pm-lotus by Howard Vaughan

PMI gives only scant coverage to interfaces (inter-project or external dependencies) in its Standard for Program Management. However, mis-managed interfaces have the potential to cause days or even weeks of delays and consequently wreak havoc with schedules – and often do.

Effective interface management involves full and complete interface definition. A good list of defining attributes would include the following:

Outputs don't always match input requirements

• Interface name
  (unique naming and identification)
• Interface description
  (nature and purpose of the interface)
• Output source
  (which sub-project supplies the output)
• Output owner
  (who is accountable for the output)
• Input receiver
  (which sub-project is the ‘customer’ for the output)
• Input owner
  (who is accountable for receiving the input)
• Completion criteria
  (what the interface ‘looks like’ when its done)
• Date constraints
  (if applicable)

The completion criteria should be defined as a checklist of requirements from the input owner. He/she will then use these as the basis for full acceptance of the interface as ‘done’ or ‘not done’.