You might come across the word “deliverable” used casually at work. So, you might be wondering what a deliverable is in project management. To understand it in a general sense, It refers to a specific output produced as a result of work performed during the course of a project in project management. Projects produce deliverables, which are simply the project’s results or methods. As a result, a deliverable could be as large as the project’s main purpose or the broader project’s reporting.
One may find a lot of different terms and meanings while interpreting the project management deliverables, as they are frequently conflated with project deliverables, objectives, and milestones in modern project management. To help you understand the concepts a little better, we will be looking at and understanding the term Deliverable in project management.
What is a Deliverable?
Any product, service, or outcome that must be done in order to complete a project is referred to as a deliverable. Some initiatives require the development of capabilities in order to be completed. These abilities are referred to as deliverables. According to the PMBOK Guide, deliverables are a key output of the Direct and Manage Project Execution knowledge area of the Project Integration Management knowledge domain.
A deliverable can refer to in-person or online training programmes, as well as design examples for goods in the development process, in addition to computer equipment and software applications.
What are the Types of Deliverables
One can come across a few types of project deliverables out there. The different types of project deliverables are as follows:
External
Deliverables created for clients, customers, or other external stakeholders are known as external deliverables. External deliverables are usually referred to as product deliverables in project management.
Internal
Internal deliverables are outputs created within your organization for internal stakeholders such as managers and other leadership; examples include training program goals and budget sheets. An internal deliverable can be the development of a factory to produce more goods in order to fulfill rising client demand.
Intangible
Intangible deliverables are measurable conceptual project outcomes, such as a specified number of new end-users. A training program for employees to teach them how to use new software that will be employed at the organization is an example of an intangible deliverable.
Tangible
Physical or digital things that a project can produce, such as a piece of hardware or a website wireframe, are examples of tangible deliverables.
Process
Process deliverables are the smaller outputs that help your team get to the final goal along the journey (such as a website mockup or project plan).
Final
Final: Deliverables can appear at any time during the course of a project; final deliverables are the project’s end-goal deliverables (such as a finished website).
Key Deliverables in Project Management
If you’re starting a project for your company, you’ll need to meet some minimal deliverables to demonstrate your competency and avoid jeopardizing your organization’s reputation. Even if the project is modest, the following deliverables are considered required for most initiatives.
Project Charter/Brief
A project charter or brief is a document that describes your project’s aim and scope to the stakeholders. The other deliverables will show that your project is progressing, but a project charter or a project brief will let others see the big picture of what you’re aiming to accomplish with the proposed project.
Kick-off Meeting
The project manager, the client, and the team meet for the first time at the kick-off meeting. It occurs after the contracts have been signed and both parties have agreed on the scope of work, budget, and dates. The kick-off meeting’s goal is to ensure that everyone is on the same page stakeholders are informed of critical milestones and what needs to be done to reach them, while the team is introduced to project requirements and individual duties.
Project Plan
Project plans are among the most important phases in project management, it’s only natural that one of the major outputs would be a project plan. It is critical for team leaders to communicate that they understand what they are doing and that the project has a good probability of succeeding. A project plan involves everything from the project steps and the resources requirements for project completion to scope management and risk analysis.
Communications Plan
A communication plan for larger projects explains how leaders and members will interact with stakeholders. It will also explain how to take into account and influence their thoughts. Moreover, it includes determining the type of communication channels to be used for daily interaction.
Meeting Notes
Meeting notes are a little yet strong project management deliverable that summarizes the meeting’s main themes. These notes are normally emailed out quickly after the meeting and comprise follow-ups, next action actions, and links to the relevant papers.
Performance Reports
Performance reports can be created at every stage of the project to assess the productivity of the team, identify the problems, and examine project costs, among other things.
How to use Deliverables in Project Management
Now that you know what project deliverables are and the next step is understanding how to use them in project management. Here is a step-by-step method of how to use your deliverables.
Create Deliverables
The first stage is to come up with a list of deliverables. Examining your goal should be your first step. You can try answering the following questions to find the right direction.
- What exactly are you attempting to accomplish?
- How are you going to do it?
- What are the measures you’ll need to take?
You can develop a list of essential deliverables by answering these questions. You should break down the goal into steps. Also, check to see if these steps can be completed in a fair amount of time.
Gather The Requirements
After answering these questions, you should have a better idea of the tasks you need to do. You’ll have a draft version of a deliverable, and now it’s time to specify the requirements for each one
Determine the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
This is the stage where the project manager examines each deliverable in detail to ensure that it is correct and realistic. Break the deliverables down into phases and smaller parts to do this.
Review and Approve
It’s critical to collaborate with important stakeholders, review, and approve the deliverables and project management KPIs once they’ve been specified. Therefore, the last step is reviewing your deliverables and getting them approved.
How to Present Deliverables To Stakeholders
The different types of deliverables are offered to stakeholders through project managers’ reports and by using different charts. A project manager may use project management software to streamline the project data into easy-to-use and brief charts. Here are some charts and tools that can be used to present the deliverables to stakeholders.
- Gantt charts
- Kanban boards
- Project calendars
- Work breakdown structure
- PERT chart
Conclusion
To Maintain solid client connections and your organization’s long-term performance, it is important for you to create the best project deliverables. Deliverables can range from a small internal pdf to a substantial final product. Nevertheless, project deliverables determine the quality of your entire project. Now, you must have an idea about what project deliverables are and how they are created. If you liked this guide, let us know in the comment section.
