The most critical step in project management

Generally speaking, each project has five phases, and each step is critical to complete a project on time, within budget, and of course, with the required products. However, one phase needs more attention than others. It is our first phase, ‘Project Initiation.’ In this phase, we identify our project. Needless to say, if our project definition is not specific and clear enough, each stakeholder can have a different understanding and expectations. For this reason, when we have a new program, the first step we take is to create a project definition and review the timing and cost. Then, we have a high-level agreement with our customers and other critical stakeholders. Some call this agreement a project charter; some call it a business case or a project initiation document (PID). Regardless of how we name it, there are certain details each document must include for a successful project launch. I will explain step by step what we should consider in our project definition and why.

The first step is having a clear understanding of the customer’s expectations. We should be aware of the customer specifications, acronyms, and requirements. Our project definition should not allow any assumption or ambiguity. Once we agree about the end product, we need to document it. Also, it should be signed by customers and critical stakeholders, because this will be our baseline if we have any conflict or scope change. We can go back to it anytime and clarify any possible confusion. Unquestionably, a precise and clear project definition is a must for a successful project.

What’s more, it will help us to stay on track and deliver our products, on time, within the expected cost and required quality criteria. In the project management world, we call it cost, quality, and time triangle or the “Scope Triangle.” When the scope starts to creep, in other words, when we have additional requests or changes, we may end up compromising on delivery time, cost, or quality. So, each change request also should be agreed and documented with the customers and stakeholders.

The second step is knowing when our customer needs specific deliverables. So, we should be aware of customer milestones and events. Based on customer milestones, we can create our internal schedule. I plan my timing with MS Project; in this way, I can see which activities can be done in parallel with others, or which actions must be completed before the others start. Another benefit of using MS Project is that you can add sources to your Gantt chart. Also, it always helps me to add some buffers in my internal timings because when launching a new project, there can be delayed. If you do not have a buffer, you may have a delay in your customer deliverables.

The third step is having a project team, which is dedicated to working for your projects. Sometimes it is really hard to draw a line under the activities and responsibilities. So, from the beginning of the project, if you define which activity belongs to who, this can prevent confusion. In my current job, I’m pretty lucky because I have dedicated team members for my projects. However, I wasn’t always lucky. Indeed, in my first project management job, I had team members who never wanted to support my programs. Whenever I asked them to do something, they acted as if they were doing me a favor. Because we never had a clear definition of our job responsibilities. It caused so much frustration for all of us. In my five years of working life there, we never had a clear understanding of who was supposed to do what. If you have similar issues, I would highly recommend you use a project management tool called RASIC, which stands for responsible, approve, support, inform, and consult. This matrix can help you to define relationships between the activities and resources. It also shows clear responsibilities for each resource. I wish I knew about it in my early career; it could have helped me a lot.

The last step is having periodic meetings with the customers and internal team members. Meetings are A lifesaver for me, which can avoid pages of e-mails and conflicts. I hold weekly meetings and include all of my key team members. During the meetings, we review our timelines, customer milestones, and customer expectations. Also, we discuss project activities and make sure everyone is getting enough support to complete their actions. Each meeting is a reminder for everyone of what we are trying to achieve.

To sum it up, projects already have their own challenge. Besides these challenges, if a project definition is broad and not clear, we would feel lost. As long as we have a clear project definition, we can find our way quickly, and also all other project phases will get easier. I hope, moving forward, we will all focus on the project initiation phase more. This will help us and our team members to enjoy our work and achieve successful project implementations.