Project Landscape Map

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What is a Project Map?

A Project Map or Project Landscape Map is a generic overview of the structure of a project.

The project structure is often unclear among the project stakeholders. Sometimes, only the project manager or some of the steering group members have this kind of view. However, too often, there is no clear or shared view of the project structure.

In that case, repairing faults, doing damage control, and improving the structure is impossible. Because: where do you start?

An old Chinese saying is: if you don't have an overview of your soldiers, you cannot prioritize the actions for the attack by your army.

A Management Report View of your Project

A Management Report View of your Project is a visualization wherein the status and progress of the structure of a project is reported.

Below is an example of the Project Landscape Map Report View. This visualization is identical to the previous one; now each item in the diagram is assigned a color indicating whether the underlying document or product is correct, complete, available, and/or approved on time.

You need an overview in order to prioritize

This is an example Project Map.

A Project Landscape Map Report View.

The red color on this example report view tells us a viewer quickly which products or documents are incorrect, incomplete, not available, or not approved on time. And now you can start to fix things. You can prioritize because you have a (shared) overview of the current status of the project's structure.

How has the Project Map already saved project time & project budget?

These visualizations have already saved project time & project budget for a large number of projects. Below are three practical case scenarios from projects in which this visualization has helped solve problems.

• Case 1 - A project was started up, and the consultants of the suppliers were creating deliverables. Only half of the project was found to be incompatible, as the deliverables did not fit together. We then created the project landscape map and identified a missing solution architecture blueprint and three conflicting standards in use.
  Based on this visualization, a decision was made to create a solution architecture blueprint, select the correct standards, and recreate some deliverables using only these standards. The project could be completed ahead of schedule, resulting in success, saving time and money.
• Case 2 - A project was already running for 7 years. The organization's business processes were analyzed and redesigned to ensure the project's solution is used optimally in practice. It was found that the solution lacked functionality. No deliverables were defined for this functionality, and there was neither a budget nor sufficient time to create them.
  At that moment, the Project Landscape Map was designed for us, and it revealed that the original business case was no longer a valid financial business case because I was not aligned with any of the business goals.
  The project took too long (more than 9 months) to execute, outdating the current solution concept by years. The project manager advised the owner-client to halt the project. The client requested the creation of a new, valid business case, utilizing the project's allocated time and budget.
• Case 3 - A program consisting of 5 projects was already running for three years. The project was running out of time but not out of budget. As a result, more consultants were hired to produce the planned deliverables, ensuring the project was completed on time. However, with each deliverable created, the project generated two or three unplanned deliverables, increasing the time required to complete it each week.
  At that moment, we created the Project Map, which revealed that the business case had never been approved, there was no document outlining the requirements, and there was no single solution architecture blueprint providing a logical overview of all deliverables as solution components integrated.
  The business case was updated and approved, and the requirements Excel sheets were incorporated into a single approved document. Next, a solution blueprint could be created to demonstrate that 70% of the deliverables were unnecessary within the solution's scope and context. This all leads to successfully rounding the project exactly on time.

How to Create a Project Map?

Enter your project data in the project model. Next, you modify the project landscape view to address your concerns and issues. Next, you enter the rules for the indicators on the progress and status layer (making items color green, orange, or red).

The Dragon1 software will generate the Project Landscape Map for you. Next, you publish the Project Landscape Map to your stakeholders, either publicly or privately. Ultimately, stakeholders will utilize the Project Map to inform their decisions.

Create dynamic Project Maps by signing up for a Trial Account.

If you do not have the time and you need a Project Landscape Map on short notice, also consider our Consultancy Services.

Also Read

1. Blogs > Chart your project on a project landscape map
2. Solutions > Strategic Planning
3. Software > Dragon1 BPM Tool
4. Visualizations > Enterprise Architecture Blueprint Diagram
5. Solutions > Project Management