The Money Files

A blog that looks at all aspects of project and program finances from budgets, estimating and accounting to getting a pay rise and managing contracts. Written by Elizabeth Harrin from RebelsGuideToPM.com.

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Project initiation: Tips for starting off right

Categories: Risk Management, Leadership, Governance

Are you starting a new project? As we get closer to year end, we seem to be starting more projects that will (somehow) finish in-year! If you are kicking off a new piece of work, whether you’re delivering by year end or have a longer timeframe, here are some tips to consider to ensure you are starting off in the best possible way.

Get the right people

First, you need to understand the capabilities required to deliver the project. Then you have to make sure you have people with those skills (or people with the aptitude and time to learn them).

It’s not just about the do-ers. You’ll also need a project leadership team (a project manager, sponsor, maybe exec sponsor and programme manager) who have the skills to lead and are empowered to do so.

Create your Charter

Whether you call it a project initiation document, charter or kick off document, you’ll want something in writing to document what you are doing and how. But the real value of this is in the discussion that you have while pulling together the content. The right conversations are essential to make sure the right stakeholders are involved, everyone is aligned on the objectives and the scope is clear.

Set the tone for the team

We talk a lot about culture and I’ve written about psychological safety before. Start as you mean to go on, so set your ground rules, working practices, terms of engagement up front. Make sure that anything that affects the delivery team involves them (so no setting project delivery dates without the people doing the work in the room).

Set up your document repositories and communication schedules so everyone knows what to expect and where to find the latest information.

Consider risk

As part of your project initiation work, you should be creating an initial risk log. But considering the impact of uncertainty on your project goes beyond that. Make sure you’ve got enough contingency in the plan, especially in the early days until estimates can be firmed up with more data. Make sure stakeholders know about confidence levels and be transparent about what you think can be achieved, so their expectations are managed.

Sort out your governance

Exec confidence comes from knowing the project is in safe hands. Governance might feel burdensome at times, but it ensures the right work is being done by the right people at the right time.

Make sure you know how the project will be held to account, and what the success criteria are. Set up your peer reviews and stage gates. Book steering group meetings and regular check ins. Dig out your reporting templates. These processes will ensure that there is trust in the process and that leaders feel confident that the project can (and will) deliver.

Setting your project up for success is crucial because those early days set the tone for how the work will be done. Spend a bit of time – and I know, you’ll have to negotiate for that as I expect everyone wants the work to have started yesterday – and you’ll have a greater chance of delivering successfully. Good luck!

Posted on: October 08, 2024 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)