A workplan can be created for the required work steps needed to implement the initiative. The workplan is ‘frozen’ at the implementation gate and then from implementation stages onwards, the plan can be used to track slippage against the plan enabling stakeholders to understand progress and if the initiative is on track.

To view an initiative’s workplan, select the ‘Plan’ tab for the initiative.

Prior to the implementation gate, the ‘plan’ dates for each work step can be easily changed. Post the implementation gate, the ‘forecast’ dates are updated and if the work step has been completed then ‘actual’ dates are updated.

Work steps are usually at least 7 days minimum. Ideally, an implementation plan might have 4 work steps per month which is sufficiently high level to be simple to understand (i.e., 12 steps for a 3 month implementation) but also sufficiently detailed that stakeholders can quickly see if the initiative is on track (i.e., within a week or two).

The implementation plan can show dependencies allowing stakeholders to understand the critical path. The implementation plan can also show milestones for critical events/dates e.g., ‘Go Live’.

Resources and dependencies can be added to each work step by simply selecting with work step and adding details to the pop-up dialog box. Additionally, the display order and color of each task can be changed to suit the initiative owner’s needs.

Lastly, the initiative gates can also be shown so that users can see the overall time/schedule status. Similar to the implementation plan, gates are only ‘frozen’ after the implementation gate has been passed. Prior to this gate, ‘plan’ gate dates are easily changed whilst after this gate only forecast dates can be changed.