Project Management

The charter
is the plan.

Project management built on PMBOK, inside the desk where the supplier mail already is. Every change to the plan goes through change control, with a reason and a record of who approved it.

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Charter

Start with
the plan.

Purpose, objectives, scope, deliverables, milestones, budget authority, risks and success criteria, in the shape PMBOK gives a charter. Draft it with AI from a few sentences, shape it, issue it to the sponsor and record the approval. It downloads as a PDF or a deck.

The approved charter for the Gen-2 controller enclosure, version 3, signed by Dana WhitfieldThe approved charter for the Gen-2 controller enclosure, version 3, signed by Dana Whitfield
Methodology

Waterfall, Scrum, Kanban.
Or your own.

Tabs are grouped the way PMBOK groups the work: initiating, planning, executing, change and closing. Pick a methodology and the project shows the tabs, the vocabulary and the approval rules that fit it. Tailor any of it, and the reason is kept.

Methodology: Waterfall chosen, with Agile, Kanban, Scrumban, Lean and Custom alongside and what each fitsMethodology: Waterfall chosen, with Agile, Kanban, Scrumban, Lean and Custom alongside and what each fits
Schedule

Milestones that know
what they wait on.

When one milestone slips, everything waiting on it moves too. Set a baseline, and the schedule shows how far you are from it. Milestone status lives here rather than in the charter, so the plan stays the plan.

Schedule: six of six milestones complete, five days behind baseline 2, on a Gantt chart from February to AugustSchedule: six of six milestones complete, five days behind baseline 2, on a Gantt chart from February to August
Change control

A change
needs a reason.

Edit a protected part of the charter and it becomes a change request instead. The impact on scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk and resources is written down before anyone votes. Approved changes go to the decision log, and the charter moves to its next version.

Changes: two approved change requests, for the pilot build date and the tooling amount, and the charter at v3Changes: two approved change requests, for the pilot build date and the tooling amount, and the charter at v3

You choose who approves

The sponsor, the team by majority, anyone on the project, or stakeholders outside it, field by field.

Outside approvers

Stakeholders without a Desk account vote from a link of their own.

Limits that escalate

A change above an amount the workspace sets adds a review board.

Baselines that hold

Baselines can’t be edited. A new one needs an approved change.

Budget

Planned. Committed.
Actual.

A ledger by category, measured against the budget authority in the charter, with earned value on top: cost and schedule performance, the estimate at completion, and what it will take to finish on budget.

Budget ledger: $312,000 authority, $304,850 committed and spent, with earned value against cost baseline 2Budget ledger: $312,000 authority, $304,850 committed and spent, with earned value against cost baseline 2
Risks and issues

When a risk
lands.

Score each risk on a five-by-five grid and give it an owner and a mitigation. Raise an issue from a risk and its mitigation plan is frozen. The issue can’t be resolved until someone writes down why the plan didn’t hold.

Risks: four risks on a five-by-five heatmap, all closed, with owners and scoresRisks: four risks on a five-by-five heatmap, all closed, with owners and scores
Team and communications

Everyone hears
what they need to.

Each member gets a role, an accountability and a digest cadence. Desk drafts each digest in your Outlook, written for its reader: a summary for whoever is accountable, a working list for whoever is responsible. Schedule the kickoff as a Teams meeting, with the charter and the kickoff deck attached.

Team: six members with formal and project roles, departments and RACI accountability, and the assignment emails sentTeam: six members with formal and project roles, departments and RACI accountability, and the assignment emails sent
Close

Closed,
with proof.

A project closes when its gates are met: charter approved, changes decided, deliverables accepted, baselines set, lessons recorded. Override a gate and the reason is kept, along with what was still open.

Close: every gate met, signed by Dana Whitfield on September 4, with four lessons learned belowClose: every gate met, signed by Dana Whitfield on September 4, with four lessons learned below

Scope that links

Attach the BOMs, RFQs, flowcharts and follow-ups the project depends on.

Deliverables, accepted

Only the sponsor or an admin accepts a deliverable, against written criteria, and never the person who made it.

A decision log

Every call and the reason for it, with approved changes added on their own.

Started from an email

A new-product request in your inbox becomes a project with its parts already filled in.

Desk is more than Projects.

Every module works from the same inbox, the same suppliers and the same team.

HomeSupplier mail, sorted into work.FocusOne clock. One queue. Go.BOM HealthEvery part, re-checked every night.
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