PROJECT INITIATION AND PLANNING

There are a number of ways to effectively guide the team through the project initiation and project planning processes, ensuring all project stakeholders have a shared understanding early in project launch and during team formation. Conducting project initiation and project planning workshops is an effective and efficient way of reaching team consensus on what the project is and why it is being launched.

Project Initiation Workshop

The Project Initiation Workshop (PIW) is a structured meeting designed to initiate a project. The benefits of such a workshop include creating a communication device whereby all key stakeholders agree on what the project will do and why they are doing it. The workshop includes the opportunity to obtain organizational expertise and experience to further define the project, and it establishes ownership to plan the project. The initiation process typically includes six steps.

1.Draft the project scope. Solidify the project’s opportunity and goal with senior management and other key stakeholders. (A stakeholder is anyone who has an impact on or is affected by the project.)

2.Complete PIW pre-meeting activities. Establish workshop goals and attendees, formalize the workshop agenda and timing of topics, and establish roles.

3.Prepare PIW. Plot the major project scope sections, send meeting notice with applicable handouts, ensure key participant attendance, and prepare meeting room accordingly.

4.Conduct PIW. Establish the foundation of the project, obtain “buy-in” of the organization, and build the project planning team.

5.Document PIW. Finalize the project scope document and get sponsor signature, and document project planning team members.

6.Communicate PIW results. Communicate “the project” to all stakeholders.

To be successful, a PIW requires all the “right” participants. Attendees to consider include project stakeholders, functional managers (if they control the personnel resources you will need to plan or do the project), operational recipients (anyone who receives project deliverables in their operational environment as a result of the project), project sponsors (anyone who funds the project), and anyone who can help define and determine the boundaries of the project.

The number of right participants can lead to a lengthy invitation list. Try to keep the group small if you can; focus on the key decisionmakers from each participant category. The foundational group of invitees for the PIW must include decisionmakers for the workshop to be successful. Most project initiations occur quickly, leaving little time for adequate meeting preparation and planning. As with any meeting, it is important to have an agenda. Figure 2-1 is an example of an agenda designed to successfully guide the PIW session.

The example agenda includes generic agenda items to support a productive PIW. The agenda should be adjusted to meet individual project needs; feel free to revise the wording and timing of items, delete steps you do not require, or add steps not listed but relevant to your specific project. To help you determine which agenda items are most valuable for your project initiation activities, table 2-1 provides some additional details for each agenda item in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1 Example of a Meeting Agenda

Facilitating a successful PIW requires sound time-tracking. Realize the implications of staying on certain subjects, and manage the expectations as to what will or will not be accomplished as a result. The timing and duration of activities are highly variable, based on project size, number of stakeholders, deliverables, etc. Schedule enough time; it is better to let participants go early than to keep them late. In some instances, you may want to assign a timekeeper to ensure the group remains on track and on time; acting as both facilitator and timekeeper can often be difficult.

Finally, never skip the “next steps” agenda item. Skip something else if you have to.

The agenda is designed to guide participants through an exercise to identify and document key elements in support of defining the project’s scope. All project teams must take the time to define the project and the project team. The Project Opportunity Statement (POS) is a terrific way to define and document the project scope.

Project Opportunity Statement

The POS is the foundational scope document that specifies the business opportunity, the project goals and deliverables, and the expected business outcomes the project will deliver to the organization. Ideally, the executive sponsor reviews and approves the project scope once it is drafted. (His or her signature represents the initiation of executive sponsorship accountability.) Once approved, it becomes the foundation for future planning and execution of the project. It also becomes the reference document for questions or resolving conflicts over the project’s purpose and scope. The value of this tool is that it can sustain constant use, regardless of project size, type, or scope.

TABLE 2-1 Agenda Details

The POS consists of 17 components, all critically important to defining project scope.

1.Business Opportunity/Problem Statement. The opportunity defines the particular business opportunity or problem being addressed by the project. It contains statements of well-known fact that everyone in the organization will accept as true.

2.Project Goal. A project has one overall goal which concisely summarizes what will be delivered by the project that addresses the business opportunity. The goal provides a continuous reference point for any questions regarding the purpose of the project. For example, “Design and implement XXX system.”

3.Constituents. This component allows you to identify all constituents who are impacted by the project.

4.Line of Business. This component allows you to designate the line(s) of business impacted by the project.

5.Project Scope. The scope identifies which aspects of the business are to be included in the project and which are to be excluded. It determines what other external influences and impacts (such as interfaces, customer needs, and regulatory requirements) are to be addressed. It can range from business process scope and business product scope to organization scope, application scope, or “other.”

6.Expected Business Outcomes. These are the criteria by which the business success of the initiative will be determined.

7.Major Project Deliverables/Measuring Project Completion. The deliverable statements define what constitutes project completion. They state what must be accomplished to achieve the business outcomes and reach the project goal. The major project deliverables should describe what is to be accomplished (i.e., a future state; typically a noun) and an action (i.e., how the deliverable will be delivered; typically an action verb). A planned date and measures of completion help to clarify deliverables.

8.Major Milestones. Use this section to document the milestones (events) that must occur in order to reach the deliverables noted in the section above.

9.Applicable Life Cycle/Methodology. This allows identification of any other life cycle/methodology that is required to support project requirements (i.e., product development life cycle).

10.Committee approvals. Project teams often need to obtain approvals from executive sponsors or steering committees. Such parties are identified here.

11.Assumptions. These are factors that, for planning purposes, will be considered true, real, or certain. They are important because many noted assumptions represent a risk.

12.Risks to Project and Contingency Plans. Risks are factors that might interfere with the project work. For example, internal risks are factors that the project team can control or influence, such as staff assignments and cost estimates. External risks are factors beyond the project team’s control or influence, such as market shifts and government action. If any risks might be assumed, this section should include contingency plans for addressing them.

13.Dependent Initiatives. It is important that the project stakeholders understand how this project is linked to other work in the organization.

14.Core Team Personnel Resources. Document the skill sets and/or specific people this project will need for its core team. It is important to estimate the extent of commitment necessary for each personnel resource. (Detailed resource requirements for the entire project will be determined after the planning phase of the project is complete.)

15.Alternatives Considered. Note any other approaches that the team considered when preparing this project. Explain why those alternatives were rejected.

16.Financial Analysis—Quantitative. Define the financial impact of the project. If the project is being justified on the basis of financial return, a detailed cost/benefit analysis should be provided.

17.Authorized to Proceed. This is where the executive sponsor signs this document, approving the start of project activities.

The PIW is designed to address the following components of the POS:

Business Opportunity/Problem Statement

Project Goal

Project Scope

Expected Business Outcomes

Major Project Deliverables

Major Milestones.

Again, the POS template can be easily adjusted to meet your project and/or business needs. Feel free to ignore headings if they don’t apply or change them if needed. The primary objective of the POS is to emphatically state what’s in scope and what’s out of scope for the project.

Once the key POS elements are defined and documented, the project should immediately transition to the planning phase of the project life cycle.

Project Planning Workshop

The Project Planning Workshop (PPW) is a structured meeting designed to define the activities and resources that will be necessary to fulfill the deliverables of the project. Benefits of conducting such a workshop include:

Establishing a communication device whereby subject matter experts determine the necessary steps to deliver the project

Applying organizational expertise and experience to further define the project

Establishing ownership of the activities/tasks of the project plan.

The ultimate goals of the PPW include gathering the information necessary to create a project schedule and a project resource plan. In other words, the key question the team will answer is, “How do we do it?”

The intent of the workshop is to get experts to tell you what activities are required, who is going to do them, and when. The PIW agenda is designed to engage participants in detailed planning activities and allows you to obtain organizational buy-in to what needs to be done to successfully deliver the project.

As with the PIW, the PPW requires preparation. The meeting must be held with a defined agenda, clear meeting goals, review of prior (PIW) documentation, and organized meeting materials. Using the POS as the foundation, a typical PPW agenda might look like Figure 2-2.

The process steps can be consistently applied to all projects, regardless of type or size:

Successful meeting outcomes require disciplined meeting management techniques and keen facilitation skills. More details are provided in Chapter 8.

Figure 2-2 Example of a PPW Agenda