The Ultimate Guide to Project Initiation

The project initiation phase is the most crucial part of any project, as it lays the
groundwork that will determine whether the project successful. This guide will help you
master it.

DP Taylor
Business Software Expert Updated July 22, 2020

When a project fails, chances are it's not because of execution — it's because of
bad planning. One survey found that 75% of business and IT professionals felt
that their projects were often doomed from the beginning.

If your project does not have a solid foundation, it has no chance of success —
and even if it did succeed, you would have no way of knowing.

That's where project initiation comes in. This vital first step in the life of the
project lays the groundwork for the execution. Without it, you won't know what
you're trying to achieve, what it will take to be successful, and who has what
responsibilities.

Let's explore how you can make sure you get it right the first time.

Overview: What is project initiation?

Project initiation is the first phase in any project life cycle. It's where you define
the project scope and goals, and where you figure out logistically how it's going to
get accomplished.

During this phase — which will inform all future project phases — you'll assemble
a team and conduct a feasibility study. You might also draw up a business case to
justify the project, or compose a project charter to lay out some of the initial
details.

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 This might be the most important part of the project, because if you haven't laid
out a good purpose for the project and you haven't determined the basics on how
it's going to get accomplished, you're going to run into trouble down the road
when it's too late to easily change course.

5 steps to follow for a successful project

initiation
It’s easy to spend too much time in the project initiation phase, so it’s important
you don’t get bogged down with planning at the expense of execution. Here are
five simple steps you should take during this phase that will keep it as short as
possible while ensuring you cover all the bases.

Step 1: Draw up a business case

Before you even begin to dive deep into this phase, you need to draw up a
business case and project plan outline. This is the justification for the project's
existence, and an explanation of what success will look like in specific terms.

It's important not to go overboard here. You just want a brief document that spells
out some basics that anyone could understand on why this project is necessary.

But exactly how will the business case be laid out? It's up to you, but it might be
good to start with a brief description of the project, a list of possible benefits, a
basic estimate on funding and manpower needed, and a basic project schedule or
next steps.

Sometimes, a basic business case won’t be quite enough. If you need to go

further than that, a project charter, scope of work, or even a full statement of
work will lay out what you plan to accomplish in more detail.

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 3 quick tips to do this step right:

• Be specific: Vague goals are not going to inspire anyone to make the project a
success, and you won't even know what success looks like. Use actual
numbers whenever you can.
• Do a gut check: Have one or all of your stakeholders look over the business
case to get a second set of eyes on it. Ask them if they think you're missing
anything or if it's a solid business case.
• Identify risks and obstacles: While you'll get into more detail later on how
the project is going to shake out, it's beneficial to identify potential obstacles
to success up front so they can be weighed against the benefits.

Step 2: Identify stakeholders

A stakeholder is someone who either has influence over your project, will be
impacted by your project, or both. Stakeholders can include a wide range of
individuals, and it's important that you identify all of them before beginning a
project.

Some obvious stakeholders include the project manager and the president of the
organization. Then there are less-obvious stakeholders that you may not think of
as being involved in the project but actually are.

Examples might include the local government if you're doing a construction

project, since it will expect you to abide by permits and regulations and can shut
you down if you don't. Or if you're a retailer, it might be a supplier who you will
rely on to provide goods that you will use to complete the project.

3 quick tips to do this step right:

• Brainstorm, and then just ask: Create a list of as many stakeholders as you
can think of, and then simply ask them to identify other potential
stakeholders. This will help you flesh out the full roster of individuals who have
some interest in your project.
• Prioritize: Once you identify these stakeholders, sort them based on priority.
People with high influence and who are impacted the most get the top priority,
while people on the other end of the scale get the lowest priority.

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 • Draft a questionnaire to flesh out expectations: It's a good idea to just ask
stakeholders straight up what they expect from the project. Draw up a
questionnaire that asks each stakeholder what results they expect, what
measures should be used to validate these results, and what level of impact or
involvement they see for themselves.

Step 3: Conduct a feasibility study

Now that you've laid out the purpose of the project and identified stakeholders,
it's time to figure out whether the project is even feasible. It's important not to
skip this step because discovering that the project can't succeed on a
fundamental level is not something you want to find out midway through.

A feasibility study will answer vital questions about funding, the market, the
organization of the project, logistics, the risk breakdown structure, and other
things that will help you determine whether this project should even be
attempted.

Once this study is complete, you should get together with stakeholders to go over
the conclusions of the study and to determine whether it’s wise to proceed to the
next step.

3 quick tips to do this step right:

• Map out funding: A feasibility study should answer questions about the
budget. What kind of investment is necessary? How quickly could you
realistically expect returns? How long would you be running at a deficit, and
how much?
• Conduct market research: You'll also need to do some market research to
determine critical elements such as competition, demographics, size of
market, and more.
• Lay out logistics: You should describe how the organization of the project
would be set up, and what equipment, personnel, supplies, facilities, and other
things would be needed before you could get started — as well as how long it
would take to get everything in place.

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 Step 4: Prepare a budget and timeline
If the project has passed the first three steps with flying colors, it's safe to
proceed to step four, which will involve putting a plan in place.

You'll need to prepare a detailed, line-item project budget that captures every
single expenditure you expect to make over the course of the project.

Once that's in place, you'll need to draw up a timeline that describes when you
will hit certain milestones and deliverables. You should also be assigning
stakeholders to each milestone, so everyone knows their responsibilities at each
stage of the project.

Then, schedule a kickoff meeting to go over the project and assign

responsibilities.

3 quick tips to do this step right:

• Revisit the feasibility study if necessary: If you find that getting into the
details reveals that the initial projected costs and assumptions about the
project were incorrect, it's wise to call another meeting with the stakeholders
to tweak the feasibility study and make a new determination about whether
you should go forward.
• Look at past projects: As you draw up a budget and timeline, it's a good idea
to look at past projects that have some similarities. This will help you spot
things you may have missed in your own project plan.
• Create a work breakdown structure (WBS): A WBS will help you divide up
larger milestones into bite-size tasks that you can dole out to various
stakeholders.

Step 5: Review
When you finish project initiation, you’re not really finished; you’re going to need
to do a review. And it's important to conduct a review both before you start the
project, as well as after the project is completed.

A review before the project starts will help you determine if you made any
mistakes or faulty assumptions when you laid out the project plan.

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 A good idea is to have a final meeting before the project begins to make sure
everyone understands the plan and to see if there are any questions or concerns
about anything.

After the project is over, you should compare your original plan to the final results
of the project with the help of project documentation. This will help you do a
better job of executing the initiation steps on the next project you take on.

3 quick tips to do this step right:

• Encourage frankness: It's not easy to convince your team to open up, but
you should try to create an atmosphere where people feel like they can share
their honest opinions. You might even share one brutally honest opinion of
your own performance at the start to encourage others.
• Keep your eye on the future: When reviewing, it's important not to dwell on
past mistakes or second-guessing. Instead, use it as an opportunity to improve
future prospects.
• Do a gap analysis, and then discuss: After the project is completed, analyze
how closely your results matched your expectations, and then talk it over with
the team to figure out why and how you could do better.

Project management software can help

with initiation
If you’re not sure where to start, software can help. The Blueprint has reviewed a
number of effective project management software platforms that can assist you
with the initiation phase as well as the management of all other phases in a
project.

These platforms offer project management tools that you won’t be able to
replicate on your own.

You should choose a few software options to try out and then give them a test
drive. Doing so will help you figure out which one best meets your style of

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 management, and ensure that they have the tools you need to draw up a proper
project plan.

The Motley Fool has a Disclosure Policy. The Author and/or The Motley Fool may have an interest in
companies mentioned.

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