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Learn how to identify project tasks and activities using the deliverables deployment technique.

Quick reference

Deliverables

Deliverables Deployment is a project management technique for identifying all tasks and activities that comprise the project scope.

When to use

The Deliverables Deployment technique is appropriate when there is no standard process describing the project effort needed to complete the work of a required project deliverable. When a standard process exists, the process steps describe the scope of activities, and deliverables deployment is not required.

Instructions

The Deliverables Deployment technique provides a structured approach for thinking through all of the activities that must be accomplished. 

  1. List the project deliverables (see project Charter or talk to stakeholders).
  2. For each deliverable ask the question, “What must I do to complete this deliverable?”
  3. For each of the items identified in question 2, ask again, “What must I do to complete that item?”
  4. Continue with step 3 until all of the required project activities are identified.

Hints & tips

  • The listed activities are the elements of Project Scope.
  • The work required to do the listed activities must be estimated and appropriate resources assigned to conduct the activities in order to complete the project.
  • If the deliverables are deployed correctly, when all of the listed activities are completed, the project is complete.
  • You can start from the deliverable and work backward, or start from where you are and work forward to the deliverable – in either case, identify all of the steps or activities required to complete the deliverable.
  • There is a tendency to overlook common basic activities because “Everyone knows you have to do that!”  List them anyway.  If they are not on the list, the project plan will not allocate time and resources to do the work.  Then when the activity is done, it shows up as a delay or overrun because it was not in the plan.
  • You can carry this technique to an extreme by breaking everything down into minute detail.  A good rule of thumb is to break activities down into half-day or full-day increments of work. 
  • All of these details do not need to be listed on the project plan – you can summarize them.  But know the details when you begin to estimate the effort and time to do the work.
  • Deliverable: Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase or project. PMBOK® Guide

This definition is taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017.

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  • 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:05 It's now time to discuss scope planning as part of our project management.
  • 00:09 We'll do that by starting with the project deliverables.
  • 00:14 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines deliverable
  • 00:19 as any unique or verifiable product result or capability to perform a service
  • 00:24 that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.
  • 00:30 That's just a long way of saying the deliverables are all
  • 00:33 the stuff we have to do as part of the project.
  • 00:35 When we have a list of stuff, the deliverables,
  • 00:38 we have the full scope of the project.
  • 00:40 In fact, most projects spell out the expected results of a project by listing
  • 00:45 all the deliverables.
  • 00:46 That means the deliverables will include any ancillary items or
  • 00:50 results that we need to complete as part of our methodology.
  • 00:54 When all those deliverables have been completed, the project is complete.
  • 00:58 Let's talk about how we actually define the work associated with completing those
  • 01:03 deliverables.
  • 01:04 The technique we use is called deliverable deployment.
  • 01:07 In this technique, we start with the deliverables and
  • 01:11 begin to step back one layer at a time.
  • 01:13 Each of these layers of work helps us define all the activities that must be
  • 01:17 done to complete that deliverable.
  • 01:19 This approach will help us to identify all the activities which
  • 01:24 are part of the scope of the project.
  • 01:26 We do this by starting with the deliverable and then asking ourselves
  • 01:30 the question, what must be done in order to complete the deliverable?
  • 01:33 And then,
  • 01:34 what must be done in order to complete that which is supporting the deliverable?
  • 01:38 And then, what must be done in order to complete that?
  • 01:40 And we keep working our way back step by step until we have identified all
  • 01:45 the activities that have to be accomplished in order to complete that
  • 01:49 deliverable.
  • 01:50 Let me give you an example, let's say we have a test as a deliverable for
  • 01:54 the project.
  • 01:55 In order to complete the test report, we first have to conduct the test.
  • 01:59 And of course, before we conduct the test, we have to create the test specimens.
  • 02:03 And before we do that, we need to know the test setup.
  • 02:06 As we identify what is required to complete each task,
  • 02:09 that points us to what is the preceding task.
  • 02:11 We repeat this process to define all the activities needed to complete
  • 02:15 the deliverable.
  • 02:16 Let's go through another example.
  • 02:18 I have a project that is developing a new product.
  • 02:21 And that includes creating the new manufacturing process for that product.
  • 02:26 So one of our deliverables is the manufacturing process documentation.
  • 02:30 But before the manufacturing process documentation can be first published,
  • 02:34 we have to define the work instructions.
  • 02:36 Work instructions are those directions given to the operators who will assemble
  • 02:40 the product.
  • 02:41 Well, as part of the work instructions, we also need to understand all the equipment
  • 02:46 that will be used that is required to make the product.
  • 02:48 By validating the User's Guide for that equipment, we will know how it works.
  • 02:52 But before we can validate the User's Guide for that equipment, we actually
  • 02:56 have to have the equipment installed in the manufacturing operation and
  • 03:00 available for use.
  • 03:01 Well of course, before we can install the equipment,
  • 03:03 we have to procure the equipment.
  • 03:05 And before we procure the equipment, we have to specify what the equipment needs
  • 03:09 to do so that the vendor is able to make the right equipment for us.
  • 03:13 And I'm sure it's obvious to you that before we can specify the equipment,
  • 03:17 we have to understand how this product is to be manufactured so
  • 03:20 we'll know what the equipment must do.
  • 03:22 This is described in our manufacturing process flow,
  • 03:25 which is all the steps in the manufacturing process.
  • 03:28 And to create that manufacturing process flow, we need to understand the types of
  • 03:33 manufacturing processes that are required to build the components and
  • 03:37 systems of this new product.
  • 03:39 Each of these steps, each of these activities may only take a few hours or
  • 03:43 they may take many days to complete.
  • 03:45 However, we know that once we have completed each step,
  • 03:49 we've now been able to complete all of the work necessary to create and
  • 03:54 publish the manufacturing process documentation.
  • 03:57 We've now deployed that deliverable.
  • 04:00 Deliverables deployment is a technique to be sure that we have
  • 04:06 identified all all the work that's needed to complete the scope of the project.

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