What is a Project?
Dictionary definitions of a project all agree that a project is a unique series of planned tasks which are delivered over a specified time period to achieve a specific goal or purpose.
Yes, even booking your annual holidays is a project!
What is the process for delivering a project?
I like to break down projects in 5 stages, known as the Project LIfecycle. This lifecycle is a well used framework and most project types or delivery methods use some if not all of the stages in one way or another.
The detail in each step can be adapted to your style, team dynamics, project complexity, and business needs, which I'll cover in later blogs.
The Initiation stage starts following business approval of the project. The business will allocate a senior manager or c-suite member as the accountable person and decision maker for the project (we’ll call this role the ‘Project Sponsor’). It is this person/role who will provide the project scope and kick off the Project Lifecycle.
Where do I start?
It can feel overwhelming when you are given a project to manage; start with the following steps which sit in Initiation and Planning and everything should start to fall into place.
Document the Project Scope
Host a Kick Off Meeting
A kick off meeting is a fantastic way to foster team engagement and collaboration. The following agenda items are a great place to start:
- Project Sponsor overview of the project’s business impact.
- An outline of how you plan to manage the project.
- Action identification: encourage team discussion on timelines and task dependencies with a post-it note brainstorm. If you have a solo project, ask a colleague to be a second voice in a post-it note session.
Will things go wrong?
Yes, but don’t panic!
No one wants to think negatively at the beginning of a project, but there is nothing wrong with managing and accepting risk. You will do this automatically throughout the project.
I will cover a simple and quick risk assessment in a future blog but start with one of my secrets:
- If the deadline allows then add a time buffer to tasks, but don’t tell the Project Sponsor!