Initiating phase of the project life cycle involves identifying a need, problem, or opportunity and can

result un the sponsor’s authorizing a project to address the identified need or solve the problem.

IDENTIFYING AND SELECTING PROJECTS

1. How projects are identified

Project Identification
- Projects are identified in various ways: during an organization’s strategic planning,
as part of its normal business operations, in response to unexpected events, or as a
result of a group of individuals deciding to organize a project to address a particular
need.
- Business strategies can be driven by the market opportunities, competition,
and/technology.
- Unexpected events such as an earthquake, that caused the collapse of a bridge
- The company must go through a decision-making process to prioritize and select
those projects that will result in the greatest overall benefit

Project Selection

- Involves evaluating potential projects, and then deciding which of these should
move forward to be implemented.
- The benefits and consequences, advantages and disadvantages, plusses and
minuses of each project need to be considered and evaluated.

Steps In the Project Selection process include:

 Develop a set of criteria against which the project will be evaluated

 List assumptions
 Gather data and information for each project
 Evaluate each project against the criteria
- One approach to the evaluation and selection process would be to have the
evaluation and selection committee meet to develop a set of evaluation criteria.

2. Project charter
Project Charter
- sometimes called a project authorization or project initiation document.
- In this document, the sponsor provides approval to go forward with the project and
commits the funding for the project.
- Summarizes the key conditions and parameters for the project and establishes the
framework for developing a detailed baseline plan for performing the project
Elements of a project charter

 Project Title – should be concise and create a vision for the end
result of the project.
 Purpose – summarizes the need and justification for the project
 Description – include of the major tasks or phases of the project
or even a preliminary work breakdown structure delineating the
major work items.
 Objective – statement of what is expected to be accomplished
 Success Criteria or expected benefits – indicate the outcomes
or expected quantitative benefits that will result form
implementation of the project.
 Funding – indicates the total amount of money the sponsor
authorizes for the project.
 Major Deliverables – the major end products or tangible items
that are expected to be produced during and at the completion
of the performance of the project.
 Acceptance Criteria – describe the quantitative criteria for each
major deliverable that the sponsor will use to validate that each
deliverable meets certain performance specifications and are
the basis for the sponsor’s accepting that the deliverable is
indeed done correctly and meets the sponsor’s expectations.
 Milestone Schedule – a list of target dates or times (also
referred to as milestone dates) for the occurrence of key events
in the project timetable.
 Key assumptions - -include those that the project rationale or
justification is based on.
 Constraints – include such things as a requirement to complete
project without disrupting the current workflow.
 Major Risks – identify any risk that the sponsor thinks have a
likelihood of occurrence or a high degree of potential impact
that could affect the successful accomplishment of the project
objective.
 Approval Requirements – define the limits of authority of the
project manager
 Project Manager – an individual in the organization who has
been identified to be the manager for the project
 Reporting Requirements – states the frequency and content of
project status reports and reviews.
 Sponsor Designee – the person who the sponsor designates to
act on behalf of the project sponsor.
 Approval signature and date – indicate that the sponsor has
officially or formally authorized the project
The Project charter is an important document. It not only authorizes going forward with a project but
also provides the key conditions and parameters that are the framework for the project manager and
team to develop a detailed baseline plan for performing the project.

3. Outsourcing projects using a request for proposal

Request for Proposal
- a document, prepared by the sponsor/customer, which defines the
project requirements and is used to solicit proposals from potential
contractors to do the project

Proposal

- a document that includes a proposed approach, schedule, and

budget for meeting the project requirements and accomplishing the
project scope

A good RFP allows contractors to understand what the customer expects so that they can prepare a
thorough proposal that will satisfy the customer’s requirements at a realistic price.

An RFP should be comprehensive and provide sufficiently detailed information so that a contractor or
project team can prepare an intelligent proposal that is responsive to the customer’s needs.

Guidelines for drafting a formal RFP to external contractors:

a. The RFP must state the project objective or purpose

b. An RFP must provide a statement of work (SOW) – outlines the major tasks the customer
wants the contractor or project team to perform to accomplish the project scope and
produce all the deliverables.
c. The RFP must include the customer requirements – Which define functional, operational,
and performance specifications or capabilities that must be met. Requirements cover size,
quantity, color, weight, speed, and other physical or operational parameters the
contractor’s proposed solution must satisfy.
d. The RFP should state what deliverables the customer expects the contractor to provide
e. The RFP should state the acceptance criteria
f. The RFP should list any customer-supplied items
g. The RFP might state the approvals required by the customer
h. Some RFP’s mention the type of contract the customer intends to use
i. An RFP might state the payment terms the customer intends to use
j. The RFP should state the required schedule for completion of the project and key
milestones
k. The RFP should provide instructions for the format and content of the contractor
proposals
l. The RFP should indicate the due date by which the customer expects potential contractors
to submit proposals
m. An RFP may include the evaluation criteria
n. In rare cases, an RFP will indicate the funds the customer has available to spend on the
project.
4. The proposal solicitation process
Soliciting proposals
- Once the RFP has been prepared, the customer solicits proposals by
notifying potential contractors that the RFP is available. One way for
customers to do this is by identifying a selected group of contractors
in advance and sending each o them a copy of the RFP.
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