Initiating Process Group
The purpose of project initiation is the time to
- Clearly identify the scope of a new project
- Make sure sufficient resources are committed to the project
- Identify project stakeholders
Project initiation is the opportunity for the project manager to clearly establish marching orders for a project by identifying who the key stakeholders are and getting, in writing, as much direction from the customer and stakeholders as possible.
The initiation phase is the project manager's opportunity to establish a tone of success for the project through effective planning and leadership.
4.0 Project Integration Management
4.1 Develop Project Charter
Process Definition
The marching orders for the project manager are called the Project charter. The charter contains as much information as possible about the mission for the project manager. It defines what the customer wants. The charter can be a simple document, with further project planning adding necessary details. It can also be a very detailed document, to include a Statement of Work (SOW), Performance Work Statement (PWS), contract or other legally binding document. The charter is signed by the customer and the performing team, forming the basis of their relationship during the project, and it gives the project manager formal authority to apply resources to the project.
Process Assessment
Lack of a clearly defined project charter leads to project plans that don't align with stakeholder and customer objectives, ill-defined roles for the project team and other stakeholders, and get the project off to a poor start on defining requirements. This all leads to more project risk and reduced likelihood of a successful project outcome. Unfortunately I've never used a charter in the real world, I've just taken over failing projects that didn't use them to begin with. I wish I had one for every project I've ever undertaken.
Figure 2. Develop Project Charter: Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs. Reprinted from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th Edition" by Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 66. Copyright 2013 by Project Management Institute, Inc. Reprinted without permission.
- Statement of Work for HoverCycle new product development: This statement of work is a homework problem from PMGT 614, WBS 1.9. The SOW, as an input to this process, provides the business need and a product scope description for the Project Charter.
- Expert Judgment: A brief personal essay outlining a technique for writing a good project charter.
- HoverCycle Project Charter: This project charter from PMGT 614 is for the HoverCycle project described in the SOW, also attached in this section. The project charter is the only output for this process. This is the document that formally authorizes a project, identifies the project manager, and summarizes the requirements, acceptance criteria, high level risks, stakeholders and assumptions and constraints for the project.
13.0 Project Stakeholder Management
13.1 Identify Stakeholders
Process Definition
The first process in the Stakeholder Management knowledge area involves identifying all stakeholders that have a vested interest in the execution or outcome of the project. This process also evaluates each stakeholder for their level of interest, role and participation, interdependencies and influence on the project outcome.Process Assessment
It is important to identify stakeholders during project initiation. Since stakeholder management is one of the primary jobs of the project manager, this is the opportunity to identify who needs to be informed of progress and developments on the project, and will play an important role in developing the project communications plan. Stakeholders often have individual perspectives on what they are looking for out of a project, and their own insights into risks and issues project manager will have to contend with.
Figure 3. Identify Stakeholders: Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs. Reprinted from "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th Edition" by Project Management Institute, 2013, p. 393. Copyright 2013 by Project Management Institute, Inc. Reprinted without permission.
- Fence Construction Project Charter: Example of a project charter, developed for a hypothetical project to build a backyard privacy fence. As an input to the "Identify Stakeholders" process the project charter contains an initial stakeholder list to support the stakeholder identification process.
- Expert Judgment: A paper discussing the "Identify Stakeholders" technique and how to execute it. This is an expanded version of the PMGT 502 assignment and includes a discussion of the "Power/Interest Strategy" technique.
- Stakeholder Register: This stakeholder register was developed for PMGT 502. This output of the "Identify Stakeholders" process identifies key stakeholders and the appropriate management strategy for each.