Project initiation is the first phase of the project life cycle, including planning, execution, and closing.

It doesn’t matter what method you use; all projects begin somewhere. Let’s look at how critical initiation is to a project’s success.

It’s critical to get the initiation of the project right because it’s the first step in the process. A well-thought-out start lays the groundwork for your project’s success.

Once an organization discovers a problem or an opportunity, the project initiation process begins.

Why is Project Initiation critical to a project?

To address a specific business need, stakeholders such as senior executives may initiate a project. It could be developing a new product, improving the well-being of employees, or cutting costs in a particular department. As the project manager, it’s your job to work with the stakeholders to determine the project’s objectives, resources, and other specifics.

If someone else has an idea for the project, it’s still your responsibility to figure out how everything will fit together to make it a reality. It is critical to gather stakeholders’ input and conduct research before determining the project’s scope.

Doing this will better define the scope of the project. Don’t be alarmed if all of this seems a bit overwhelming. Things can go wrong very quickly if the project isn’t correctly launched.

For example, if you don’t have a clear picture of the project’s objectives, you may underestimate the resources required, or the time it will take. A project may be considered successful by one person but not by others if the definition of success is not agreed upon by everyone involved. Getting everyone on the same page and gaining clarity at the start of the project can save a lot of time and effort.

Proper initiation is essential to ensure that the benefits of any project’s outcomes outweigh its costs. Using a cost-benefit analysis, you’ll be able to figure out how much it will cost to implement a project and how much it will save you in the long run. Stakeholders will need to be involved in determining the benefits of a project.

Questions to ask before project initiation

• What benefits can we expect from this project?
• How much money do you think this project will save us?
• Who will benefit financially from this new product?
• Can this help us in saving time?
• What steps will be taken to enhance the user experience? 

To calculate the project’s price tag, you might want to ask yourself:

• Can you evaluate roughly how much time each person will need to devote to this project?
• Any one-time costs?
• Do you have to pay for anything regularly?
• In the long run, what will it cost?

Because the advantages of a project should always outweigh the disadvantages, these considerations must be made early in the process.

When starting a new project, it’s essential to consider the following aspects:

Goals, scope, deliverables, success criteria, stakeholders, and resources are the most critical aspects of project initiation. The project’s goals are what you’ve been asked to accomplish and what you’re hoping to achieve.

Goals

All projects should have clearly defined goals, which senior company leaders often determine with your assistance during your work. The scope of the project will be the next consideration. Determine the work that needs to be done to complete the project in this phase.

Scope

It would help if you also considered the project’s outputs. These are the products and services that your customer, client, or project sponsor will develop for your customer. Depending on the size of your project, deliverables can include anything from product features and functions to documentation, processes, and more.

Deliverables

Deliverables, in simple terms, are the result or output of a project. Keeping in mind that deliverables can be tangible or intangible is also essential. A chapter of a manuscript could serve as an example of a tangible deliverable. It could also be an intangible project deliverable if you want to finish putting in place new point-of-sale software at a store.

Success Criteria

Once the goals, scope, and deliverables have been established, you need to think about how to measure success. Defining success criteria is the only way to tell if a project has reached its goals or not.

Stakeholders

It’s also essential to think about who your stakeholders are. Stakeholders are vital to making informed decisions at every step of the project, including the initiation phase. They are people who care about and are impacted by a project’s completion and success. Stakeholders are critical players in defining and implementing the project’s goals, objectives; deliverables; and success criteria.

As you begin the project, you must get a clear picture of the stakeholders’ expectations. Before moving on to the next phase, you must ensure that all of the project’s stakeholders agree on its goals and overall mission.

Resources

Once you have a clear idea of how much money you have available, you can think about what kinds of resources you’ll need to accomplish your goal. It’s critical to take your time and consider these aspects thoroughly before moving forward. If you start a project and discover that you don’t have the resources to finish it, you won’t be happy. The consequences of doing so would be catastrophic.

Project Charter

To wrap things up, you’ll need to write a project charter. A project charter is a single document that contains the project’s details. When a project’s goals are laid out in its charter, so are the steps needed to achieve them. Using a project charter, you can better organize your work, layout a plan for the steps you need to take, and share those instructions with others. To get the go-ahead to begin planning, you would first review the charter with the project’s key stakeholders.

Key Takeaways

An organization’s initiation process begins when a problem or opportunity is discovered. A well-thought-out start lays the groundwork for your project’s success. Getting everyone on the same page and gaining clarity at the beginning of the project can save a lot of time and effort. When starting a new project, it’s essential to consider the following aspects: goals, scope, deliverables, success criteria, stakeholders, and resources. These are the products and services that your customer, client, or project sponsor will develop for your customer.

Stakeholders are people who care about and are impacted by a project’s completion and success. If you start a project and discover that you don’t have the resources to finish it, you won’t be happy. To wrap things up, you’ll need to write a project charter. Using a project charter, you can better organize your work and lay out a plan for the steps.