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Tools & Resources for Public Safety Project Management

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SEARCH staff has presented at numerous conference and training events for public safety communications professionals in recent years. We are often asked by attendees where they could access various tools and resources useful for public safety project management. Most of these resources are available on the SEARCH website--while some other resources we helped to develop are available on the Office of Emergency Communications' website (see box to the right). For your convenience, we are providing them here, as a one-stop-shop of templates, tools, publications and other resources you can put to immediate use.

A Toolkit of Project Planning Templates

Project Planning Resource Toolkit 
Download this toolkit today—it offers easy-to-use templates for developing the following:

• A public safety project decision-making structure
• A public safety project charter
• A public safety project communications plan
• A public safety project risk management plan
• A public safety project assessment and analysis checklist

The toolkit, and other links of interest are also available on our Products & Services page. Check the page for access to these "area of expertise" pages:

• Project Lifecycle Methodology
• Strategic Planning
• Governance
• Emergency Communications, and more!

Public Safety Issue Briefs

The Issue Briefs series addresses best practices and key topical issues related to public safety communications interoperability. They are designed for practitioners with limited time and a need to know about the latest industry-based knowledge. Visit our Public Safety Issue Briefs page for more details and links.

In particular, our five latest Issue Briefs offer useful guidance to improve success for IT project management:

• Issue Brief #7-Developing Interoperability: Standard Operating Procedures
• Issue Brief #8-The "Accidental" Project Manager
• Issue Brief #10-Improving Life Cycle Management Through ITSM
• Issue Brief #11-Free Project Management Tools
• Issue Brief #12-Using Social Media to Market and Promote Public Safety Projects

Law Enforcement Tech Guides

Check out our five Law Enforcement Tech Guides, which provide helpful and informative resources to law enforcement and public safety practitioners. Visit our Law Enforcement Tech Guide page for more details and links.

For public safety communications project planning and management in particular, these resources are useful:

• Law Enforcement Tech Guide
• Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Communications Interoperability: A Guide for Interagency Communications Projects

New Podcasts! Public Safety Management: Lessons Learned and Best Practices

We offer a series of 6 podcasts that address critical lessons learned and useful best practices from public safety emergency communication and broadband projects nationwide. These podcasts present numerous lessons and best practices, and are intended to educate and inform public safety practitioners about current issues in public safety project management, communications, and broadband technologies.

Visit our Public Safety Management: Lessons Learned and Best Practices Podcasts page for more details and links on:

• Long-Term Evolution 101
• The 'Accidental' Project Manager
• Narrowbanding
• SOP Development for the Coordination of Interoperability Resources
• An Introduction to the Incident Command System in the Communications Unit
• Lifeycle Planning

Public Safety Communications Project Podcasts

We offer a series of 9 podcasts that offer practical guidance for information sharing and communications interoperability projects. Visit our Public Safety Comm Project Podcasts page for more details and links.

In particular, these podcasts offer insights and guidance into communications project management:

• Best Practices in Managing Advanced Communications System Lifecycles
• Managing the Funding and Finance Challenges of Large Communications System Development
• Check out all 9 podcasts!