3.1: Scenario Building

Chapter Title: Project Approach, Deliverables, and Structure
Milestone Focus: Designing the strategic, operational, and structural framework for the UCMS engagement
Client: University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS)
Consulting Firm: C-Bay Inc. – Software Project Management Services (SPMS)

Scenario Building

To: Project Planning Team – UCMS Account
From: Director, Project Management Office
Date: Week 3 of Planning Engagement
Subject: Request for Definition of Project Approach, Deliverables, Architecture, Scope Expansion, and Organizational Structure

With the Project Charter approved and stakeholder alignment in place, we are ready to advance from intent to structure. Your team is now responsible for defining the delivery architecture of the UCMS engagement. This phase is essential—it ensures that the project not only starts with clarity, but scales with integrity.

This milestone marks the formal transition from strategic framing to structural definition. What you create here will guide resource planning, risk management, communication strategies, and execution cadence in all future phases.

Your Mission

You are required to design and present a detailed project structuring package that includes the following five components. Each must be tailored to the UCMS engagement and grounded in the project’s context and constraints.

1. Project Approach

Define:

• The primary approach for planning and delivering this project
• A secondary or backup approach (in case constraints shift mid-phase)
• The rationale for choosing this approach, with references to project scale, risk, stakeholder maturity, and system complexity

Your project approach may include—but is not limited to—whether the project will be:

• Delivered iteratively or in distinct phases
• Managed centrally or through distributed teams
• Piloted or fully rolled out
• Time-boxed or milestone-driven

The key is to propose an approach that fits UCMS, not just one that fills a template.

2. Project Deliverables and Major Milestones

Provide a list of key deliverables the project is expected to produce across the planning, design, and implementation phases. Include:

• Description of each deliverable
• Its intended purpose or business value
• The milestone it supports
• The sequencing logic, if relevant

These deliverables will form the foundation of your future WBS and schedule. For now, your focus is on naming the “building blocks” of the system planning effort—not every line item.

3. High-Level Architecture Overview

At this point, you are not required to build a technical blueprint—but you must demonstrate architectural thinking. Your output should describe:

• The core functional components expected in the future UCMS platform (e.g., scheduling, curriculum planning, approval workflows)
• Any expected integration points (e.g., student records, regulatory systems)
• A high-level vision of how the platform may be used by students, faculty, and administrators

Think in terms of system building blocks—not detailed code or vendor specifics. Your task is to present a vision of the solution’s shape, not its specs.

4. Expanded Scope Definition

Using the Charter as your baseline, you are now responsible for extending the scope definition to cover:

• Major workstreams and their boundaries
• What will be planned and delivered in each phase (planning, design, build)
• Explicit exclusions and open scope areas to be resolved later

This is your opportunity to demonstrate scope leadership—showing that you can anticipate, define, and contain complexity over time.

5. Project Organizational Structure

Design the project team and governance model. Include:

• Key roles and functional responsibilities
• Internal and client-facing coordination structure
• Communication pathways and escalation flows
• Working groups, review boards, or sponsor-level checkpoints
• Whether the project is structured as a centralized team, matrixed model, or hybrid

You may choose to present this visually (e.g., org chart) or narratively—but it must be clear who is doing what, who is accountable, and how decisions flow through the project.

Expectations

This milestone evaluates your ability to think systemically, lead structurally, and communicate operational intent. Your work should reflect:

• Ownership of planning leadership
• An understanding of institutional context
• A clear grasp of how projects are organized and delivered in the real world
• The ability to document structure in a way that promotes trust, alignment, and action

You are expected to write and design this milestone as if it were to be presented to the UCMS executive and operations teams during an official project planning workshop.

Your documents will serve as the operating guide for the next planning phase and will shape all project design, staffing, and coordination activities that follow.

Make it structured. Make it client-ready. Make it real.

—
Director, Project Management Office
C-Bay Inc.