Survival Test (adapted)

This survival test scores an eLearning project to see what its chances of survival are. An eLearning project is particularly complicated because it is both a software project and a new programme development running in parallel. Adapted from a test by Steve McConnell, the full reference is given at the bottom of this page.

Give each question a 1, a 2, or a 3 for "kind of, but not really", "probably" and "yes" respectively.

Requirements
1. Does the project have a vision statement statement?	1 2 3
2. Do all team members believe the vision is realistic?	1 2 3
3. Is there a business case and has it been pitched to the stakeholders?	1 2 3
4. Are there paper prototypes that support the design ideas?	1 2 3
5. Is there a storyboard which clearly describes the learning design?	1 2 3
6. Has the team engaged with the end user group?	1 2 3
Planning
7. Is there a detailed activity diagram?	1 2 3
8. Does the activity diagram show all the decision points where approval must be gained before the work may continue?	1 2 3
8. Does the schedule allow for conversion of legacy materials from other formats, migration of data and/or users from other systems, and integration with third-party software?	1 2 3
10. Were the schedule and budget estimates officially updated at the end of the most recently completed phase?	1 2 3
11. Is there a quality assurance document that details usability and system testing? Have the team engaged with the moderators or education advisors who will approve the finished programme?	1 2 3
12. Are any AMC deadlines clearly marked on the schedule?	1 2 3
13. Does the plan include time for holidays, training days, inline training, and sick days, and are resources allocated at less than 100 percent?	1 2 3
14. Where the work gets passed to another institution, faculty or school have the points in 13 above been checked with them also?	1 2 3
Project control
15. Has a single key executive who has decision-making authority been made responsible for the project, and does the project have that person's active support?	1 2 3
16. Does the project manager's workload allow him or her to devote an adequate amount of time to the project?	1 2 3
17. Does the project have well-defined binary milestones?	1 2 3
18. Can a project stakeholder easily find out which of these binary milestones have been completed?	1 2 3
19. Is there a blame-free culture in which team members can air concerns?	1 2 3
20. Is there a written procedure for controlling changes to the software's specification or to the learning design?	1 2 3
21. Does the project team have the authority to accept or reject proposed changes?	1 2 3
22. Are planning materials and status information available to every team member?	1 2 3
23. Are all educational documents the current documents? Is someone assigned to checking this?	1 2 3
24. Are there procedures in place for defect tracking and version control?	1 2 3
Risk management
25. Is there a list of current risks? Are these risks sorted in order of severity, and is the list posted in a prominent place?	1 2 3
26. Is there a project risk officer who is responsible for identifying emerging risks to the project?	1 2 3
27. Are reporting, communications and control procedures in place for subcontractors engaged on the project? (Give a 3 if no subcontracting.)	1 2 3
Personnel
28. Does the team have all the technical expertise needed to complete the project?	1 2 3
29. Does the team have experience in the business environment in which the programme will operate?	1 2 3
30. Does the project have a technical leader capable of leading the project successfully?	1 2 3
31. Are there enough people to do all the work required?	1 2 3
32. Does everyone work well together?	1 2 3
33. Is each person committed to the project?	1 2 3
<4 FTE team members (x 1.5) 4 - 6 FTE team members (x 1.25) >6 FTE team members (x 1)
Compute

References

McConnell, S. (1998). Software Project Survival Guide. Redmond: Microsoft Press.