Great projects often start with great hopes and expectations. But if a project isn’t initiated correctly, then those hopes and expectations aren’t anchored in a solid foundation, and your project can drift off course and head for disaster.

That might seem overly dramatic, but it’s true. You must anchor your project at the outset by providing it with structure. Ideas are plentiful but having a project plan and executing it will help actualize those hopes and ideas.

Of course, there are many steps in the successful execution of a project, but project initiation is the first and, in some ways, the most important step. Get that part right, and you’re on your way to getting the whole project completed on time and on budget.

Let’s start at the beginning and define our terms. The first being project initiation. What is project initiation? Project initiation is the first phase of a project’s life cycle. It is at this point where the opportunity or reason for the project is identified and a project is developed to take advantage of that opportunity.

It is during this phase of the project that a team is assembled, and a business case is created to define the project in detail.

A business case is used to explain the reason for starting a project. The business case shows how the use of financial and other resources are in support of a business need. A business case will be adaptable, fitting the size and risk of the proposal, but it will structurally be the same from project to project. It deals not in technical issues, but the business concerns of the project, and it needs to be comprehensive.

Ideally, the business case should be easy to understand, clear, logical and relevant. The key aspects need to be tracked and measured and justified. There also must be accountability and commitment for the delivery and costs involved.

The structure of a business case should follow as such:

• Preface
• Table of contents
• Executive briefing, which includes what the project is, what the results of that project will be and why it should be undertaken
• Introduction explaining the business drivers, scope of the project and financials
• Analysis with assumptions, what the costs and benefits will be, including risk
• Conclusion noting what the next steps will be
• Appendix

Once the business case has been approved, the next step is taking a feasibility study, which documents potential solutions to the opportunity or business problem that the project is proposed to address. It directs you to the right way to approach the project.

A feasibility study researches the opportunity and documents what is required to complete a successful project. It will also identify any other solutions, if available.

Risks and issues are outlined at this time, as well as what the proposed solution to each will be if they occur.

For more information we encourage you to go and read this online article: https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-initiation