Overview
The A&M System has developed a TAC 216 Companion Guide to help members be compliant with TAC 216. The Companion Guide helps you define a project, it provides a method for classifying projects based on their complexity and risk, and it outlines minimum project management requirements needed to complete any size project. The Companion Guide also outlines how to meet TAC 216 requirements for project governance, assessment and reporting.
The Companion Guide has been tested with both agile and waterfall development approaches.
Members are welcome to develop their own approach to compliance with TAC 216, addressing the policy, requirements and standards of TAC 216, or they are welcome to use the A&M System’s TAC 216 Companion Guide.
The TAC 216 Companion Guide (pdf, opens in a new window) organizes these knowledge areas across four project management process groups:
Initiating Templates:
Planning Templates:
Executing Templates:
New to project management processes and templates?
Use the Complexity Assessment Standard to understand how much project management your project needs. Then use the 2016 Best Practice templates, and add the 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 Best Practice templates as your project managers build skills.
Click the document, template or tool name to open it.
- NOTE: All documents were updated September 2023 in conjunction with the 2024 review.
TAC216 Companion Guide
The TAC 216 Companion Guide helps project teams define a project, provide a method for classifying projects based on their complexity and risk, and outline minimum requirements for completing projects based on their classification level
Complexity Assessment – Standard
Use the Standard Complexity Assessment to determine if the information resources effort is a project and if it is a project, classify it as a Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4 project
Complexity Assessment – Advanced
Use the Advanced Complexity Assessment to determine if the information resources effort is a project and if it is a project, classify it as a Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4 project
Example
2016 Best Practices
Lessons Learned Report
Write a Lessons Learned Report to show how project events were addressed and what could be done differently on future projects
Example
Level 1 Project
Use the Level 1 Project to bring together elements of the Project Charter, the Risk Register and Lessons Learned for Level 1 small projects
Example
Project Charter
Develop a Project Charter to provide a common vision and understanding of what the project will accomplish, an initial estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will take and who will be involved
Example
Risk Register
Use the Risk Register to list project risks and strategies for managing them
Example
2018 Best Practices
Business Case
Develop a Business Case to document a project’s benefits and let decision makers review and decide if the project should be approved to go forward or rejected
Example 1, Example 2
Project Plan
Use a Project Plan to document key information about the project, including the scope, schedule, budget, stakeholders, resources and communication plans, and the project’s approach to managing risk, quality and changes. The Project Planning template also documents how the result project will transition to IT operations when it finishes
Project Portfolio Tracker
Use the Project Portfolio Tracker to let IT management track how projects are meeting organizational strategic goals
Project Request
Use a Project Request to describe the project and request approval to develop a Business case or a Project Charter
Example
2020 Best Practices
Communication Plan
Use a Communication Plan to plan for and execute stakeholder communications
Project Change Request
Use the Project Change Request to document a change to the project and the impact it will have
2022 Best Practices
Organizational Change Management
Integrate organizational change management activities and tasks into your project using Appendix E in the TAC 216 Companion Guide
2024 Best Practices
Project Status Report
Used to help report project status
Executing, Monitoring and Controlling Document
Used to monitor day-to-day project activities
Post Project Survey
Helps you gather feedback from project participants and stakeholders
Project Closure
Document the final outcomes of the project
TAC 216 Checklist
Used to keep track of all the process group procedures and documentation