Business Consulting Services Engagement Proposal & Letter of Agreement Project Management Timelines/GANNT Chart

Engagement Letter Objectives Scope Assumptions and Constraints Work Products and Final Deliverables Deadlines and Milestones Status Report Cycle Reviews and Sign-offs Fees and Expenses

Engagement Letter Scope: Define exactly what aspects are included. Example: Based on your criteria, we’ll help you find the best contact management application. Define exactly what aspects are NOT included. Example: We will not review all receipts to compile the sales breakdown. This avoids unmet expectations of the client and protects you from “Scope Creep”

Engagement Letter Assumptions and Constraints “We assume that LaPayne can produce sufficient photos to meet demand.” “The Flower Patch B & B has $3000 budgeted for marketing.” Do the assumptions and constraints prevent you from achieving the objectives? What then?

Engagement Letter Work Products & Final Deliverables: Tell your client exactly what they will receive as a result of your work. For example: “Oral and written reports that discuss the various target markets for your Consulting Firm and a plan that directs you to the best media outlets and the proper timing for each advertisement.”

Engagement Letter Deadlines and Milestones: The final report will be delivered on December 8, 2007 Project milestones include: Initial market report on Results of survey on price points

Engagement Letter Status Report Cycle: An agreed upon period for updates to your client An agreed upon format for those updates This depends to a large degree on your client’s wishes

Engagement Letter Fees and Expenses: Detail what the client will pay for.  Mileage, printing, research, etc. Detail how the client will be billed.  Expense list presented prior to final report. Detail when the client pays you.  At the oral presentation or before

Getting it to Work – Timelines & Project Work Plan Define tasks Determine Skill Requirements Assign Resources Estimate Effort Implement

Project Management Tools Excel GANTT chart Free Project Management Software

Define Tasks Develop issue lists Determine work approach  Hypothesis driven  Implementation driven Deliverable timing Task interdependencies Milestones Prioritization

Determine Skill Requirements Assess skill/competency requirement by activity task ---  Analysis  Data collection  Management  Technical  Administration

Assign Resources Match skill sets and experience Consultants versus client staff Availability Workload issues Development needs

Estimate Effort Task complexity Task dependencies Related milestones Data availability and quality Previous consultant experience Resource skills and availability

Implement Final reviews Team Instructor Client Communicate work plan to all relevant parties Monitor performance Update

GANTT Chart The Key to: Project flow Accountability Time Budgeting Resource Budgeting Progress Analysis

GANTT Chart

Questions?