Project Document Management: How to Organize and Manage Project Information

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It does not take a huge project to spawn vast amounts of project knowledge, information, and documentation. Yet strangely, project document management does not feature in any of the principal Project Management methodologies.

Yet the ability to organize and manage project information is essential. Maybe we think it’s easy. Perhaps we think it is too dull. Or do we just hope we can pass it off to an administrator or Project Controller?

But the truth is that Project Document Management is every bit as much your responsibility as a Project Manager, as other things. It sits alongside planning, risk management, cost control, and quality management. And even if you choose to delegate it, two things will always be true:

  1. At the start of our careers, Project Managers often take on Project Control roles
  2. As fully-formed Project managers, we cannot shed ultimate accountability for project documentation – even when we delegate responsibility.

We Need an Expert in Project Document Management

To learn more about Project Document Management and how to properly organize all your records, plans, and documents, you need a guide. So, we invited one of the best.

Meet Malcolm West

Malcolm West - Founder of PROJECT in a Box

Malcolm has been at the forefront of Project Management thinking and delivery in the UK for over twenty years. The Association for Project Management (APM) awarded Malcolm its most prestigious award in 1999. The Monty Finniston Award is a ‘lifetime achievement’ award for contribution to the profession.

Malcolm is the founder of PROJECT in a box. This SaaS* tool supported many of the functions of your Project, Program and Portfolio Support Office. And what it did supremely well is organize your project information and documentation.

[ * SaaS: Software as a Service]

So, who better to tell us about project documentation management?

A Tidy Project is a Good Project

In this article, Malcolm looks at why it is important to be tidy and organized in your project and some tips for helping you to deliver on that.

There is a lot to cover here. So let’s break it down into these four sections:

  1. Why is Order and Structure in Project Document Management Important?
  2. The Challenge of Traditional Project Document Management
  3. Meeting the Challenge of Project Document Management
  4. A Modern Approach to Project Document Management

Why is Order and Structure in Project Document Management Important?

We all know that each project is a unique venture with its objectives, circumstances, and team put together for one time only. Then, they disband once the project has met its objectives. This uniqueness can lead to Project Managers ‘reinventing of the wheel’ each time. As a result, we too often see chaotic structures and processes. This can be especially the case with first-time project managers.

The consequences of inventing things anew each time can be severe:

The overall impact of poor project document management can be a negative effect on all aspects of your project.

Project Audit

When your project receives its first audit, your document management and information organization will get a severe test!

My experience of project audits is very much that if you look organised and can quickly find the particular things that auditors ask for, then you won’t get too many more difficult questions.

But, if a lack of order surfaces early the audits can become much more penetrating. Now, your document management becomes a governance issue. And auditors will want to examine your systems and processes.

Project Audit puts your document management to the test

Managing Multiple Projects

Now this should already be enough reasons why organized project documentation is important. But now, imagine when you have multiple projects to manage at the same time. Maybe they are for different customers; potentially with commercial confidentiality involved.

Now think about how easy it would be to get into a mess with cross-contamination of documentation. And never mind how hard it may be for you to find the information you need.

For more on the challenge of managing multiple projects:

Project Document Management: How to Organize and Manage Project Information

Every project will involve expending resources. And, in return, it will deliver benefits to its sponsoring organization. A project is always complex and unique. And it involves agreeing with people what they need to do and by when. Usually there is interaction between different groups of stakeholders and dependencies between activities, which you’ll need to manage.

So, Here are the Challenges…

If this is not to be totally chaotic, you need to be organized to make it a success. And this applies to information, data, and project documentation, as much as to everything else.

Document Management Challenge #1: Variety

The types of document management organization that are appropriate will vary for different:

Hence, they will depend on what activities you are undertaking and the complexity of the organization involved in delivering the change.

Projects usually control all of their activities with documentation of some sort. Even if interactions are in person, we usually follow-up with notes to confirm any agreement of what will be done, and by when.

Document Management Challenge #2: Commercial Documentation

Of course, when we come to thinking about commercial interactions with suppliers or contractors, for buying equipment and services, it becomes more complex. With commercial arrangements, we generate a lot of documentation. And will need to keep contracts, tender documents, warranties, and financial records.

Document Management Challenge #3: Control Documents

Some documentation will have specific requirements. For example, materials certification and test results may need to be stored in a way that is incorruptible. And, in some projects, we must retain it for a specific period, to meet regulatory conditions.

So…

So a well-run project creates a lot of documentation. And it all needs managing. That shouldn’t be a surprise to a Project Manager: but often it is!

In the days before we all had personal computers, a whole part of the project team, in a complex project, was assigned to managing these materials. Project Librarian was a common role. Frequently. these days the Project Manager or the PMO (see below) will create a folder structure to store their documentation.

That sounds like ‘job done’.
But beware… Project Documentation has some strange attributes.

PMO

Large numbers of versions can cause major document management problems

Project Documentation Management and Your Project Management Methodology.

Project Managers have developed many Project Management methodologies over the years. They aim to establish a consistency in our approach to how we deliver projects.

So, there are lots of different methodologies and none is truly universal. They all work better on some types of projects – and less well on others. Most of us learn some of these as part of our professional development and they encourage us to follow defined processes when we deliver our projects. Not unsurprisingly, they often identify – and sometimes specify – the documentation we might collect, create, and work on as we move through the processes.

The Problems with Simple Folder Structures

The simplest project document management solution is to mirror the structure of the methodology you are using in your folder structure.

But, if you are using a simple folder structure like this to hold your project documentation, then it will cause you a major issue. Usually, we see this evolution:

  1. You start with one folder containing your key starting templates.
  2. Then you start to version these and collect evidence.
    So, quickly one folder becomes swamped with too many files to easily find things.
  3. As a result, you decide to subdivide your folders to collect and store different types of things.

And here the problems really start.

Both approaches are helpful, but you can’t do both. So, you have to use one or the other. Also, you will find that some content really needs to be available in multiple places. But folder structures just don’t work like that, so your structure is always sub-optimal. This means you will forever be searching out the things you need.

What about Your Team?

If you think that is a problem for you as Project Manager, just imagine what it will be like for your team members who will really struggle to find the things they need.

Usually, they just end up asking ‘can you please send me the latest copy of x?’ Therefore, your valuable time gets sucked into acting as a librarian for your colleagues.

In fact, for many years PRINCE2 had a standard role of Project Librarian, whose job was to manage all these issues. Now it is commonly part of the role definition for project support.

This is a real, tangible issue. And, as projects become more complex, this issue can grind you down. And it can also slow down your project and even cause failures if people retrieve the wrong versions.

Meeting the Challenge of Project Document Management

We need solutions. First, let’s have a look at some of the ways people often address these challenges.

Standardized Folder Structures

Yes, all projects will be different. But many parts of them will have strong similarities. And even the variable parts can have some consistency if you create a well-organized folder structure for managing your documentation.

Thinking about that structure at the start of your project will help you later. So, I would suggest:

  1. A top-level folder with the project name which holds some key documents and a further set of folders. Within it, always have these two documents:
    1. One that explains the filing structure
    2. Another giving contact details for key people in the project team.
    1. Project Controls
    2. Communications
    3. Meetings
    4. Deliverables

    Project Controls Folder

    The project controls folder contains a folder for each Document that may be required by your methodology of choice. Number and name these, with those you are not using in this particular project marked as (not used). For example:

    1. 01-Business Case
    2. 02-Project Plan
    3. 03-Stakeholder map (not used)
    4. 04-Risk Register

    The Communications Folder

    The communications folder contains a folder for each organization with whom you are communicating. Start with the standard organizations that you communicate with often and on most projects. Then any new ones added afterward. Again, number and name them, for example:

    1. 01-Project Board
    2. 02-Customer ABC
    3. 03-Operational team leader
    4. 04-Supplier BCD

    The Meetings Folder

    The meetings folder contains a set of folders one for each meeting and named as follows:

    2020-04-09-1 – Project Team Meeting

    Using the date in this format makes it easy to order the folders chronologically. And if you have more than one meeting on one day, add a -1, -2 element.

    The Deliverables Folder

    The deliverables folder contains a folder structure which maps against what you are going in the project. These could be a list of deliverables, stages, purchases, or subcontracts. And, if your project is complex, you may wish to introduce this type of structure within it. Again, folders should have a number and a name.

    A great solution here is to mirror your Product or Work Breakdown Structure, or your work packages.

    Into each of these folders you place all material relevant to the folder topic. To make this repeatable you can set up a blank set with the things that come up most often and including your common templates so that this folder structure can be simply copied and modified for the next project.

    By setting up such a standard approach it becomes easier for people to find the things they need quickly especially if working on several projects at the same time.

    Structured File Names in Your Project Document Management System

    If you want to take this further you can introduce structured file names with numbering references. This can further help people to easily find documents within the structure. So, for example:

    This approach will help you to know where to store items. And it will help you find them once they are in your filing system.

    It won’t help you particularly with:

    Version Control (Versioning)

    For the files which are just evidence or records of, say, a conversation, You do not need to bother to record a version.

    But where a document changes, like your schedule or business case, you will need to

    1. Retain each version for your audit trail and
    2. Label each version clearly

    At its simplest, I would suggest adding a version number to the end of the file name so it becomes, for example:

    [project name] P2 schedule v27.mpp

    A More Sophisticated Approach

    For more complex projects, OnlinePMCourses recommends a slightly more sophisticated version control approach – based on software version control. We advocate a two-part version number. The first part denotes major revisions. The second part, small revisions.

    All version numbers should be two- or three-digits, using leading zeros. If the first part is 00, this represents a draft that has not yet received approval.

    All documents under version control should have the full version number (or filename) in the header or footer of every page.

    It’s Getting Crowded

    Some of your folders are going to get pretty busy. And you can’t guarantee that people won’t accidentally edit the last version rather than remembering to save it as V28 first.

    But, if they do habve the discipline, you should be able to retain most of your key versions.

    If you are running a formal Baselining or Approvals approach, you can also tag key versions so that standout in your folder, for example:

    [project name] P3 schedule v08 – Approved and Baselined.mpp

    A Modern Approach to Project Document Management

    Please Note: PROJECT in a Box has been discontinued.
    We plan to update this article shortly. In the meantime, please consider this section to be purely illustrative.

    Can we do better?
    Of course we can!

    As you might expect there are also specialist tools designed to help you with this challenge. They go by the generic name of a Project Management Information System, or PMIS.

    Introducing PROJECT in a box

    Let’s have a look at Community Edition from PROJECT in a box,

    It will help you collect, order and organise your project documentation and it is totally free.

    The Community Edition of PROJECT in a Box isn’t one of those free trials that you put your effort into and suddenly find out you have to pay to continue.

    Since its launch, fifteen years ago, the free Community Edition has been downloaded and used by over half a million users to organize their projects. It has been recommended by many training organizations and used on Degree and Masters-level Project Management courses at a number of Universities.

    Setting-up Your Project in Project in a Box

    When you start a new project in Project in a Box, you create it from one of the method templates available in the system. Usually, you will use the one closest matched to the type of project you are going to deliver. Available method templates include:

    When you create the project and choose a name, it sets up the set of template files appropriate for that type of project. In addition, it also creates place holders for the documentation you are likely to be working with. You can think of this as your starter project library.

    Making Your Life Easy

    However, and this is where it gets interesting, the system also sets up the common groupings of these documents that you are likely to need during the project. Depending on the methodology, this might be all the documents used in a particular process step or all the documents associated with planning or all the role definitions.

    You use these groupings to navigate the project by clicking on them in a diagram. And the software then shows you an explorer view for that group of documentation.

    So what that means is when you select ‘Project Concept’ you can see the Project Mandate (with template) and a placeholder for the documents you need to collect – in this case PM and Board communications. That is, just the content you need in that activity.

    Project in a Box Navigation and Explorer View

    Orderly Progress through Your Project Process

    However, when you move onto the ‘Start’ process, you can see this content again but augmented with the next things you need, like:

    Project in a Box - Moving from Concept to Start

    The system holds the content once but can show it to you in multiple places. This contrasts with a standard flat-file system on your computer. There, if you want to see it in two places, you either have to duplicate it (dangerous to version control) or create clumsy aliases.

    Likewise, later on, when you are closing the project, you don’t need to see the Mandate. So, you will be shown end project reports that you do need.

    This approach is a much more natural way of interacting with the documentation. It removes the pressure of seeing everything you have to do to complete. Instead, the tool just gives you the bite sized chunks you need, for the stage you are at.

    This approach also saves you having to hold a method in your head or to keep referring back to manuals or guidance about what comes next.

    Evidencing Your Project

    The software also handles all the detail of project document management. It covers:

    When you acquire new content, you just open the document into which you want to place it, and drag and drop it in (or use browse). You can do this with any type of file you want. Community Edition will then keep a copy of that file for, you associated with that document. It will also record when you added it and you can keep notes about the document, like the source.

    The Detail of Version Control

    Any Project Document Management system must be capable of effective version control. PROJECT in a box works like a Document Management System (DMS) in this regard.

    Any files held in the tool can be versioned including: