Project Model
What is a Project Model?
The project model is used to visualize responsibilities, deadlines, milestones, and activities in a project. It is a simple but effective way to express the structure of how projects should be run, which people need to be involved, and what descriptions are available for support. The model visualizes the project structure in a flow with both a clear starting point and desired outcome—and the way to get there.
Why should you use a Project Model?
Mapping projects in graphical models creates an overall picture contributing to increased understanding, communication, and transparency. The project model serves as:
- A Clear and Visual Description An image is worth a thousand words. A visual model describing the project makes it more straightforward for everyone involved.
- Support for Team members Having a clear picture of the project helps those involved. In a Project Model created in 2c8 Apps, you can easily link documents and checklists directly to the project activities. The project model can be published for team members and other stakeholders to use.
- Improved Decision-making A clear project plan as a basis is a prerequisite for getting a project approved, funded, or prioritized. The Project Model is an excellent tool for concretizing how the project will be conducted, at what costs, and with what results.
- Allocation of Resources and Clear Responsibilities Link roles, budgets, and IT systems with activities and other objects to visualize the use of resources in the project. The visualization provides a clear overview of which elements are resource-heavy and where in the project we can reduce resources without affecting the result.
How do you create a Project Model in 2c8 Apps?
Below, we will start with a fictitive example of a project we call “EcoHome.” The project aims to create a smart home app that optimizes energy consumption, reduces costs, and improves sustainability. In 2c8 Apps, we start by identifying the project’s overall goals, milestones, and other essential elements. After this, we can identify the interested parties for the project to ensure they are involved and informed throughout the project. We can also place objects that show essential dates for the project. Below, you can see some objects we can use to visualize the different parts.
Goal – is used to visualize the project goals.
Output/input – is used to visualize milestones and deliverables.
Time – is used to visualize deadlines within the project.
Role – is used to visualize roles in the project.
Process – is used to visualize different phases of the project.
Interested Party – is used to visualize interested parties of the project.
Once we have placed our objects, we must assemble them into a coherent project. At this level, we are keeping it at a high level. We want to show the project as a whole and then go down into each phase (the Process Objects in the image below) to get more detailed. How detailed we want to be in our mapping is up to us. The important thing is that those looking at the model can understand it.
Breakdowns for more detailed information
Now, we have a clear but general picture of the project. We can then break down each process object to describe each part of the project in more detail. In the example below, we have chosen to break down “Development” into its own process.
The breakdown process includes inputs, outputs, and other objects from the overall model. The objects can be reused in several models, meaning we get global information about roles or systems, for example. Again, we can choose how detailed we want to be. We can add description texts for all activities and add documents or other objects to further describe the process.
Publish and Share
Once we have completed our mapping, we can publish the material and share it with stakeholders, managers, and other team members. This will create transparency in the project and keep everyone informed about its progress.
Book a demo
Want to know more about Project Modeling in 2c8 Apps?
2c8 Apps is a powerful modeling tool with various model types you can use to map your business. Book a demo and explore the possibilities of 2c8 Apps.
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