Project Control Plan Template

P r o j e c t Control Plan
PROJECT OWNERSHIP
Project Name Project#
Project Manager
Project Sponsor
Control Gates applicable to this project
CG1 CG2 CG3 CG4 CG5 CG6 CG7

Definition: A Control Gate is a special project milestone at a key transition point in

the Project Management Framework. It is a governance review point at which there is
an independent assessment of the extent to which the project
• is conforming with the deliverables/documentation quality standards
• is acceptably controlling/mitigating risks and issues
• still has satisfactory stakeholder commitment
• still is acceptably resourced
• still is on course to deliver the scope defined in the Project Scope Document
• still is acceptably on budget (to date and forecasted to end)
• still is acceptably on schedule (to date and forecasted to end)
• still is anticipated to deliver the benefits set out in the Project Business Case
• still is acceptably aligned with current strategic priorities

As a result of the review of the project against the Acceptance Criteria set out for
each Control Gate, it will be authorised to continue, be terminated or
rescoped/redefined.

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CONTROL GATE 1 CRITERIA
• Preliminary costs are defined, reasonable and
acceptable
COSTS
• Sufficient funds are available to progress the project to
Control Gate 2
• If marked non-discretionary, the project is genuinely
non-discretionary
• Preliminary financial benefits are defined and
reasonable
• The organisational value of the project is defined and
compelling
VALUE
• The adverse organisational impact of not performing
the project is defined and compelling
• The proposed project is acceptably aligned with the
organisational, systems and technology strategies
• The payback period is defined and reasonable
• The payback assumptions are defined and reasonable
Sufficient resources are available to progress the project to
RESOURCES
Control Gate 2
• There is an agreed Project Sponsor
STAKEHOLDERS
• Key Stakeholders are defined
The Project Brief Document has been completed and
QUALITY
signed-off

PROJECT INITIATION APPROVAL (Control Gate 1 Criteria met?)

Input: Project Briefing Document
Name Signature Date
Project Sponsor
CIO
Accepted/Rejected/Deferred/Returned
If Rejected/Deferred/Returned, reasons

This authorises project expenditure up to Control Gate 2

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CONTROL GATE 2 CRITERIA
• Project costs over the project’s life and the life of its
deliverables are defined and agreed
COSTS • Cost estimating assumptions are defined and reasonable
• Sufficient funds are available to complete the project
without reducing the scope
• Project planned start and end dates are defined and
PROGRESS
agreed
• The business objectives of the project are defined and
agreed
• The scope of the project is defined and agreed (and
SCOPE baselined)
• Any project scoping assumptions are defined
• Any constraints under which the project will operate
are defined
• Sought business outcomes and success criteria are
defined and agreed
• Project financial benefits over the life of its
deliverables are defined and agreed
• Benefits estimating assumptions are defined and
reasonable
VALUE
• The payback period is defined and reasonable
• The payback assumptions are defined and reasonable
• The proposed project is acceptably aligned with the
organisational, systems and technology strategies
• Intangible project benefits are defined and agreed
• The business case is commercially compelling
• Project resources are available to complete the project
in the specified timescales without reducing the scope
• Support/technical resources are available to complete
RESOURCES
the project in the specified timescales
• User resources are available to complete the project in
the specified timescales
• There is evidence that the Project Sponsor and key
stakeholders are actively engaged
STAKEHOLDERS • There will be real Project Sponsor accountability for
realizing benefits (with costs/benefits hitting
departmental budgets)
• The inherent risk of project delivery failure (the PM3
Delivery Exposure assessment) is defined and
reasonable
RISKS
• The inherent risk of project benefits realization failure
(the PM3 Value Exposure assessment) is defined and
reasonable
• The Project Scope Document has been completed and
QUALITY signed-off
• The Project Business Case document has been

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completed and signed-off
• The initial Milestone Plan has been created and agreed
with the Project Sponsor

PROJECT PLANNING APPROVAL (Control Gate 2 Criteria met?)

Inputs: PM3 initial Milestone Plan, Project Brief Document, Project Scope
Document, Project Business Case, IT Project Budget
Name Signature Date
Project Sponsor
CIO
Projects Review
Board
If rejected/deferred, reasons

This authorises project expenditure up to Control Gate 3

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CONTROL GATE 3 CRITERIA
• Refined and updated forecasted project costs are
agreed
• Any cost variances to date are acceptable
COSTS
• Any forecasted cost variances are acceptable
• Sufficient funds are available to complete the project
without reducing the scope
• Planning assumptions have been documented
PROGRESS • Any delivery schedule slippage to date is acceptable
• Any forecasted delivery schedule slippage is acceptable
• The objectives of the project are unchanged
• All Change Control Requests have been agreed and
SCOPE
signed-off
• The extent of any scope variation is acceptable
• The sought business outcomes and success criteria of
the project are unchanged
• Refined and updated forecasted project benefits are
agreed
• Any forecasted benefits variances are acceptable
• The updated payback period is acceptable
VALUE • The project is still aligned with the organisational,
systems and technology strategies
• The business case for this project is still commercially
compelling
• The project benefits realization plan is rigorous (what
outputs deliver what benefits and who is accountable
for realizing those benefits when and how)
• Project resources are available to complete the project
in the specified timescales without reducing the scope
• Support/technical resources are available to complete
RESOURCES
the project in the specified timescales
• User resources are available to complete the project in
the specified timescales
• There is evidence that the Project Sponsor and key
STAKEHOLDERS
stakeholders are still actively engaged
• The inherent risk of project delivery failure (the PM3
Delivery Exposure assessment) is still acceptable
• The inherent risk of project benefits realization failure
RISKS (the PM3 Value Exposure assessment) is still acceptable
• Delivery and Value Risks have been defined, rated by
impact and probability and mitigation/avoidance
actions agreed and assigned
• Delivery and Value Issues have been defined, rated by
ISSUES
impact and mitigation actions agreed and assigned
• The Project Business Case document has been updated
QUALITY and signed-off
• The Stakeholder Analysis document has been completed
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and signed-off
• The Milestone Plan has been created and agreed with
the Project Sponsor and key stakeholders
• All required users/stakeholders have been actively
involved in the specification of the planning
deliverables

PROJECT LAUNCH APPROVAL (Control Gate 3 Criteria met?)

Inputs: PM3 Milestone Plan, PM3 Risk/Issue Logs, PM3 Notes & Assumptions,
PM3 Delivery/Value Exposure, Revised Project Business Case, Stakeholder
Analysis, Project Reporting Plan
Name Signature Date
Project Sponsor
Project Board
If cancelled/rescoped, reasons

This authorises project expenditure up to Control Gate 4

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CONTROL GATE 4 CRITERIA
• Refined and updated forecasted project costs are
agreed
• Any cost variances to date are acceptable
COSTS
• Any forecasted cost variances are acceptable
• Sufficient funds are available to complete the project
without reducing the scope
• Any delivery schedule slippage to date is acceptable
PROGRESS
• Any forecasted delivery schedule slippage is acceptable
• The objectives of the project are unchanged
SCOPE • All scope variations have been agreed and signed-off
• The extent of any scope variation is acceptable
• The sought business outcomes and success criteria of
the project are unchanged
• Refined and updated forecasted project benefits are
agreed
• Any forecasted benefits variances are acceptable
VALUE
• The updated payback period is acceptable
• The project is still aligned with the organisational,
systems and technology strategies
• The business case for this project is still commercially
compelling
• Project resources are available to complete the project
in the specified timescales without reducing the scope
• Support/technical resources are available to complete
RESOURCES
the project in the specified timescales
• User resources are available to complete the project in
the specified timescales without reducing the scope
• There is evidence that the Project Sponsor and key
STAKEHOLDERS
stakeholders are still actively engaged
• The inherent risk of project delivery failure (the PM3
Delivery Exposure assessment) is still acceptable
• The inherent risk of project benefits realization failure
RISKS
(the PM3 Value Exposure assessment) is still acceptable
• Any slippage in actions mitigating/avoiding risks is
acceptable
• Any slippage in actions mitigating issues is acceptable
ISSUES
• The Project Business Case document has been updated
and signed-off
• All required technical deliverables have met their
quality criteria and been signed-off
QUALITY • All project delivery activities have complied with
relevant standards & procedures
• All required users/stakeholders have been actively
involved in the specification/design/testing of the work
deliverables
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• Independent quality reviews have been conducted on
all delivery work and deliverables

PROJECT CONTINUATION APPROVAL (Control Gate 4 Criteria met?)

Inputs: PM3 Milestone Plan, PM3 Risk/Issue Reports, PM3 Delivery/Value
Exposure, Revised Project Business Case
Name Signature Date
Project Sponsor
Project Board
If cancelled/rescoped, reasons

This authorises project expenditure up to the next iteration of Control Gate 4 or, if the
last, Control Gate 5

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CONTROL GATE 5 CRITERIA
• Any forecasted variance between the originally
COSTS budgeted project operational and support costs and the
current anticipated costs are acceptable
• The objectives of the project are unchanged
SCOPE • All scope variations have been agreed and signed-off
• The extent of scope variation is acceptable
• The sought business outcomes and success criteria of
the project are unchanged
• Refined and updated forecasted project benefits are
agreed
• Any forecasted benefits variances are acceptable
• The updated payback period is acceptable
• The project is still aligned with the organisational,
systems and technology strategies
VALUE
• The business case for implementing this project is still
commercially compelling
• The project benefits realization plan is rigorous (what
outputs deliver what benefits and who is accountable
for realization)
• The purpose of this change has been clearly
articulated, including how it will benefit customers,
staff and other stakeholders
• Resources are available for the system implementation
• Resources are available for the system support
• Resources are available for the system operation
• Redeployment of project/development staff is planned
RESOURCES • Business change management resources are fully
available to facilitate benefits delivery in the agreed
timescales
• The people affected by the change have the
knowledge, skills and abilities to make the change
succeed
• The users are trained and ready to use the system
STAKEHOLDERS • Service Delivery are ready to run the system
• System support staff are ready to support the system
RISKS • Sponsor and key stakeholders accept any residual risks
ISSUES • Sponsor and key stakeholders accept any residual issues
• The User Acceptance Report has been completed and
signed-off
• The Operations Acceptance Report has been completed
and signed-off
QUALITY • All required technical deliverables have met their
quality criteria and been signed-off
• All project delivery activities have complied with
relevant standards & procedures
• All required users/stakeholders have been actively
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involved in the specification/design/testing of the work
deliverables
• Independent quality reviews have been conducted on
all delivery work and deliverables
• The cut-over approach to the new ways-of-working has
been agreed (e.g. pilot, proof-of-concept, parallel
running, big-bang)
• There is a proven roll-back plan in case the new ways-
of-working 'fail' after go-live
• Knowledge transfer to the support staff has been
completed successfully

PROJECT GO LIVE APPROVAL (Control Gate 5 Criteria met?)

Inputs: User Acceptance Report, Operational Acceptance Report
Name Signature Date
Service Delivery
Manager
Service Support
Manager
Project Sponsor
Project Board
If rejected, reasons

This authorises project expenditure up to Control Gate 6

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CONTROL GATE 6 CRITERIA
• Any variance between the originally budgeted project
COSTS
costs and the final actual costs are acceptable
• Any variance between the original scheduled project
PROGRESS delivery date and the final actual delivery are
acceptable
• The objectives of the project are anticipated to be
realized
• Any variance between the original
SCOPE features/functionality agreed in the Project Scope
Document and that finally delivered is acceptable
• The final extent of scope variation on the project is
acceptable
• The sought business outcomes of the project are
anticipated to be realized
• The success criteria of the project have been
VALUE acceptably met
• The business benefits (set out in the Project Business
Case) are anticipated to be realized
• Plans are in place to measure the benefits realized
• Adequate resources are available for the system
implementation
• Adequate resources are available for system support
RESOURCES
• Adequate resources are available for system operation
• Redeployment of project/development staff is
complete
• Users are actively using the system
• There is evidence that the Project Sponsor and key
stakeholders are now actively engaged in realizing the
STAKEHOLDERS project’s promised benefits
• There is real Project Sponsor accountability for
realizing benefits with project costs and predicted
benefits hitting his/her departmental budgets
• Any slippage in actions mitigating/avoiding value risks is
RISKS
acceptable
• Any slippage in actions mitigating value issues is
ISSUES
acceptable
• The Project Completion Report has been completed and
signed-off
• The functional quality of the delivered system is
QUALITY
acceptable
• The technical quality of the delivered system is
acceptable

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PROJECT COMPLETION APPROVAL (Control Gate 6 Criteria met?)
Inputs: Project Completion Report
Name Signature Date
Service Delivery
Manager
Service Support
Manager
Project Sponsor
Project Board
Projects
Governance Board
If cancelled/rescoped, reasons

This authorises system support expenditure up to Control Gate 7

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CONTROL GATE 7 CRITERIA
• Any variance between the originally budgeted support
COSTS and operational costs and the final actual costs are
acceptable
• Any variance between the benefits delivery plan
PROGRESS scheduled benefits delivery dates and the actual
delivery dates are acceptable
SCOPE • The objectives of the project have been realized

• The sought business outcomes of the project have been

achieved
• The success criteria of the project have been
VALUE acceptably met
• The benefits (set out in the Project Business Case)
predicted to be realized by this time have largely or
entirely been achieved
• Adequate resources have been available for system
support
RESOURCES
• Adequate resources have been available for system
operation
• There is evidence that the Project Sponsor and key
STAKEHOLDERS stakeholders are actively engaged in realizing the
project’s promised benefits
• Any slippage in actions mitigating/avoiding value risks is
RISKS
acceptable
• Any slippage in actions mitigating value issues is
ISSUES
acceptable
• The Post-Implementation Report has been completed
and signed-off
• Operational Service Level Agreement targets are being
QUALITY
routinely met
• Support Service Level Agreement targets are being
routinely met

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POST-IMPLEMENTATION APPROVAL (Control Gate 7 Criteria met?)
Inputs: Post-Implementation Report, PM3 Outcome Measurement Report
Name Signature Date
Service Delivery
Manager
Service Support
Manager
Project Sponsor
Project Board
Projects
Governance Board
If terminated/rescoped, reasons

This authorises system support expenditure up to agreed system termination

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