Summary

After the project Gantt chart and all the associated planning documents have been completed, it is absolutely necessary that the project manager and the key project team members review the plan with the project's sponsor. This review includes a look at the original statement of work to be sure that all of the outcomes noted there have been addressed.

The review tells the sponsor how long the project will take, what resources will be needed, and how much the project will cost. If the sponsor feels that the project is going to take too long, there are ways that the project's completion time can be shortened. However, this always costs more than the cost of the original plan. There are stringent limits to how much cost reduction can be achieved by lengthening the project time. If both the time and cost must be reduced, the requirements of the specification also must be reduced. The project Gantt chart shows the way to make these time and cost reductions. Note: There is a point where further reductions cannot be made.