This week we will look at creating project management tool and artifact templates for the organization:

In many organizations the project management templates are created and maintained by the PMO or the project management team. Regardless of which group owns this task there are some very important things to consider when creating the templates.

• The first thing is decide the artifacts/tools needed for small, medium, and large projects. Start by defining small, med, and large projects
• The next task is to design a generic template to define the look and feel of all the artifacts. Consistency is very important in these.
• When creating the templates for the project management artifacts use standard names such as project charter, risk matrix. Avoid "cute" names
• As you create the templates look at other templates available on the internet or other sources for ideas or even starter templates.
• Design your templates to be minimalistic. You don't need a 10 page risk management plan. Concise and accurate documents are more useful.
• Always use full words in the templates. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms so that documents created with the templates are easily understood.
• Use revision numbers and dates for the templates so you can easily issue updates and so that others know which versions are the current ones

  When creating templates make it easy to add or remove unneeded sections to account for project differences and project size.

Next week it is time for my annual rant on project status reports. Stay tuned!