In project management, a deliverable is a product or service that is given to your client. A deliverable usually has a due date and is tangible, measurable and specific. A deliverable can be given to either an external or internal customer and satisfies a milestone or due date that is created and produced in the project plan. A deliverable can be a software product, a design document, a training program or other asset that is required by the project plan.
A frequent deliverable in project management is a software product. This could be a software program or source code that needs to be written by a specific deadline. When a software program is being customized for a client, these software products usually are delivered in phases or releases and they are numbered. The earliest release will contain some of the elements that will be present in the final product. With each release, there will be product testing that allows for changes to the product prior to the final deliverable.
Training programs can also be a deliverable for a client. Most often, the final product is the training program itself, but there are also other deliverables that must be produced along the way. First will be the training design that tells the client how the training program will be developed. Another deliverable is the training curriculum, which is an outline of the proposed training program. After a task analysis, the training program is developed and tested and then finally approved, as the last deliverable.
Another example of a deliverable are systems. Systems can be the way a program is run or as simple as an accounting program. Processes must be created that allow for the implementation of the program that is being created. The roll out or implementation of the final product must be arranged, trainers identified and trained and hardware ordered and tested. Schedules must be created and supplies have to be ordered. All of these systems will have due dates that serve as deliverables for your project.
Milestones are also another example of a deliverable. A milestone is a hard and fast due date that represents a major accomplishment during the course of the project that is being managed. Sometimes these milestones represent the approval of a major component in the project, like approved testing of the product for release one. Another milestone could represent approval from upper management for the development of the software product. Milestones represent deliverables that are significant and must be accomplished over the course of the project.
- Project Smart: The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK):Duncan Haughey
- Project Management: Deliverables
- Organization Development: A Data-Driven Approach to Organizational Change: Janine Waclawski & Allan H. Church