What is Project Initiation Phase & How to Start a Project? Key Components & Examples - AIMS UK
Summary
TLDRThis script discusses the initiation of projects, emphasizing the importance of recognizing a need, securing funds, and having a strong will for success. It outlines the seven common reasons projects arise, such as market demand and social needs. Feasibility studies are highlighted as crucial for project viability, and project selection methods, including mathematical models and benefit measurement methods, are explained. The script also details the creation of a project charter, which formalizes a project's existence and objectives, and the identification of stakeholders, including their analysis and management strategy.
Takeaways
- 🚀 **Project Initiation**: Recognizing the start of a new project or phase and committing resources.
- 💡 **Project Justification**: Projects are initiated due to market demand, strategic opportunity, business need, customer requests, technological advance, legal requirement, ecological impact, or social need.
- 📈 **Measuring Value**: It's more important to roughly measure significant value (like gold) than to precisely count minor value (like pennies).
- 💼 **Criteria for Projects**: Key criteria include identified need, available funds, and strong will for success.
- 🔍 **Feasibility Studies**: Conducted to assess the viability of a project before starting, ideally by a separate team from the project implementers.
- 🛠️ **Project Selection Methods**: Used to decide among alternative projects and evaluate their tangible benefits, including market share, financial benefits, customer loyalty, and public perception.
- 📊 **Mathematical Models**: Also known as constrained optimization methods, used for complex projects requiring specialized backgrounds.
- 📋 **Benefit Measurement Methods**: More commonly used for project selection, including cost-benefit analysis, scoring models, and various cash flow techniques.
- 📜 **Project Charter Development**: The first document of a project, acknowledging its existence, authorizing it, and documenting initial requirements.
- 👤 **Identifying Stakeholders**: A process involving analysis and expert judgment to understand who might be affected by the project and their potential influence.
Q & A
What is the significance of project initiation?
-Project initiation is the formal recognition that a new project or the next phase in an existing project should begin, and it involves committing resources to the project. It is triggered by a need, demand, opportunity, or problem.
What are the important criteria for determining the value of a project?
-The important criteria for projects include the existence of a need for the project, availability of funds, and a strong will to make the project succeed.
Why is it important to measure needs and demands in project initiation?
-Needs and demands represent opportunities, business requirements, or problems that need solving. Management must decide how to respond to these based on the project's potential impact and value.
According to PMBOK, what are the seven needs or demands that can lead to a project?
-The seven needs or demands that can lead to a project according to PMBOK are market demand, strategic opportunity, business need, customer requests, technological advance, legal requirement, ecological impact, and social need.
What is the purpose of conducting a feasibility study before starting a project?
-A feasibility study is conducted to determine whether the project is viable or not. It helps in assessing if the project can be successfully completed within the given constraints and if it aligns with the organization's goals.
Why should feasibility studies not be conducted by the same people who will work on the project?
-Feasibility studies should not be conducted by the same people who will work on the project to ensure objectivity and to avoid potential bias that could influence the outcome of the study.
What are the two categories of project selection methods?
-The two categories of project selection methods are mathematical models, also known as constrained optimization methods, and benefit measurement methods, also called decision models.
What is the role of a project charter in a project?
-The project charter is the first official document for a project. It formally authorizes the project or phase, documents the initial requirements, and establishes a partnership between the performing organization and the requesting organization or customer.
What are the typical inputs used to develop a project charter?
-The typical inputs used to develop a project charter include the project statement of work, business case, contract, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.
What is the primary tool used in developing the project charter?
-The most important tool used in developing the project charter is expert judgment, which relies on individuals or groups with specialized knowledge or skills in the areas being assessed.
What are the key components that the project charter should document?
-The project charter should document the project purpose or justification, high-level project description, high-level project requirements, measurable project objectives, high-level risks, summary milestones schedule, summary budget, project approval requirements, and the assigned project manager and project sponsor.
How are stakeholders identified in a project?
-Stakeholders are identified through a process that involves analyzing the project charter, considering procurement documents, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets. Stakeholder analysis and expert judgment are the main tools used for this process.
What should be included in a stakeholder management strategy?
-A stakeholder management strategy should include the name of key stakeholders, their anticipated level of participation, stakeholder groups, assessment of impact, and potential strategies for gaining support.
Outlines
🚀 Project Initiation and Feasibility Studies
This paragraph discusses the commencement of a project, emphasizing the formal recognition of a new project's necessity and the commitment of resources. It highlights the importance of justifying projects, even when precise measurement is challenging. The criteria for initiating a project include a demonstrated need, available funds, and a strong intent for success. Needs and demands can stem from various sources such as market demand, strategic opportunities, or legal requirements. Feasibility studies are crucial before project initiation, assessing the project's viability, and should be conducted by a separate team to ensure objectivity. Project selection methods are also introduced, which help organizations decide among alternative projects based on factors like market share, financial benefits, and public perception. These methods can be mathematical models or benefit measurement methods, with the latter being more commonly used due to their comparative and analytical nature.
📜 Project Charter Development
The second paragraph delves into the creation of a project charter, which is the first official document of a project. It serves as a written acknowledgment of the project's existence and authorizes the project or its phase, outlining initial requirements to meet stakeholder needs. The paragraph explains that a project manager is typically identified early in the project's lifecycle, preferably during the development of the project charter. The inputs for creating a project charter include the project statement of work, business case, contract, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets. The primary tool for developing the project charter is expert judgment, which relies on individuals with specialized knowledge or skills. The project charter includes several components such as the project purpose, high-level description, requirements, objectives, risks, schedule and budget summaries, approval requirements, and the assignment of a project manager and project sponsor. Additionally, the paragraph touches on the identification of stakeholders, their analysis, and the development of a stakeholder management strategy to manage their impact on the project.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Project Initiation
💡Needs and Demands
💡Feasibility Study
💡Project Selection Methods
💡Mathematical Models
💡Benefit Measurement Methods
💡Project Charter
💡Expert Judgment
💡Stakeholder Analysis
💡Stakeholder Management Strategy
Highlights
Project initiation marks the formal recognition to begin a new project or phase and commit resources.
Projects often arise from needs, demands, opportunities, or problems, and are justified by their high value.
The saying 'measure gold roughly than to count pennies precisely' emphasizes the importance of projects over minor details.
Key criteria for projects include identified needs, available funds, and a strong will to succeed.
Needs and demands can represent business opportunities, requirements, or problems to be solved.
PMBOK identifies seven types of needs or demands that lead to projects: market demand, strategic opportunity, business need, customer requests, technological advance, legal requirement, ecological impact, and social need.
Feasibility studies are conducted to determine the viability of a project before starting it.
Feasibility studies should be conducted by a separate team from those who will work on the project.
Project selection methods help decide among alternative projects and their tangible benefits to the company.
Projects are selected based on criteria such as market share, financial benefits, return on investment, customer loyalty, and public perceptions.
There are two categories of project selection methods: mathematical models (constrained optimization methods) and benefit measurement methods (decision models).
Mathematical models are complex and require an engineering, statistical, or mathematical background.
Benefit measurement methods use analysis and comparative approaches like cost-benefit analysis, scoring models, and cash flow techniques.
The project charter is the first document of a project, acknowledging its existence and authorizing it.
A project manager is identified and assigned early in the project, preferably during the development of the project charter.
The project charter includes the project purpose, high-level description, requirements, objectives, high-level risks, schedule and budget summary, and approval requirements.
Inputs for developing a project charter come from the project's origin, such as the project statement of work, business case, contract, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.
Expert judgment is the primary tool for developing the project charter, relying on individuals with specialized knowledge or skills.
The project charter documents the business needs and customer requirements, including the project purpose, description, and measurable objectives.
The project charter also specifies the authority level of the project manager and project sponsor.
Identifying stakeholders involves analyzing their interests, expectations, and influence, and developing a strategy to manage their impact on the project.
Stakeholder management strategy includes the identification of key stakeholders, their anticipated level of participation, and strategies for gaining support.
Transcripts
initiating a project
project initiation is the formal
recognition that a new project or the
next phase in an existing project should
begin and resources should be committed
to the project a project may come about
as a result of a need demand opportunity
or problem determined needs and demands
it is often difficult to provide strong
justification for projects but everyone
agrees they have a high value it is
better to measure gold roughly than to
count pennies precisely these important
criteria for projects are as follows
there is a need for the project there
are funds available and there is a
strong will to make the project succeed
needs and demands represent
opportunities business requirements or
problems that need to be solved
management must decide how to respond to
these needs and demands according to the
PMBOK projects come about as a result of
one of the following seven needs or
demands market demand strategic
opportunity or business need customer
requests technological advance legal
requirement ecological impact and social
need
our second topic is feasibility studies
before starting a project a feasibility
study is conducted to determine whether
the project is viable or not it may be
conducted as a separate project a sub
project or as the first phase of a
project feasibility studies should not
be conducted by the same people who will
work on the project
project selection methods it helps
organizations to decide among
alternative projects and determine the
tangible benefits to the company of
choosing or not choosing a project
project selection methods are also used
to evaluate and choose between
alternative ways to implement the
project project are usually selected on
the basis of market share financial
benefits return on investment customer
loyalty and public perceptions
there are generally two categories of
selection methods mathematical models
which are also known as constrained
optimization methods and benefit
measurement methods are also called
decision models
mathematical models they are also known
as constrained optimization methods and
they use linear dynamic integer
nonlinear and/or multi objective
programming in the form of algorithms
mathematical models require an
engineering statistical or mathematical
background to fully understand they are
complicated mathematical formulas and
algorithms that are beyond the scope of
this course
organizations considering undertaking
projects of enormous complexity might
use mathematical modeling techniques to
make decisions regarding these projects
the vast majority of project selection
techniques use the benefit measurement
methods
benefit measurement methods they employ
various forms of analysis and
comparative approach is to make project
decisions these methods include
comparative approaches such as
cost-benefit analysis scoring models and
benefit contribution methods that
include various cash flow techniques and
economic models
developing project charter it is the
very first piece of document for a
project and a written acknowledgement
that the project exists it formally
authorizes a project or phase and
documents the initial requirements that
satisfy stakeholders needs and
expectations it establishes a
partnership between the performing
organization and the requesting
organization or customer in the case of
external projects a project manager is
identified and assigned as early in the
project as is feasible preferably while
the project charter is being developed
and always prior to the start of
planning
let's see how project charter is created
the input to developing the project
charter comes from the origin of the
project the possible input items to
develop a project Charter are as follows
project statement of work business case
contract Enterprise environmental
factors and organizational process
assets you take the available input and
apply the relevant tools and techniques
to develop the project charter the most
important tool used in developing the
project Charter is the expert judgment
output of the developed project charter
process is a formal document which is
called the project charter next we will
understand each of the following
components mentioned under input tools
and techniques and output tools and
techniques for developing the project
charter process expert judgment is the
only tool and technique in this process
the concept behind expert judgment is to
rely on individuals or groups of people
who have training specialized knowledge
or skills in the areas which you are
assessing these folks might be
stakeholders consultants subject matter
experts industry or other experts
project management office or technical
professional organizations the project
charter documents the business needs and
current customer requirements by
addressing the following factors project
purpose or justification it includes the
purpose of the project and the business
case for the project high-level project
description it includes the business
needs that the project addresses
high-level project requirements it is
based on the needs of the customer the
sponsor and other stakeholders
measurable project objectives it is
derived from the purpose section
high-level risks they are identified
during the project planning summary
milestones schedule it is a kind of
high-level schedule budget summary it is
the summary of project cost estimate
with some timeline project approval
requirements they include the name and
response
ability of the person or committee that
will approve and accept the project when
it is finished assigned project manager
it specifies the authority level of the
project manager and project sponsor it
includes the name an authority level of
the project sponsor who authorized the
project charter the inputs of
identifying stakeholders process are as
follows project charter it provides
information about internal and external
parties related to the project and
affected by the result or the execution
of the project for example project
sponsors customers team members groups
and departments participating in the
project procurement documents if a
project is the result of a procurement
activity or is based on an established
contract the parties in that contract
are key project stakeholders other
relevant parties such as suppliers
should also be considered as part of the
project stakeholders list enterprise
environmental factors it includes all
policies practices procedures and
legislation that exist both inside and
outside of the organization these
factors include company culture
organizational structure and
governmental or industry standards
organizational process assets these are
the range of templates contracts
registers assessment tools and
organizations knowledge based which most
organizations have developed to assist
in the management of the project tools
and techniques of the identify
stakeholders process there are two main
tools that are used to help identify
stakeholders the first is the
stakeholder analysis and the second is
expert judgment stakeholder analysis it
is the technique of systematically
gathering and analyzing qualitative and
quantitative information to determine
whose interest should be taken into
account
it defines the interest expectations and
influence of stakeholders and relate
them to the purpose of the project
stakeholder management strategy this is
the documented approach which is used to
minimize negative impacts or influences
that stakeholders may have throughout
the life of the project the elements
that should be included in the
stakeholder management strategy are as
follows name of key stakeholders who
could have a significant impact on the
project stakeholders anticipated level
of participation stakeholder groups
assessment of impact and potential
strategies for gaining support
you
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