Project management templates

Successful project delivery requires an adequate level of control and documentation to describe the plans in place, provide information and report on the outcomes.

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Successful project delivery requires an adequate level of control and documentation to describe the plans in place, provide information and report on the outcomes.

The ACU Project Management Model specifies documentation which every project is expected to develop. When it benefits the project and provides a higher degree of control over it, additional templates can also be used to complement the information, as best suits each project and stakeholders. Where needed, templates can be amended to provide a higher degree of information about or control over a project.

Where a standard template or tool is available, the document name links to the respective file. If additional templates are required, please contact the National Manager, Portfolio Projects in Corporate Services for assistance.

Quick reference

The table below lists the mandatory documents for each project category. Links to templates are provided when each is required for the first time. Please refer to sections below for further descriptions and additional recommended templates.

Phase	Small	Medium	Complex
Define a new project	Proposal for Business Change Project Gating Checklist Project financial model	Benefit Map Proposal for Business Change Project Gating Checklist Project financial model Project Business Case	All in medium, and also: Benefit Realisation Plan Business Change Plan
Plan, implement, close	Simple schedule Project Gating Checklist Project Status Report (PSR) End-project communications	Project schedule Project Initiation Document (PID) ACU Project Governance – Terms of Reference Project registers Project Change Request Project Gating Checklist Project Status Reports (PSR) – Dashboard Post-Implementation Review Report (PIR)	All in medium, and also: Communications Plan Risk Management Plan Quality Management Plan Test Report Benefit Realisation Plan Business Change Plan
After a project			Benefit Realisation Plan Business Change Plan Benefit Realisation Report Business Change Report

About the templates

First, you should assess your project to determine whether it should be structured and governed as a simple, medium or complex project. Then follow the respective column in the tables below.

M = Mandatory. The project is expected to produce this document and have it approved, as required.
R = Recommended. Optional documents which offer more information and control over the project.
Blank refers to additional documents which you can use, where useful.

Please note: The Properties & Facilities Directorate (Development and Major Projects) use their own templates due to the nature of development projects. The IT Directorate has additional templates for details used in projects involving technology.

Define a new project

Tools and templates to define a new project and submit if for approval. In the project management framework, this covers the Pre-Initiate and Initiate phases.
The Executive Sponsor is responsible for the definition and taking the project through to approval.

Document	Purpose	Simple	Medium	Complex
Benefit Map	Outlines and visualises what the change will include and the benefit of it.	R	M	M
Proposal for Business Change	Summarises the need and outlines the improvements sought. Use to gain acceptance and prioritisation of a change.	M	M	M
Project Gating Checklist	Provides quality checkpoints to the project to confirm it is run well. The first check is done before a Proposal is submitted.	M	M	M
Project financial model	Captures the estimated financial benefits and costs of the project.	M	M	M
Project Business Case	Detail the justification for the need or opportunity to proceed into a project. Use to gain approval for the project. A guide for developing a business case is available here.		M	M
Benefit Realisation Plan	List the benefits and identify the measures, current level (baseline) and future target values.		R	M
Business Change Plan	Outline the business change and identify who is impacted and how.		R	M

Plan, implement and close a project

Template for planning, implementing, and closing a project.
The Project Manager is responsible for the daily management of these phases. The Executive Sponsor remains accountable for the success of the project.

Document	Purpose	Simple	Medium	Complex
Plan
Simple schedule	Helps with managing the work and reporting on the progress.	M
Project schedule	Helps with managing the work and reporting on the progress. The schedule is maintained in the PPM System.		M	M
Project Initiation Document (PID)	Presents the key information needed to start a project on a sound basis and to convey that information to the project stakeholders.		M	M
ACU Project Governance – Terms of Reference	Describes the roles and responsibilities of the Project Board or Steering Committee, and outlines the Terms of Reference (ToR)		M	M
Project Controls Workbook	A register for capturing risks, issues, project changes, and lessons, their ratings and actions.	R
Project registers	Registers for capturing risks, issues, and project changes, lessons, their ratings and actions. These are maintained in the PPM System.		M	M
Stakeholder matrix	Analyse stakeholders and their interest and impact to the project. This is included in the Communications Plan.	R	R	R
Communications Plan	Define how the project communicates with its stakeholders and other parties.			M
Risk Management Plan	Define how the project will identify and manage risks.			M
Quality Management Plan	Define how the project will assure the quality of its outputs, i.e. fulfil the quality expectations set to it. Some projects may also have more detailed Test Plans.			M
Test Report	Define the quality outcomes and test results. Done as specified in the Test Plan.		R	M
Benefit Realisation Plan	Add to the existing plan all the actions required to achieve the desired benefits.		R	M
Business Change Plan	Add to the existing plan how the project will approach the impacts to staff and students (what action, by whom, when, how).		R	M
Implement
Project Change Request	Defines a change or variation after the initial or latest baselined scope, schedule or budget sign-off.	R	M	M
Project Gating Checklist	Confirms the quality of project management and delivery.	M	M	M
Project Status Report (PSR)	Report for providing regular status updates. Projects outside of the PPM System use this template at a frequency agreed with the Executive Sponsor.	M
Project Status Report (PSR) – Dashboard	A PowerBI dashboard for providing regular status updates. The related data is maintained in the PPM System.		M	M
Review and close
End-project communications	Communication that is shared to the stakeholders at the closure of the project to note the end of it. [No specific template provided.]	M
Post-Implementation Review Report (PIR)	Review the project at completion to ensure that the project has met its objectives and the outputs meet the requirements of users and stakeholders. The success of output benefits is reported here.	R	M	M

After a Project

Tools and templates to assist with the completion of business change and realising the outcome benefit from a project.
The Executive Sponsor is responsible for the success of the change and value created.

Document	Purpose	Simple	Medium	Complex
Benefit Realisation Plan	Record interim measurement results and the final results.		R	M
Business Change Plan	Complete the business change as planned. Adjust the plan, as necessary, to respond to emerging opportunities or needs.		R	M
Benefit Realisation Report	Report on the success of benefits realisation.		R	M
Business Change Report	Report on the success of business change.		R	M

Additional Templates

Document	Purpose	Simple	Medium	Complex
Business Requirements Definition (BRD)	A collection of business, functional and technical requirements for the project deliverables.	R	M	M
Implementation Plan	Define how the outputs are taken into on-going operational use: operational readiness, Go-Live, handover, and a rollback plan.		R	M
Project Delivery Acceptance Certificate	Confirm that the expectations for the project have been met and the PM has completed the respective delivery.	R	R	M

In IT projects, you may also come across some of the IT-specific templates.

Agile projects have additional templates to support the agile way of working on business systems.

Page last updated on 01/09/2021

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