“Gantt/PERT Flavored” IT Project Pre-Meeting Agenda
Creating an agenda that subtly guides engineers to provide the necessary information for Gantt and PERT charts is a strategic approach to project management. The agenda should be structured to elicit specific details about tasks, durations, dependencies, and milestones. Following is a generic fill-in-the-blank template for your agenda. When possible, fill it in & distribute it to key meeting members in advance so they know what they should research in advance of the meeting.
Project Meeting Agenda: [Project Name]
Date: [Insert Date]
Time: [Insert Time]
Location: [Insert Location/Virtual Meeting Link]
Attendees:
- [List Attendees]
1. Introduction (Time: [Insert Time])
- Brief overview of the meeting's purpose.
- Quick roundtable for introductions (if new members are present).
2. Review of Project Objectives (Time: [Insert Time])
- Brief reiteration of the overall project objectives.
- [Project Manager] to lead this section.
3. Task Breakdown and Updates (Time: [Insert Time])
- Each engineer provides an update on their current tasks:
- [Engineer Name]: [Task Name] - Please mention the expected completion date and any dependencies or support needed.
- (Repeat for each engineer)
4. Identification of New Tasks (Time: [Insert Time])
- Discussion of any new tasks identified since the last meeting.
- For each new task, answer:
- Task Name: [__]
- Lead Engineer: [__]
- Expected Duration: [__]
- Dependencies: [__]
- Start Date: [__]
5. Milestone Review (Time: [Insert Time])
- Review of upcoming milestones.
- Discussion of any potential roadblocks to meeting these milestones.
6. Dependency Mapping (Time: [Insert Time])
- Discussion of task dependencies and interdependencies.
- [Project Manager] to facilitate the identification of critical paths.
7. Resource Allocation and Requirements (Time: [Insert Time])
- Review of current resource allocation.
- Discussion on additional resource requirements for upcoming tasks.
8. Risk Assessment and Mitigation (Time: [Insert Time])
- Identification of potential risks.
- Discussion of mitigation strategies.
9. Open Forum for Questions and Clarifications (Time: [Insert Time])
- Opportunity for team members to raise any concerns or questions.
- Discussion of any other business not previously covered.
10. Summary and Next Steps (Time: [Insert Time])
- Recap of key points from the meeting.
- Confirmation of action items and responsible individuals.
- Setting date and time for the next meeting.
Meeting Closure (Time: [Insert Time])
This agenda aims to methodically extract information relevant to project scheduling and planning in a structured manner. It's essential to ensure that each engineer understands the importance of providing detailed and accurate information for effective project management.