Project Plan

Having never done a JISC project before, we were at first overwhelmed by the depth of understanding of JISC standards required to complete the project plan. However, after an intial panic, we sat down to read the Project Management Guidlines which proved invaluable. We were concerned that we couldn't complete some elements of the plan but came to the conclusion that they were irrelevant to our project. A slightly revised programme specific template would have be beneificial - that's assuming that we were right in thinking that some elements did not apply to us! At the time, we felt that we were just repeating the information provided during the bidding process. However, in hindsight, we can see the benefit of spending so much time upfront thinking about the project. The evaluation, QA, dissemination and exit/sustainability plans made us really think about the key drivers of/barriers to the success of the project. Indeed, producing the work programme was relatively straight forward having completed the above plans. The plan has helped to focus our minds in terms of what we need to do for the project. We certainly have a much clearer picture than we had at the initial programme meeting and are now less apprehensive about what lies ahead.