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The Strategic Project Record
by Terri Lindow
Contract Solutions Group
Everyone is as busy as they've ever been.
In this setting, technical work naturally takes priority,
leaving little time to pay attention to project documentation.
The end result is that often only invoicing, deliverables
and piecemeal correspondence are left to represent the
project history.
The Defensive Project Record
So what is the minimum that should go
into a project record? If you do nothing else, protect
yourself from claims. Documenting options, decisions,
decision makers, and reasons for reaching those decisions
are of particular importance.
Disputes do occur and the ability to
protect your organization and the professional reputation
of your personnel is dependent on what your staff recorded
three, five, 10 or more years ago. Project records carry
greater evidentiary weight than do the subjective memories
of project personnel.
Having quality documentation will reduce
legal preparatory costs of re-creating project histories
and will greatly enhance the quality of your defense.
The Complete Project Record
Is your project record comprised of what
you find in the project manager's office at project
end? If so, you are missing valuable information that
passes across the project team's desks every day.
Complete project records document daily events, paying
particular attention to choices made and decision points.
Other data captured includes information towards proving
or disproving change, cost and schedule creep, billing/payment
problems and performance issues. Reviewing these lessons
learned to gauge accuracy of scope and pricing on future
projects is one of the most valuable uses of project
records.
Project information can also be utilized
to identify lowball, change order contractors and other
behaviors to be actively managed, to identify problem
personnel, or to document reasons to disqualify problem
organizations. Repeat work from a prime who rejected
all requests for time and price adjustments out of hand,
regardless of merit, or from an owner who is extremely
slow to pay, may be clients too costly to work for.
The Strategic Project Record
The strategic project record includes
the defensive records and daily project information
listed above and also captures proactive information
for marketing, sales and human resources.
A vast amount of strategic intelligence
is available from the project record. Unusual projects
and specific skills acquired by personnel should be
passed along to marketing and sales to market the new
skills or unique achievements of your staff.
The Exclusionary Project Record
Thoughtful record keeping requires awareness
on the part of the entire project team, not only of
what goes into the project record, but what to exclude.
As contents of project records contain the potential
to sink the ship, personnel must be educated regarding
how to treat sensitive information.
Number one on this list is avoiding non-factual
information. Comments outside the project work have
no place in the project record. Most disputes arise
out of communication errors. A dispute can escalate
during the exchange of records in formal disputes such
as litigation or arbitration when a damaging comment
is found in a project record. The settlement value of
a claim when a client has seemingly damaging data increased
dramatically.
Some projects call for a professional
opinion, usually a formal report, as part of the design
process. In this instance you are paid to provide a
specific opinion under limited and carefully evaluated
conditions and carry contractual liability protections
for this opinion. No other opinions belong in the project
record.
E-mail is a particular hazard, where
the medium is casual. Users tend to fire off quick notes
that can easily be misinterpreted and damage your reputation
or otherwise used against you in a dispute or claims
situation.
Personnel should also be educated on
the legal status and document retention guidelines of
off-site and personal files, which are rarely privacy-protected.
Summary
The goal of a project record should be
to provide a real-time record of project events that
offers a full picture of project events years after
project personnel have moved on to other projects or
organizations.
Though the project is the realm of the project manager,
the project record belongs to the organization. Staff
may need an occasional reminder that records must be
kept to an organizational standard as well as a personal
standard. The protections provided through full project
documentation are beneficial and necessary to protect
the health of the organization.
Project records may outlast our careers
with our firms and should be compiled with that in mind.
Organizations should have standards for both documentation
and long term storage. Consult with your legal advisors
for a balance. Purposeful project records provide lasting
protection, useful human resources and industry intelligence,
and fewer sleepless nights.
Terri Lindow is a trainer and consultant
with Contract Solutions Group (CSG) and Program Director
for CSG's Interactive Web Conferencing programs. She
has a B.S. in Applied Behavioral Science and offers
people and processes workshops and seminars in contract
administration, project teaming and communications with
an emphasis on practical problem-solving, effective
tools, and best business practices.
Are Your Project Files Complete?
• Proposal with scope of work
• Signed contract/agreement
• Subcontractor contracts and bids
• Subcontractor Certificates of Insurance
• Site Investigation Reports
• Zoning Approvals, Permits
• Confirmation of Utility Location
• Tracking reports – RFIs, Shop Drawings,
Schedule, Budget
• Meeting minutes
• Change orders with client approvals
• Daily field reports
• Labeled photographs
• Incoming letters/faxes/transmittals
• Outgoing letters/faxes/transmittals
• Telephone memorandums
• Internal memos and notes
• Email correspondence
• Client deliverables
• Quality assurance/quality control records, peer
review documentation
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