Distills the tactical disciplines that keep a carve-out on time and on budget once planning shifts to execution. It walks teams through locking the baseline (scope, schedule, budget), establishing a rigorous cadence of daily stand-ups, weekly PMO syncs, and monthly Steering-Committee reviews, and enforcing agile sprints for build activities. The guide details strict change-control thresholds, live risk-and-issue triage, critical-path protection, and resource heat-map monitoring to prevent overload. It also integrates TSA-exit milestones into the master schedule, embeds continuous-improvement loops after each rehearsal, and lists key deliverables—baseline sign-offs, sprint retrospectives, variance logs—so progress is transparent and auditable at every stage.
Lock the Baseline Early
- Secure Steering-Committee approval of scope, schedule, and budget.
- Store the signed baseline in a version-controlled repository.
- Freeze critical-path task IDs—any change requires formal change control.
Establish a Disciplined Cadence
- Daily stand-ups for critical workstreams (IT cut-over, data migration).
- Weekly PMO sync focused on schedule variance, risks, and resource conflicts.
- Bi-weekly cross-functional dependency review.
- Monthly Steering-Committee meeting for strategic decisions and budget reallocations.
Enforce Single-Source Scheduling
- All workstreams maintain tasks in the central PPM tool—no offline Gantts.
- Refresh progress at least weekly; missed updates trigger an automatic Amber status.
- PMO locks editing 48 hours before Steering-Committee reporting.
Use Time-Boxed Sprints for Build Activities
- Two-week sprint cycle for application development, data cleansing, and integration mapping.
- Sprint backlog finalised 24 hours before start; mid-sprint scope changes prohibited.
- Sprint review demo and retrospective held on last day; blockers fed into risk log.
Apply Rigorous Change Control
- Change request form must state scope impact, schedule slip, and cost delta.
- PMO evaluates within five business days; assigns RAG impact.
- Steering Committee approves any variance > ±5 % or critical-path slip > 2 days.
Proactive Risk & Issue Management
- Log risk when probability × impact ≥ 6; assign mitigation owner and due date.
- Promote risk to issue immediately upon occurrence.
- Severity-1 issues escalated to PMO within four hours; Steering Committee within 24.
Guard the Critical Path
- Publish critical-path task list every Monday.
- Resource re-allocation to non-critical tasks requires PMO sign-off.
- Track float; tasks with < 3 days float flagged Amber.
Maintain Resource Visibility
- Update FTE allocation and contractor hours weekly in the resource heat map.
- PMO alerts functional leads to over-allocations (> 120 % load) for corrective action.
- Contingency pool of 10 % project hours reserved for spike demands.
Integrate TSA Exit Milestones
- Link every replacement system go-live to the corresponding TSA sunset date.
- Red status if exit-readiness tasks < 80 % complete by T-60 days.
- Apply 10 % monthly fee escalator for services beyond sunset to keep pressure on exit.
Drive Continuous Improvement
- Capture lessons learned after each cut-over rehearsal.
- Update playbooks and templates within two weeks; distribute via PMO portal.
- Include a “What would we stop / start / continue?” slide in monthly Steering-Committee deck.
Deliverables
- Baseline schedule and budget approval sheet.
- Weekly critical-path report with float analysis.
- Sprint backlog, demo notes, and retrospective actions.
- Change-control log with decision history.
- Updated lessons-learned repository after each milestone.
Common Pitfalls
- Multiple schedule versions in circulation—teams execute conflicting dates.
- “Scope creep by stealth” during sprints—no formal CR raised.
- Resource overbooking not visible until tasks slip.
- TSA exits ignored in project plan, causing late-stage service-extension fees.
