Week 3 – Project Definition

BUS1040 Online – Spring / Summer 2021

Key Course Milestone Dates
Date Topic Grades
Week 1 Introduction Overview Participation Activity 2%
Week 2 Project Selection Participation Activity 3%
Week 3 Project Definition Participation Activity 2%
Week 4 Project Planning Participation Activity 2%
Week 5 Project Planning (cont’d) Participation Activity 2%
Week 6 Midterm Exam Review and Team Meetings Project proposal due - 5%
Week 7 Midterm Exam 25%
Week 8 No Class - Intersession Week
Week 9 Project Monitoring
Week 10 Project Quality / Close Participation Activity 2%
Week 11 Team Meetings - Project Health Checks Participation Activity 2%
Week 12 Team Project: Written Reports Due 20% (5% + 20%= 25%)
Week 13 Team Project: Videos Due 15%
Week 14 Final Exam Review
Week 15 Final Exam 20%
Learning Objectives for Today
1.Learn about the steps in the Project Definition Phase
2.Identify stakeholders and facilitate the collection of
stakeholder goals/ requirements
3.Practice performing a project definition on a case study
4.Discuss the importance of setting the project
expectations and getting “everyone on the same page”.
5.Explore the Project Definition Document as a tool for
securing buy-in from stakeholders surrounding these
rules
Project Definition

Project Project Project Project

Definition Planning Execution Close-Out
 Goal: Get Everyone on the “Same Page”

Deliverables:
Project  Business Case

Definition 
Stakeholder Requirements
Scope Statement
“WHAT” Will We  Project Definition Document
Achieve?
•Needs Assessment
•Value Proposition
•Authorization (Charter)
•Stakeholders
•Requirements
(Stakeholder Goals)
•Project Scope
•Documentation: Project
Definition Document
  Results from a Survey
 Identifying and Validating the Problem or
To Include Need this Project Addresses
 Opportunities and Benefits this Project
in Value Provides
Proposition  Benefits to each Stakeholder Group of the
Project
 Proposed Payback Period
 Proposed Average Rate of Return
 Weighted Factor Model for Why This Project
BEST Meets Stakeholder Goals as compared
to Other Project Options
 SELL IT!
Scope
DEFINING WHAT YOUR PROJECT WILL
INCLUDE
Requirements Help Determine
Scope
Product Scope
"The features and functions that characterize a product, service, or
result”

Project Scope
"The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service,
or result with the specified features and functions”.
Defining Your Project Scope
•“The easiest and hardest thing to define”
•Everything inside the circle represents the scope of the project or
Everything the project needs to deliver
•Outside of the circle is “Out of Scope” and doesn’t have to be
completed as part of this project
Defining Your Project Scope
•Stakeholders have competing interests, and want to influence the
project to get as much into the circle as possible
•The issue is that stakeholders try to influence what is “In-Scope”
without adjusting the time, budget, or resources that would be
necessary.
•We call this “Scope Creep”
VIDEOS: Defining Project
Scope
Scope Objectives Scope Deliverables

11 11
Project Stakeholders
Understanding Roles
Since every project is UNIQUE, it is necessary to ask the following
fundamental questions when initiating a project
• Who is responsible for what?
• Who has authority?
• What defines project success?
• How do we communicate with each other?
• What are the goals that each stakeholder has for the project?
Project
Stakeholders
IMPORTANT PEOPLE OR GROUPS INVOLVED
IN THE PROJECT
Identifying Stakeholders
Project
Sponsor

Customer Project Team

Subject
Project Experts
Users
Project
Manager
Stakeholder Roles
Stakeholders: Power and
Interest

Understanding stakeholders and their relative “power” and

“interest” will help you prioritize and determine a strategy for
engaging them
Are all stakeholders created
equal?

http://www.evoco.co.uk/_blog/Bishop%27s_Blog/post/Stakeholder_mapping_-_the_matrix/
Stakeholder Roles
Activity
NEARPOD
Collecting Project
Requirements
UNDERSTANDING STAKEHOLDER
REQUIREMENTS
How Requirements Are
Collected
The Project Manager coordinates the collection of requirements using a
variety of techniques.
Interviews– Talking to stakeholders directly and one-on-one
Focus Groups– Moderator guides a group through interactive discussion
Facilitated Workshops – Focused sessions for cross-functional
stakeholders
 Quick
 Can negotiate stakeholder differences
 Can build trust, relationships, and team communication
 Can employ brainstorming, voting, survey questions
 Stakeholder Requirements
Requirements
Understanding stakeholder requirements ensures that the needs and
expectations of all those involved or impacted by the project, are taken
into consideration when planning a project
From each stakeholders perspective - What are their Goals for the
Project?

MUST SHOULD MUST NOT

“Priorities” “Nice To Haves” “Deal-Breakers”
Case Study: Building a Website
Selling Toys
External Stakeholders Internal Stakeholders

Stephanie, 8
Rich, Brand Management
• Must see new toys Project Project
• Must Increase Exposure
• Should play with friends Users Team
• Should pretend • Must Build Loyalty

Caleb, 9
Sherry, Research &
• Must see something Development
cool
• Must be fun • Must Collect Consumer
• Should help collect toys Data

Mom, 31 Brad, Sales

• Must have educational value
• Must Increase Sales
• Should be low price
• Must not be dangerous
Kashmir, Technology
• Must be easy to maintain
Nana, 65
• Must know what toys kids
want
• Must be easy to use
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Requirements Gathering
Activity
Scenario: You work in the HR department of Bell Canada. Your team
wants to build and launch an online application portal for recruiting
new college graduates.

Brainstorm: 1 must have, 1 must not have and 1 nice to have.

Project Definition Document Example part 1
Project Name
Project Manager
Sponsor

Overview/Background
Provide a brief summary of the project.. The Background helps highlight the current drivers and
need for this project.
Purpose
Why we want to do it, goals and strategy. Keep all this at a very high level – this is just to kick off
the planning process, which will drive out much more detail.
Critical Success Factors/Measures of Success
How will we define success for the project? How will it be measured and evaluated?

Product Scope
Discuss the project scope and then add specific items that must be included or excluded. The
purpose is to provoke discussion among the stakeholders, to ensure common understanding.
Scope Inclusions Scope Exclusions

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Project Definition Document Example part 2

Key Deliverables
List both the tangible end product and key interim products, if they are known now)

Key Milestone Dates

List target dates that you will use as key performance indicators to measure project progress.
Usually tied to a significant project event. This section will included the anticipated start and
end date for the project

Estimated Budget
This is a target figure, from whatever early budget estimation has been done

Project Constraints
List whatever constraints are known now – budget, schedule, organizational, resources, union,
etc.

Project Assumptions
These are really important. Your list of assumptions should highlight any issues that you think
people may have different opinions on. Check them out early!
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Project Definition Document Example part 3

Project Governance
Briefly describe expectations for how this project will be managed. (eg. Meeting schedule,
frequency of status reports, how change requests will be handled, stakeholder communication
plan)

Key Contacts
The following are key contacts for the project. Refer to the Project Contact List for details:

Name/ Project Role Contact Info Sign-Off & Date

Organization (email/phone)

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Weekly Participation Assignment:
Stakeholders (2%)
Stakeholders – Planning a Wedding

Category Stakeholder Name Must Have Requirement

Customer

Project User

Project Sponsor

Project Team

Subject Experts

Project Manager
For Next Week – Week 4
1.Review the videos and links to additional materials
contained in slide deck.
2.Complete the Stakeholder Requirement assignment.
3.Groups are established. Your team should get to know
one another and decide on a project topic.