L2: Project Review Record guidance

1. Purpose of the Project Review Record document

This document is updated incrementally at the end of each increment. It is used to capture feedback from the review of the solution; to capture learning points; and, if appropriate, to describe benefits. Typically the analyst in the project is responsible to keep it up to date and to align with project management tools (e.g. ActiveCollab, ClickUp) used by the development team and by the lab and project managers to monitor progress, guide communication with partners, check deadlines are respected, track time estimates on a task and against the overall project budget. The template can be shared with partners in its entirety and/or following each review meeting with partners, shared as a snippet recording progress for each specific increment.

2. Completing the Project Review Record

2.1. REQUIREMENTS

In this section the prioritised high level requirements extracted from the Product quote and/or as modified at the kick off meeting are added as reference to guide the timebox and increment plans.

2.2. USEFUL LINKS

If applicable, a list of links to other documents or resources such as Product quote or external sites of reference are added here.

2.3. INCREMENT [NUMBER]

Add the number to record the current increment. It's advisable to keep one an increment 'draft' that can be copy-pasted and filled in ahead of each meeting

2.3.1. Meeting date:

Record when the meeting is taking place

2.3.2. Attending:

Team members attending the meeting

2.3.3. Budget update:

Record the percentage of budget spent so far

2.3.4. Release log number:

2.3.5. Review of the Delivered Solution

Confirm what has been delivered and what has not

2.3.6. Discussion and Learning Points

Focused on the process, practices employed and contributing roles and responsibilities

2.3.7. Next Increment - Actions:

Record the actions that came out of the meeting and who they are assigned to

2.4. KICK OFF MEETING

2.4.1. Meeting date:

Record when the meeting is taking place

2.4.2. Attending:

Team members attending the meeting

2.4.3. Agenda:

2.4.4. 1. Intro and welcome

Opportunity for each member of the research team(s) to introduce themselves

2.4.5. 2. Team Processes

a. Team roles

Explain the roles and responsibilities of each team member

b. Tasks, documentation and communication channel (eg.: email, slack, zoom, MS Teams)

Explain the organisation of project work by task, the type of documentation that is produced during the project, and decide on the best channel of communication for the team

c. SDLC and FAQ

Introduce the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and address any Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). If available, link to a source (e.g. a webpage)

2.4.6. 3. Project requirements overview/discussion

a. MoSCoW

Explain the MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Wont) technique used to prioritise tasks

b. Definition of increment 1

Identify the task(s) that is going to be delivered at the end of the first increment 

c. Date for first review meeting

Decide on a date for the next meeting

2.4.7. 4. Key Discussion points

Any discussion items raised by the other research team(s)

2.4.8. 5. Actions:

Record the actions that came out of the meeting and who they are assigned to