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Project Classification assists project managers in determining the appropriate level of project documentation and project management rigor to apply to their project.

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished using project management knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques, such as project planning, risk management, communication, issue management, etc. These can be applied with varying degrees of rigor, depending on project demands. In order for projects to be successful, it is important for the project team to follow these project management processes and complete their associated documentation with the degree of rigor that best promotes achievement of the project's objectives.

As indicated in the diagram at the top of this page, Risk, Complexity and Dollars can be used as determinants of levels of project management and documentation rigor. The CDC Unified Process Project Office recommends that the greater a project's risk, complexity, or dollar/budget value, the greater degree of project management and documentation rigor be applied. Full templates are available for more rigorous project documentation. "Lite" templates are available where less rigorous project documentation will suffice. NOTE: These classifications are guidelines only. The project manager, in collaboration with the project team, is always responsible for determining the appropriate level of project management and documentation rigor.

Follow the steps below to classify your project according to the diagram at the top of this page. This classification process is iterative and may change throughout the project lifecycle.

• Identify the project's risk level

• Identify the project's complexity level OR dollar size of the project's budget
• Using the data identified above, estimate where on the Project Classification Diagram the project falls
• Based on where the project falls on the diagram, complete the appropriate CDC Unified Process artifacts and apply the appropriate level of project management rigor to the project
    

EXAMPLES OF PROJECT RISK AREAS

• Legal Risk
• Budget Risk
• Scope Risk
• Resource Risk
    

Characteristics of High Risk Projects:

• A similar project has not yet been completed successfully
• The project is under strict time or budget constraints
• The project is utilizing/implementing new technology
    

Characteristics of Low Risk Projects:

• A similar project has been completed successfully within the last year
• The project has sufficient time and budget to complete the required work
• The project team is knowledgeable in the areas needed to successfully complete the project
    

EXAMPLES OF PROJECT COMPLEXITY AREAS

• Number of partners
• Number of resources
• Number of implementation sites
• Project Scope
    

Characteristics of High Complexity Projects:

• The project is large in scope, size, or timeframe
• The project crosses multiple NCs or is external to the CDC
• The project has a large number of stakeholders
    

Characteristics of Low Complexity Projects:

• The project is small in scope, size, or timeframe
• The project has sufficient time and budget to complete the required work
• The project has a limited number of stakeholders
     

BEST PRACTICES FOR PROJECT CLASSIFICATION

• Small Project - A project with less than $250,000 in annual budget that is considered low complexity and low risk may be classified as a small project if appropriate for the C/I/O sponsoring that effort.
• Risk - The more risk a project has the more project documentation and management rigor may be required. To what level this rigor is applied is at the discretion of the project manager.
• Complexity - The more complex a project is the more project documentation and management rigor may be required. To what level this rigor is applied is at the discretion of the project manager.
• Dollars/Budget - The greater a project's budget or the more dollars at risk, the more project documentation and management rigor may be required. To what level this rigor is applied is at the discretion of the project manager.
• More is Better - When in doubt as to what level of rigor to apply to a project, in most cases, more is better than less.
    

What About Fast Track Projects? A fast track project is one that is initiated outside normal agency processes to meet a critical agency need in a very compressed timeframe, as approved by senior leadership. An example of such a project would be an emergency outbreak response.

For fast track projects, the CDC Unified Process recommends the application of whatever level of project management rigor the project manager deems necessary to promote the project's success. The degree of management rigor applied may be less or more than the recommended level of documentation and should be applied as needed, at the discretion of the project manager. Fast track projects may start with Lite templates and less management rigor and move to full templates and more management rigor as needed. Upon project completion, a project manager's close-out activities should include further documentation of project activities than there was time to complete during the fast track project. This additional project documentation would then be included in the scope of topics examined during the lessons learned analysis.