On almost every major project, as the 3P Manager (one of the P being Project / Program / Portfolio), you come across different methodologies, standards and frameworks. Some departments / teams on the project require PMI, others may be talking about Agile, then comes the ITIL practices, SDLC, Security and compliance or GRC process and so on.
To simplify and consolidate the key aspects of any project, besides other project plans, I came up with my Brainstorming Plan Template – one page document to show the key pieces of project information. In my initial template, I used four key areas for a successful application / systems. Those were Availability, Reliability, Security and Performance. Over period of time, I added architecture, migration, licensing and custom development as other key areas into my template. I used that brainstorming plan successfully on different type of projects. In fact, I made it as requirement for every major project initiative at one of the company where I was managing their IT Project Portfolio. I used it for Office Move, Active Directory / Exchange upgrade, Storage or network upgrades, DataCenter Relocation and others. I’ve been using it for almost every Microsoft Sharepoint roll.
I’ve created a Sharepoint Brainstorming Template that covers all the key aspects of a successful Sharepoint roll out. I’m sharing that SharePoint Brainstorming Plan. Some project may require migrations, others might require custom development, another one might involve integration with Microsoft Project Server EPM / PPM, Microsoft Dynamics (CRM, AX etc), or may be Yammer or FAST Search. Based on your project, you can pick and choose the nodes and refine it.
The Sharepoint brainstorming plan allows you to set and communicate your project priorities, important info, warning areas, high / low importance areas and more on one page. On almost all of my projects, I publish the updated plans including this brainstorming plan on the Sharepoint Project. I put the image of the brainstorming plan on the homepage for quick visibility to all stakeholders and team.
You can download the plan at the link below:
Softvative-sharepoint-brain-storming-plan-v11
Here is the embedded view of my SharePoint Brainstorming Plan