“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.