Guiding Principle: Single Sources of Truth

One of my favorite guiding principles is to have a “single source of truth” for information on a project. This includes….

• Vendors and contracts
• Lists of projects under a program
• Scope
• Financials
• Schedule
• Program health

Many times projects have this information all over the place and it is really hard to get information that is consistent and accurate. I believe there are several steps in having a SSOT..

1. Define the single source of information and make sure that it meets the needs (e.g. for vendors it tracks invoices, for projects it lists end dates, etc)
2. Keep these sources “living” though regular updates or change controls. Having a master inventory that is out of date defeats the purpose of having one
3. Communicate it so everyone knows that it exists and that it is a SSOT

Hopefully all of the readers view this blog as their source of truth for Project Management.