Project Management Essentials, Fourth Edition: A Quick and Easy Guide to the Most Important Concepts and Best Practices for Managing Your Projects Right - Tapa blanda

FROM CHAPTER 2: INITIATING THE PROJECT

What is Project Initiation?

Initiation simply means starting from the beginning with the tools that you need. Imagine a contractor arriving at a customer's lot to start building a custom home — with no blueprints, no signed contract, no site survey, and not sure yet whether the client wants a one- or two-story house. Ludicrous? Obviously, yet many projects are started with no charter, no clear goal, no boundaries de?ned, no idea of who the stakeholders are, and few client requirements. Initiation simply means having all the information you need to start the project off in the right direction.

The Project Charter

Creating a project charter is the ?rst step in the right approach to managing a project. It formally announces that a project or phase has begun. It also serves to document the initial requirements that, if met, will satisfy the stakeholder's needs and expectations. The project charter, issued by a project sponsor, project management office, or portfolio steering committee, gives the project manager authority to apply resources to project activities. In the absence of a formal project selection process, the project manager may develop the project charter and give it to the sponsor for signature and transmission. Without this authority, the project manager may have dif?culty in obtaining human resources or even funding. The important point to understand about chartering is that it links the project to the ongoing work of the organization. (See Exhibit 2-1 for a list of project charter elements with definitions and instructions on what information is needed to create the charter.)

There’s no set format for a charter; it may be a formal document, a contract, or even an email. Inputs to the charter (information needed to help you create the charter) may include such items as:

• The business case for undertaking the project, including a description of expected outcomes.
• The benefits management plan that defines the processes to create and sustain the project benefits.
• Current enterprise environmental factors, such as the structure and culture of the organization, market conditions, and existing resources.
• Existing organizational process assets, such as formal and informal plans, processes, policies, and procedures currently used by the organization.
• Agreements to define initial project intentions. Agreements may be in the form of contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and other documents. Agreements may be written or verbal.

The information gathered from these items, aided by expert judgment in assessing the inputs, will help the project manager begin documenting the business objectives and customer needs that the project is intended to satisfy and how the product, service, or result delivered will satisfy those needs. This project charter will also list the stakeholders involved in the project, outline constraints that might limit the project team’s options, and provide a detailed description of the scope of the project.

EXHIBIT 2-1: SUGGESTED ELEMENTS OF A PROJECT CHARTER (NOT INCLUSIVE)

Project Name
Enter a brief name to describe the project.

Project Sponsor
This generally is the executive of the business area for which the project is being undertaken. This person is responsible for budgeting the funds to undertake the project and has final authority to approve project completion.

Business Area Project Manager
This is the primary business area liaison with the project manager. This person is responsible for the business unit's project-related activities.

Project Manager – Responsibility and Authority Level
This is the person responsible for planning and managing the project.

Key Stakeholder List
Identify the major stakeholders who will have the biggest impact, interest, etc. on the project.

Business background
Give an overview of the business reasons for the project.

Project Purpose
Using business terminology, give a general description of the project scope (provide details in the following sections). Indicate both what is within the anticipated scope and what is outside the scope. Consider these topics:

• Systems
• Infrastructure
• Communications
• Business locations

Project Exit Criteria
The conditions to be met in order to close, or cancel, the project or phase.

Project Approval Requirements
Description of project success, who makes the decision on project success, and who signs off.

High-Level Requirements (Deliverables)
List the specific, expected project deliverables and how these will meet the objectives. The deliverables should be as tangible as possible.

Summary Milestone Schedule
Major time frames.

Overall Project Risk
Uncertainty on the project as a whole.

Excerpted from Project Management Essentials, Fourth Edition by William P. Athayde, Ruth Elswick, and Paul Lombard; Edited by Deborah Bigelow Crawford. Copyright ©2018 by Project Management Solutions, Inc. Published by Maven House Press, Palmyra, VA. Used with permission. All rights reserved. http://mavenhousepress.com.