Artifacts

Project artifacts are tangible documents created throughout the project lifecycle to manage and communicate project details. They serve as a portfolio of work, showcasing both planning and execution skills.

Google Project Management Certificate Capstone

As part of the Google Project Management Certificate program, I developed a comprehensive set of project artifacts for a hypothetical project, demonstrating a practical understanding of project initiation and planning. These documents showcase my ability to define project goals, scope, and stakeholders, while ensuring a project is set up for success from the outset.

Initiation Phase:

• Project Proposal: A high-level document used to pitch the project idea and secure initial buy-in. It highlights the problem/opportunity, proposed solution, and expected benefits in broad terms. The proposal for this capstone was provided in the course materials (Module 1 of Capstone: Applying Project Management in the Real World) and served as the foundation for subsequent documents

• Business Case with Statement of Work (SOW): A foundational document that justifies the project’s financial and strategic value. It includes a benefits analysis, risk considerations, and an initial Statement of Work, which defines the scope and deliverables

  • Purpose: Provides the sponsor(s) with enough detail to decide whether to invest in the project

  • Approval: Requires sponsor/governance approval before moving forward

• Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and ROI: A financial evaluation tool that systematically compares a project’s expected costs against its anticipated benefits. The CBA provides quantitative data to justify whether a project is worth pursuing and often serves as the foundation for securing funding approval. A critical metric within this analysis is the Return on Investment (ROI) - a standard corporate finance measure that quantifies the value a project is expected to generate relative to its cost. ROI calculations can include both tangible outcomes (such as revenue growth, cost savings, and efficiency gains) and intangible benefits (such as improved brand awareness, customer satisfaction, or employee morale), though the latter may require informed judgment to quantify effectively. Together, the CBA and ROI provide sponsors, project managers, and stakeholders with a clear view of the project’s financial viability, resource requirements, and associated risks, enabling informed decision-making

• Charter: A formal authorisation document that officially empowers the project manager to begin planning and execution. It creates a framework for the work to be done, outlines the project’s purpose, goals, deliverables, success criteria, and governance structure. The Charter includes a condensed Business Case summary and must be approved and signed by the sponsor(s) and key stakeholders, ensuring alignment and organisational commitment

• Stakeholder Register: A document that identifies and analyses all relevant stakeholders, detailing their roles, level of influence, and communication needs. Beyond simply listing stakeholders, this analysis helps the project manager prioritise individuals and groups based on their interest in the project and their power to influence outcomes. By mapping and prioritising stakeholders, the project manager can tailor communication strategies, engage proactively, and secure stakeholder buy-in. This alignment reduces resistance, mitigates risks, and ensures that the project team delivers outcomes that truly address stakeholder needs. Ultimately, an effective stakeholder register supports collaboration, transparency, and the successful achievement of project objectives. The register is a living document that is updated throughout the project's lifecycle. As the project progresses, new stakeholders are identified, such as subject matter experts (SMEs) and key suppliers, who may be critical to the project's success.

Why Initiation Matters

The initiation phase lays the foundation for the entire project. Without strong initiation artifacts, projects are far more likely to encounter serious issues, including:

• Cost Overruns and Schedule Delays: Weak initial planning often leads to budgets and timelines being exceeded

• Scope Creep: An unclear or poorly defined scope makes it difficult to control changes, complicating project management

• Stakeholder Discontent: Misaligned expectations and poor communication increase the risk of conflict and dissatisfaction

• Project Failure: In extreme cases, inadequate initiation can result in outright project cancellation, financial loss, or reputational damage

By establishing clear goals, scope, and stakeholder alignment from the outset, the initiation phase creates the conditions for successful planning and execution.

Planning Phase:

• Project Management Plan: A comprehensive roadmap for executing, monitoring, and controlling the project. It integrates the core documents - the Scope Statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Budget, and Schedule - along with supporting plans such as the Risk Register, Quality/ Resources/ Procurement Management Plans and Communication Plan, into a single framework that guides the project team, keeps the project on track, and informs stakeholders. The PMP is the central artifact created during the planning phase, serving as the definitive blueprint for the entire project. The team members and stakeholders can use it to find project artifacts organised in a central repository.

  • Integration for Control: By linking what will be done (Scope), how it will be structured (WBS), and what it will cost (Budget), the PMP provides the project manager with a powerful tool for monitoring performance and making data-driven decisions

  • Baseline for Execution: The PMP defines the approved baselines for scope, schedule, and cost, as endorsed by the project sponsor and key stakeholders. These baselines serve as the official benchmarks against which performance is measured and progress is reported. The WBS functions as both a structural breakdown and a checklist of deliverables, while the budget allocates resources to ensure each work package is adequately supported

  • Change Management: When change requests arise, the PMP provides a structured approach to assess impact. The WBS shows which tasks are affected, while the Budget and Schedule reveal cost and time implications. This enables the project manager to balance flexibility with control and to prevent uncontrolled scope creep

  The Project Management Plan ensures alignment, accountability, and transparency, transforming the project’s vision into a controlled, measurable reality.

• Scope Statement: The Scope Statement defines the boundaries of the project by specifying the project requirements and outlining inclusions (what will be delivered), exclusions (what is out of scope), assumptions, acceptance criteria, and constraints. It provides a clear understanding of what success looks like and what lies outside the project’s responsibility. This clarity prevents scope creep by aligning expectations early and ensuring stakeholders agree on the project’s deliverables. The Scope Statement also serves as the baseline for developing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), linking high-level objectives to detailed tasks and milestones

• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Breaks down the project scope into acievable, smaller, and more manageable components or deliverables. A well-defined WBS provides a clear, hierarchical view of the project, which is essential for effective management. It defines and organises project scope preventing scope creep. It allows for "bottom-up" approach to planning resources and time which leads to more accurate and realistic schedules and budgets. By linking tasks to specific individuals or teams, the WBS promotes accountability. Milestones are directly linked to the WBS. This allows the project manager to easily monitor their completion, i.e. to monitor the progress

• Project Schedule: Establishes timelines for the project by outlining activities, durations, dependencies, and milestones. The schedule defines the time component of the project management "triple constraint" (scope, time, and cost). Creating a realistic schedule requires a combination of detail, collaboration, and proactive planning. Best practices include:

  • Developing a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to capture all required work

  • Involving the project team in time and resource estimation to improve accuracy

  • Identifying task dependencies to establish logical sequencing

  • Mapping the project schedule using a Gantt chart to visualise tasks, milestones, durations, and dependencies, ensuring the team understands timelines and responsibilities at each stage

  • Considering resource availability to prevent bottlenecks

  • Building in contingency time to account for uncertainties

  A well-structured schedule reduces uncertainty, improves communication, and enables proactive monitoring of progress.

• Project Budget: A detailed financial plan that establishes financial limits for the project, outlines all estimated expenses and defines the financial resources required to deliver the project. The budget establishes the cost component of the project management "triple constraint."

  The budget includes direct costs (labour, materials, equipment, subcontractors & consultants, travel expenses), indirect costs (administrative overheads, licenses, permits, expenses for rent, electricity, water, and other services for the project's workspace), and contingency funds and reserves for risk and uncertainty. Effective budgeting practices include:

  • Linking costs to the WBS so each work package is properly resourced

  • Collaborating with team members and functional managers to validate estimates

  • Accounting for variable costs (e.g., hourly labour, fluctuating material prices) and fixed costs

  • Ensuring the budget includes both one-time and recurring expenses, as well as a buffer for minor cost overages, in addition to contingency and management reserves for unforeseen risks

  • Establishing cost tracking mechanisms (such as Cost Baseline, variance analysis with Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), budget burn rate, or Earned Value Management in more complex projects) to monitor actual vs planned spending

  A realistic budget prevents underfunding or overspending, ensures resource alignment, and provides a baseline for financial control. A well-structured budget is a strategic tool that ensures a project's success by providing a financial roadmap, enabling informed decisions, managing risks, promoting accountability, and preventing scope creep.

• Risk Management Plan: Defines the overall methodology, processes, and standards for managing project risk. It establishes the criteria for risk analysis (including the Risk Matrix definitions) and outlines the approach to risk response (e.g., mitigation, avoidance). It also specifies how risk activities - identification, analysis, response, and monitoring - will be conducted to keep the project on track when risks materialise. Once developed, this plan is shared with the team and key stakeholders to solicit input and confirm alignment with the risk strategy

  Risk Register: Lists and tracks all potential risks (threats and opportunities) affecting project success. It serves as a central log for the results of the risk process, including the risk description, category (technical, external, organisational), evaluation scores (probability and impact), and the resulting priority (using the risk matrix). Most critically, it details the Mitigation Plan (or Risk Response Plan) for each risk, specifying strategies such as avoid, accept, mitigate, or transfer.

  Risk Monitoring and Control: As project environments change, the Risk Register is iterative and requires regular updates. Historical data serves as lessons learned, providing valuable foresight for future risk identification. The process involves team members in periodic reviews of the project to identify new risks and reassess existing ones. Maintaining this living document promotes proactive risk management, helping the project team minimise negative impacts while capitalising on opportunities.

• Communication Plan: Specifies how and when information will be shared among stakeholders and the project team. It ensures all stakeholders are informed and aligned. It prevents misunderstandings, reduces conflicts, and ensures that the right information reaches the right people at the right time. Elements of a Communication Plan: Stakeholder Identification; their Information Requirements; Communication Channels; Frequency and Timing. We also need to understand who is responsible for each communication task

• Change Management Plan: Defines the methodology, roles, and procedures for managing formal changes to the project baselines (scope, schedule, and budget). It establishes the structure for documenting, evaluating, and approving changes in a controlled and traceable manner, ensuring alignment with project objectives and preventing unapproved modifications or scope creep.

  Key elements of this plan include:

  • Change Control Process: Describes the workflow for submitting, logging, reviewing, analysing, approving (or rejecting), and communicating all change requests

  • Change Control Board (CCB): Outlines the composition, authority, and responsibilities of the group responsible for evaluating and deciding on significant change requests

  • Documentation: Specifies the templates and tools (e.g., Change Log) used to record change requests and assess their impact on scope, cost, and schedule

  • Baselines: Defines the version control approach and procedures for updating and re-approving the Project Management Plan and its subsidiary components once changes are authorised

  By establishing this plan early, the project team ensures consistent change control and shared stakeholder understanding of the approved project scope and direction.

• Resources Management Plan: Defines how the project team and physical resources will be acquired, managed, and released throughout the project lifecycle. It ensures that the right people, equipment, and materials are available at the right time and in the right quantity to support the project schedule. Effective resource planning prevents bottlenecks, avoids underutilisation, and helps maintain a realistic budget.

  Resources management covers two areas:

  • Human Resources: Defines the project’s organisational structure, roles, and responsibilities. It identifies required skills and headcount, and specifies how team members will be acquired (e.g., assigned internally or contracted externally), managed during execution, and released at project close. Tools such as Responsibility Assignment Matrices (RACI), resource histograms, and capacity planning techniques support effective management

  • Physical Resources: Covers all tangible resources, such as equipment, materials, and facilities. The plan outlines how resources will be procured, allocated, and maintained, as well as disposal or handover procedures at project completion

  Effective practices include:

  • Linking resources directly to the WBS and Schedule to validate availability against workload

  • Using resource leveling and smoothing techniques to balance demand with capacity

  • Monitoring utilisation rates to avoid both bottlenecks and overallocation

• Quality Management Plan: Ensures that both project processes and deliverables meet agreed quality standards. It balances proactive quality assurance (QA), which focuses on processes and prevention, with quality control (QC), which verifies outputs against requirements. This plan establishes the methods, tools, and responsibilities needed to achieve consistent quality.

  Effective practices include:

  • Defining clear quality metrics and acceptance criteria for deliverables

  • Incorporating QA activities such as process audits, peer reviews, and checklists

  • Applying QC techniques such as inspections, sampling, and testing

  • Embedding continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and implementing corrective actions

  By integrating with the Scope, WBS, and Schedule, the Quality Management Plan ensures that deliverables are not only completed on time and within budget, but also meet stakeholder expectations

• Procurement Management Plan: Defines how goods and services will be acquired from external vendors when internal resources are insufficient. While not required for all projects, it is essential when third-party support is needed to achieve the project’s scope. The plan establishes processes for vendor selection, contracting, and ongoing management.

  Effective practices include:

  • Defining procurement requirements early by linking them to the WBS and Scope

  • Creating a detailed Statement of Work (SoW) to explicitly define the specific deliverables, tasks, timelines, and payment terms, ensuring both the project team and the vendor clearly know what’s expected

  • Specifying contract types (fixed-price, time-and-materials, cost-reimbursable) appropriate to the risk profile

  • Preparing procurement documents (e.g., RFPs, RFQs, bid evaluation criteria)

  • Establishing vendor management processes, including performance monitoring, change control, and dispute resolution

  • Aligning procurement milestones with the project schedule to prevent delays in critical resources

  By integrating procurement into the overall Project Management Plan, the project manager ensures that external dependencies are transparent, controlled, and aligned with project objectives

The planning phase transforms a project's high-level concept into a detailed, actionable blueprint. It serves as the project's roadmap, defining exactly how the team will achieve the project's goals. Without a solid plan projects often fail due to a lack of clear direction, miscommunication, and poor resource allocation. This phase ensures alignment between stakeholders, secures realistic timelines and budgets, and establishes a clear risk and communication framework — providing the foundation for effective execution and control.

Execution Phase:

• Deliverables Tracker: Monitors progress of project outputs against planned milestones (ensuring visibility into completed and pending deliverables). It should explicitly track whether deliverables are complete and have passed Quality Control (QC) or User Acceptance Testing (UAT) against the defined acceptance criteria

• Cost Tracking Report / Dashboard: Continuously monitors actual expenditures (labour, materials, and other costs) against the approved Cost Baseline. It highlights cost variances (over or under budget) and leverages real-time data to forecast the final project cost (Estimate at Completion), supporting proactive cost control during the Execution Phase

• Retrospective/Mid-Project Review: A workshop or meeting that gives project teams time to reflect on a project - implemented after major milestones or after a project is completed. It is the primary mechanism for Continuous Improvement, focusing on identifying root causes of issues and turning lessons learned into SMART action items for process refinement

• Status Reports: Communicate project progress to stakeholders including a summary of project financial health (from the Cost Tracking Report), key takeaways and action items from the retrospective showing stakeholders the issues found and how they are being addressed. A summary of quality performance (e.g., defect rates, inspection results, or compliance with QA audits) is also included

• Issue Log: Tracks and manages problems that arise during the project. It should specifically include defects, failures, and non-conformances identified through Quality Control (QC). Any issue with a financial impact must be cross-referenced to the Cost Tracking Report or a Change Request

• Change Request Log: Documents changes to the original scope, schedule, or budget to prevent scope creep. Every approved change requires an update to the Cost Tracking Report

• Meeting Notes / Action Item Tracker: Captures key discussions, decisions, and responsibilities, supporting team alignment. It must explicitly track and assign responsibility for corrective actions and process improvements identified during QC and Retrospectives

In addition to these artifacts, the Risk Register (developed in the Planning Phase) remains a living document. As the project evolves, it is updated through regular reviews to reflect new risks and adjustments to existing ones. Similarly, Resource Management Plan / RACI charts are revisited and refined to ensure clarity in roles and responsibilities throughout execution.

During the Execution Phase, the project team actively applies the processes outlined in the Quality Management Plan. Quality Assurance (QA) involves regular audits and peer reviews to confirm adherence to defined processes, while Quality Control (QC) includes testing and inspection to verify that deliverables meet technical specifications and acceptance criteria.

Closing Phase:

• Project Closure Report: A comprehensive document summarising the project’s overall performance by comparing actual results against planned scope, schedule, and cost. It includes details on resource utilisation, outstanding items, and key lessons learned - serving as a reference for future project managers and the organisation

• Impact Report: A formal presentation or document for key stakeholders that highlights the project’s achieved value, outcomes, and overall performance. It provides a final analysis of the project’s impact on organisational Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), business goals, ROI, and relevant KPIs

• Administrative Closure Checklist/Form: Ensures completion of all administrative and contractual obligations, including final vendor payments, contract closures, release of resources, and proper archiving of project documentation

• Lessons Learned: Captures insights, challenges, and successful practices encountered during the project to inform and improve future initiatives

• Final Deliverable Sign-off: Formal confirmation from the client or project sponsor that all deliverables meet acceptance criteria and that the project is officially complete