Have you ever thought a project was a good idea and then you went straight into planning it? Or there was talk with your colleagues that a certain project would work and then somebody in a burst of enthusiasm begins setting out a set of tasks to see the project through?
This is a common situation. But is there a better way to think about projects in your organisation?
From all the different project options available to us we need to find a process that applies some rigour in order to find the best project option available to us.
There is a life cycle that a project goes through and when you are thinking about the best project to begin then we are in the project initiation phase. It is in this phase that we want to focus on doing the right project. In the rest of the project life cycle, we are aiming to doing the project right.
Initiation Process
The reasons we work through a process to begin the right project are:
- There are outcomes that we want to satisfy.
- The outcomes should be aligned with the strategic objectives of the organisation.
The cost of change increases through a project therefore it is important to find the right project that does not have to be changed substantially through its life cycle.
After we have established the outcomes we want to satisfy then we begin to reflect on the options we have. There will be many!
There are many ways to flesh these ideas out including mind mapping, brainstorming and researching. Bringing stakeholders into the conversation is very important as well because they will bring a different lens or angle to the problem at hand.
After you have brainstormed your ideas we want to start to apply some intuition to them. We do this by asking yes or no questions. For example:
- Can we afford it?
- Is the right project for our organisation?
- Can we do this?
- Is this something we are allowed to do?
Applying a SWOT analysis is also a good idea as we can think about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of our options.
Once we have refined our options further we should consider a business case. This is usually for around 2-5 of those options that we have refined after our feasibility tests.
The business case is a more formal document that considers the opportunity and why the organisation should commit the time and resources to it.
Most importantly the business case:
- Identifies outcomes and how they are aligned to the strategic objectives
- Compares the available options with the do-nothing option.
This is the only document in the project life cycle that considers the impact to the organisation. This will also include a consideration of the risk to the organisation is they are to take on this project.
After the project has been accepted the documentation is about the quality of the project and how to do the project well.
A business case will consider:
- What are the costs for the project and ongoing?
- What are the intangible impacts?
- What are the risks to the organisation?
As always the constraints of a project need to be considered. They are:
- Time – What are the key milestones and when do we achieve them?
- Cost – what are the general costs required ( the detail comes later)
- Scope – what key deliverables are required for the project to achieve success?
Also the acceptance criteria of the client/customer need to be considered. That is what level of quality will the client accept before taking over ownership of the completed project?
Key success factors include:
- Does the organisation have predictable access to key resources?
- Do we have specific dependencies that may add another layer of risk to the project?
- Are there key stakeholder relationships that need to be developed?
- Are there risks that need to be considered?
After the business cases have been considered then we are able to present the one key recommendation to senior management, client or sponsor for authorisation to go to the planning stage.
What happens if the project option that we recommend has a significant change after it has been authorised?
Approach your senior management or board and be transparent about the change. The change could be with a key dependency or may be a significant price rise. We would then look to bring it back to the feasibility stage and then compare it to our other options. We may want to go with the next best option!
With more thought and planning in your project initiation phase there will be a higher chance of successfully delivering outcomes that will be in line with the objectives of the organisation. This will keep your key stakeholders happy and enhance your reputation as a valuable project manager.