Initiating Projects (Process Groups)

Contents

Initiating Process Summary

Pre-initiation Tasks

It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project before it officially starts
Senior managers often perform several pre-initiation tasks
- Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project
- Identify the project sponsor
- Select the project manager
- Develop a business case for a project
- Meet with the project manager to review the process and expectations for managing the project
- Determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects

A business case is a document that provides identifies the reason for initiating a project, including its value, benefit, and the business problem it’s designed to solve.
The completed business case provides structure for the project and project organization throughout the project lifecycle.
- Therefore, it should be used routinely for reference and not consigned to the shelf.
The project sponsor and project board should review and update the business case at key stages to check that the project remains viable, and the reasons for doing it are still valid.
- Ideally, the review should take place before starting a new stage to avoid unnecessary investment in time and money.

Typical contents of Business Case:

Initiating includes recognising and starting a new project
- the right kinds of projects for the right reasons
Strategic planning should serve as the foundation for deciding which projects to pursue
- Expresses the vision, mission, goals, objectives, and strategies of the organisation
- Provides the basis for IT project planning
Develop project charter
- Project charter
- Assumption log
Identifying project stakeholders
- Stakeholder register
Holding a kick-off meeting

Knowledge area	Initiating process	Outputs
Project integration management	Develop project charter	1. Project charter 2. Assumption log
Project stakeholder management	Identify stakeholders	1. Stakeholder register 2. Change requests 3. Project management plan updates 4. Project documents updates

A project charter is a document that formally recognises the existence of a project and provides a summary of the project’s objectives and management
It authorises the project manager to use organisational resources to complete the project
Ideally, the project manager will play a major role in developing the project charter
Instead of project charters, some organisations initiate projects using a simple letter of agreement or formal contracts
A crucial part of the project charter is the sign-off section

The project’s title and date of authorisation
A summary schedule or timeline, including the planned start and finish dates; if a summary milestone schedule is available, it should also be included or referenced
A summary of the project’s estimated cost and budget allocation
The project manager’s name and contact information
A brief description of the project objectives, including the business need or the other justification for authorising the project
Project success criteria or approval requirements, including project approval requirements and who signs off on the project
A summary of the planned approach for managing the project, which should describe stakeholder needs and expectations, overall project risk, important assumptions and constraints, and should refer to related documents, such as a communications management plan, as available
A roles and responsibilities matrix
A sign-off section for signatures of key project stakeholders
A comments section in which stakeholders can provide important comments related to the project

A project charter and business case have the same fundamentals: these are both tools to pitch a project to the appropriate stakeholders.
The main difference between a project charter and a business case is scopeand area of focus.
- Project charter outlines a high-level project description and deliverables, while a business case describes what a company is trying to get from a project in terms of return on investment, future opportunity and so on.
- Project charter names and authorises the project managers of a project while a business case justifies a company’s decision on why it should take up a project.

An assumption log is a document used to record and track assumptions and constraints throughout the project life cycle.
It aids in communicating information to key stakeholders and avoids potential confusion.
Most projects include several assumptions that affect the scope, time, cost, risk, and other knowledge areas.
It is important to document and validate these assumptions.

Project stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities
- Internal project stakeholders generally include the project sponsor, project team, support staff, and internal customers for the project. Other internal stakeholders include top management, other functional managers, and other project managers
- External project stakeholders include the project’s customers (if they are external to the organization), competitors, suppliers, and other external groups that are potentially involved in or affected by the project, such as government officials and concerned citizens

A stakeholder register is a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders, usually available to many people, so it should not include sensitive information
A stakeholder analysis is a technique for analysing information to determine which stakeholders’ interests to focus on and how to increase stakeholder support throughout the project

Unaware: Unaware of the project and its potential impacts on them
Resistant: Aware of the project yet resistant to change
Neutral: Aware of the project yet neither supportive nor resistant
Supportive: Aware of the project and supportive of change
Leading: Aware of the project and its potential impacts and actively engaged in helping it succeed

Experienced project managers know that it is crucial to get projects off to a great start.
A kick-off meeting is a meeting held at the beginning of a project so that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project, and discuss future plans.
- Note that the PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition, suggests that the kick-off meeting be held during the end of the planning or start of the executing process group. In the author’s experience, it is best hold it earlier.
The project champion should speak first and introduce the project sponsor and project manager
Good preparation is essential for the meeting to be a success.