covered superficially in the coordination document. The important details will be in the procedures themselves.
Project name and number – contractor's and/or client's
Project logo and motivational phrase to be used on all project‐specific documents
Statement of project objective
Home office addresses and telephone numbers
Project office addresses, that is: where the work is to be done – if it is different from the home office, together with e‐mails for formal use
Contact telephone numbers, fax number
Site address, telephone number, fax number, and e‐mail
Any contractor or client associate companies and their addresses and contact information.
Third‐party contact details, for example, local authority
Specific rules for how communication mechanisms are to be used (identified and discussed in Part VI, Section A Communications) must be defined as part of the coordination procedure, for example: see 2.2.
Rules for letters:
Mail delivery and collection times and locations. List details of the schedule for a courier service (restricted to documents only) between the home office and site office.
Publish limited circulation lists on a need‐to‐know basis. These may need to be amended as a result of protests.
Details of the project calendar. This is a side‐by‐side listing of week numbers (starting at 1) matched up to dates, week ending Sunday.
Week ending Sunday is a psychological ploy to allow catch up time at the end of the week (if needed) without losing progress in terms of week numbers. If Sunday is the start of the week, there is no benefit to be gained. It will not be worked, and a day in the week is lost.
The confident project manager will not have week numbers beyond the contractual end date.
Names of project managers and key team members.
Project organization charts for both client and contractor with job titles and names. With a reimbursable contract, it may also be necessary to identify other classifications and salary grades and highlight non‐reimbursable positions.
A list of key contractual documents with reference numbers and dates.
Description or reference to the agreed contractual scope of work.
Reference to the agreed project schedule and budget.
Contract start and completion and other key project dates.
Any intermediate handover dates.
Contract requirements relating to formal notices, approvals, and authorisations for contractor's documents, purchase orders, and vendor's documents.
Description of documents requiring client approval and the number of copies of documents to be submitted for approval.
Submission of requests for prior approval of travel and overtime and approval notice time required.
Agreed project cut‐off dates for production of various reports and submission of invoices.
Date of project manager's meeting, for example, every Thursday p.m., with location of conference room. This room should be booked on day one and reserved on the appointed day for the duration of the project
Date of progress meeting with client, for example, every Friday a.m., again with location of conference room, preferably as for the project manager's meeting and booked accordingly.
Format and the number of copies (defined in the document distribution Matrix) for the minutes of meetings and the requirement for transmittal to the client (within three working days) for their approval.
Reference to the project filing system with location (see Section F).
Definition of the software to be used for the administration functions of the project for both text and graphics.
References to the project standards and specifications to be used, together with the job title of persons responsible for the various documents. For example, if these documents have not already been referenced or published as part of the proposal document, a description as to how the company's standard procedures, standards, and specifications will be modified to meet the requirements of the contract/project.
An initial document distribution matrix will form an attachment to the coordination procedure. The matrix will identify the different types of documents and the number of copies for distribution to the various contractual parties. Scrutinise this document carefully in order to reduce unnecessary copies. Make sure you identify the documents you want to receive. See also Part IV, Section C Getting Organized, paragraph 3.1.
For convenience of reference, and in order to have all of the primary coordination information in one document, provide a list of the project manager's project procedures, as follows:
Include any project‐specific issues covering policy, procedures, and services for each department.