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Practical Project Management for PMs & PMOs
Practical Project Management for PMs & PMOs
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Guidance, templates & governance in one place
A 60-second animated walkthrough of how a project moves through SSLM — stages, management and governance on one timeline.
The animation above plays the journey out step by step. This static view shows the same three layers, stages, project management, and reporting and governance, on one timeline. Use it to take in the whole shape at a glance and as a quick reference to come back to.
The SSLM model is one project seen through three connected views on a single timeline (shown above). The views run together as the project moves left to right, and two threads hold them together. Here is each part, the principle behind it, and the templates you use.
The lifecycle spine: Pre-approval → Green Light → Delivery → Go-Live → Post Go-Live. The two stage gates (Green Light, Go-Live) are go / hold / stop decisions, not just milestones.
How the work is run: the Plan sets the critical path, the RAID logs are its working memory, a Change Request protects the baseline, and the SteerCo resolves what is beyond the PM.
How status flows up: the Weekly Update rolls into the Monthly Report, which rolls up to portfolio or board. Each level synthesises the one below, never repeats it.
One Project Reference (an ID like YYYY-NNN) is carried by every document, so the whole story stays traceable end to end. It is what turns a pile of documents into one narrative.
The Project Plan is the centre. Every other document either informs the Plan (the Business Case) or is informed by it (RAID, Change Requests, reporting). Get the Plan right and the rest follows.
Take a customer returns portal. At Green Light the Business Case is approved (Anchor to purpose) and the project is baselined. In Delivery the Project Plan sets the critical path, the RAID log tracks a risky vendor integration, and a Change Request is raised only when scope moves. Each week the PM reports the real colour on a Weekly Update, which rolls into the Monthly Report; the SteerCo clears the blocker at the gate. At Go-Live the deliverables are accepted; at closure the Project Reference retires. Three views, one timeline, one thread.
See the Templates & Guides for every document in the model, and the Principles behind it.
Next: the Templates & Guides give you every document in this flow, or revisit the Principles behind it.