PM Best Practices

📅 Weekly Project Control Cycle

Periodic control cycle to ensure governance, visibility and continuous improvement.

🗓 Meeting	🎯 Main Objective
Projects Status Review	Update status, achieved milestones and emerging issues
RAID Log Check	Review risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies
Timesheet Validation	Verify reported hours, resource allocation, alignment with the plan
Stakeholder Communication Sync	Prepare and align key messages for sponsors & stakeholders
Team Retrospective	Reflect with the team, gather feedback and improve processes

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🗂 Meeting Categories (Outlook)

A structured set of categories to classify meetings and improve calendar organization.

📌 Category	🎯 Purpose / Usage
Slot	Reserved time block, placeholder for potential activities or focus work
Out Of Office	Marked absence, unavailable for meetings or work
Optional	Attendance not mandatory, participant can choose to join
Recurrent	Regularly scheduled meeting (weekly, monthly, etc.)
Important	High-priority meeting requiring attention and preparation
External	Meeting with external stakeholders, clients or partners

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📝 Meeting Minutes Template

Essential structure to capture outcomes and responsibilities after a call or meeting.

📌 Section	🗒️ Description / Usage
Meeting Details	Date, time, participants, and type (Update / Discussion / Decision)
Objective	Clear statement of the meeting goal (e.g. Decide on vendor renewal)
Key Updates	Summarize important information shared (progress, metrics, blockers)
Discussion Points	Capture main topics debated, including pros/cons or alternatives
Decisions Made	Document final agreements or resolutions, with rationale if relevant
Action Items	List tasks with owner and deadline (e.g. @name → task by DD/MM)
Risks / Issues	Note any concerns raised that require monitoring or escalation
Next Steps	Outline immediate follow-up actions and preparation for next meeting
Follow-Up	Specify what needs to be checked or reported back in the next session

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📚 Lessons Learned

Capture insights to improve future meetings and project execution.

📌 Section	🗒️ Description / Usage
Key Takeaways	Summarize the most important insights or conclusions from the meeting
Best Practices	Document approaches or methods that worked well and should be repeated
Pitfalls / Challenges	Note what didn’t work or caused delays, to avoid repeating mistakes
Knowledge Sharing	Identify information that should be shared with other teams or stakeholders
Continuous Improvement	List suggestions for improving processes, communication, or collaboration

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