INTRODUCTION
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Figure I.1 The basic format used with minor variations on all checklists.
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Project title. The title is the project’s headline or name. Project description. The description is a brief explanation of the project. For instance, “32-item, 2-color Thanksgiving 4-page insert” or “1/2-page Shopping News ad.” Project supervisor. Some one person has to be in charge. This is the person who assigns to individuals responsibility for each of the numbered items and, when absolutely required, resolves conflicts. Budget. The allocated cost of the project. How budgets are set and approved can have a major impact on the time needed for a project. Allow for this in determining the next two items. Completion date. Since start-up is controlled by when the project must be done, completion dates are set first; then, working backward through the “time lines” (the time required for each step), a start-up can be set. The start-up to completion dates is called the “time frame.” What happens within that frame is spelled out in detailed time lines. Start-up date. When work must begin on the project. In many organizations, multiple projects are assigned at the same time. Depending on the time needed for each, the number of simultaneous start-ups often determines how many outside resources must be used and paid for.
APPLICATION Make all due dates at least three hours before the end of that work day, not—as is normal—one minute before closing. Have the work delivered by the person who did it. This allows time for immediate inspection to check for obvious omissions and errors, and, if necessary, to return it on the same day it was received for modification or correction. Since practically no one else works on anything the day they get it, this saves two days—the one it would otherwise take to return the material and the day more it would take to get it restarted.