The Rules of Engagement provide a consistent, understandable, and repeatable standard on how personnel act. Typically they are carefully thought out in detail well in advance of an engagement, and may cover a number of scenarios, with different rules for each. Rules of Engagement are the regulations or practices to be followed by all project team members for the time they are assigned to a specific project. They are to be considered a customary practice developed in the interest of the project. The rules are to be read, understood, followed, and agreed to by each member of the project team including the project manager. The intent is to provide a common baseline of rules that will be in place for the duration of the project. It is up to each and every team member to enforce the rules by instilling a sense of discipline within themselves. Besides being used as a code to work by, the project management team will use these rules of engagement as a performance indicator to determining how the team member is performing. If it is necessary for the Rules of Engagement to change, each member of the project team will be notified.
1. Assuming that the person given authority by the Project Charter is called the Project Manager, this person will be accountable for all aspects of the project. This will include project management of activities, personnel development, communication to all stakeholders (which includes the project team), budget control, risk control, scope management, and vendor management when appropriate. There may be other duties addressed but the primary point is that the project manager is accountable for all areas.
2. The project management team leaders (i.e.: project leader, team leader, etc.) who are under the direction of the project manager will be given specific duties by the project manager and will be responsible for ensuring that all duties are carried out in a professional manner, are completed within the designated timeframes, and within the defined budget.
3. The project team members who are under the direction of the project management team leaders will be given specific duties by the management team representative that they have been assigned to and will be responsible for ensuring that all of their duties are carried out in a professional manner, are completed within the designated timeframes, and within the defined budget.
4. Scope – only tasks that have been defined by the project charter and approved by the project sponsor will be worked on. All additional requests will go through a change management process that requires signoff by the project sponsor and project manager. In EVERY case that a change is requested, a project impact document will be created.
5. Status Reports: The project manager will communicate when the status report is due (i.e.: what day and time) and what the format will be.
a. Each team member will be responsible for preparing a written status report on a weekly basis and submit it to their respective team leader
b. Each team lead will summarize their teams status report and submit it to the project manager for review
c. The project manager will prepare a weekly overall project status report for their internal management and a high-level report for the project sponsor and his/her management team. This could be in the form of a narrative report or dashboard.
6. Meetings: the project manager will prepare a format for the internal and external meeting notes along with specifics of how to conduct the meetings (e.g.: when to use “parking lots”, meeting recaps, etc.)
a. Internal Team Meetings – will be documented each unless told otherwise; limit to 1 hour, prepare agenda, identify meeting scribe & meeting leader, invite only those people needed, confirm attendance, place a copy of the meeting notes in the knowledge repository folder
b. External Team Meetings – these meetings include the client, vendor, etc.; they will be documented; limit to 1 hour, prepare agenda, identify meeting scribe & meeting leader, invite only those people needed, confirm attendance, place a copy of the meeting notes in the knowledge repository folder. If a copy of the meeting notes are to go to the client attendees then the team lead and/or project manager will notify the person preparing the meeting notes.
7. Issues – all issues affecting the schedule, budget, or quality will be documented in an Issue Log and reviewed by the respective team lead. The team lead will use their professional judgment to escalate certain issues to the project manager. The project manager and the client will review the Issue Log on a weekly basis. In the event that a serious issue is identified, the project manager (not the team lead) will bring it to the attention of the client immediately.
8. Client interaction – all client interaction must be done in a professional manner. If any team member is requested to have a meeting with the project sponsor or any other senior member of the client’s staff, the project manager and respective team lead must be notified. It will be up to the discretion of the project manger to determine if he/she or the team lead will also attend the meeting.
9. Vendor management: - all interaction with the vendor from a project standpoint (vs. legal as it relates to contracts) will initially be controlled by the project manager. The PM will assign personnel as needed to work with various vendor personnel.
10. Knowledge Management Repository – A Knowledge Management Repository serves as an electronic file cabinet for collecting all supporting documentation that will be created for the project. The project management team will define the e-folder format that information will be stored in (i.e.: status reports, time sheets, etc.). The project manager will approve the format.
11. Time sheets – all project team members including team leads and the project manager will be required to submit their time sheets on a weekly basis to their team’s leads for review and approval. Failure to do so the first time will result in a written reminder; the second time will be a written warning, and the third time will result in removal from the project. Failure to comply with this request will also impact the employee’s annual performance appraisal.
12. Expense sheets – if an expense is incurred during the project, the person responsible for the expense will submit their expenses to their respective team lead for review and approval within two weeks of incurring the expense. The team lead will then give the expense form to the project manager for final review and approval.
13. Out of office schedule – if a team member will be out of the office for any reason, they must notify their respective team lead in a reasonable timeframe that will not impact the project schedule. Failure to do so the first time will result in a written reminder; the second time will be a written warning, and the third time will result in removal from the project. Failure to comply with this request will also impact the employee’s annual performance appraisal.
14. Signoffs – every deliverable that has been identified by the project charter will have an acceptance sign-off form prepared for it. The deliverable will be reviewed by the team lead for accuracy and quality before turning it over to the client for review and approval. The team lead will be responsible for tracking all deliverables in their domain with an Acceptance Certificate Log. If a deliverable is not signed off by the client in the time period agreed to by the client in the project charter then the team lead will notify the project manager. The project manager will work with the client to get an immediate signoff. If the project manager and client cannot reach an amicable resolution, the project manager will escalate the situation to upper management.
15. Conflict Management – there may be times during the project that team members may not agree resulting in a conflict. The parties involved will agree to meet with the team lead and/or project manager to resolve the problem(s) in a professional manner and accept the decision of the project management team.
16. Project Assessments – these reviews are done to benefit the project team and the client. There are different views of what “success” is so an objective third party may be called in to assist the team in reviewing what was done, how it was done, and the quality of the finished products. If a review is performed, all team members will cooperate to the fullest with the assessment team.
17. Project Closure – This is a critical part of the project and must be recognized as such. It includes both Administrative and Contract closure. Before leaving the project, at any time during or at the end, the team member and/or project manager must complete the following:
a. Final time sheet
b. Outstanding expense reports
c. Update the Knowledge Management Repository with information that the team member was responsible for
d. Deliver work products that have been produced as part of the statement of work or project charter to the client
e. Obtain the final signoff from the project sponsor or designee
f. Prepare a list of lessons learned that can be used to make future projects more successful and as a means to help other team members learn from your experiences
g. Ensure that the financial records are in order (i.e.: expense reports, budgets)
h. Ensure that the legal documents are in order (i.e.: approved contract changes, close contracts with outside vendors)
i. Finalize the Knowledge Management Repository
j. Create a backup of all project information from the Knowledge Management Repository
As a member of the ___________________________________ project team, I have read and agree to follow the Rules of Engagement as described above.
____________________________ ____________
Name Date
Note: Please contact the author if you would like to use the contents of this post: tony@delivery-management.com