Introduction

Project Initiation is the most important step on any project and yet it is usually the most difficult to achieve successfully. As any builder will tell you, laying a solid foundation is vital to the overall construction. By getting the foundations right, the builder can start building confident in the knowledge that with a solid platform in place the work will be largely unaffected by changes in the environment around it. It is no different with starting a project. Project Initiation lays the foundation for everything that follows. It properly positions the project to operate successfully within the existing environment and conditions. Successful Project Initiation does not happen by accident. In fact, after years of reviewing successful and unsuccessful projects, it is clear to us that the main difference between success and failure is the commitment and effort invested in project initiation.

Starting A Project

It can be difficult to know where and how to start the process and it is not unusual for projects to seriously falter at the initiation stage. Some project managers view disciplined up-front preparations as onerous and unnecessary. Yet others attempt to rush or short circuit the process. Both approaches frequently result in seriously flawed plans, schedules, resource forecasts and/or cost estimates, or major deficiencies across the board. All too often the consequences of poor project initiation become evident, too late to enable the project manager to recast plans and estimates without serious disruption the project. In many worst case scenarios poor initiation has been the direct cause of project failure.

Proton's Approach To Initiation

Proton's Project Initiation services lay the foundations for controlled execution and delivery of a project by putting in place all essential project planning components including a Project Charter, Project Management Plan, Risk Profile, Project Profile, Task Plans and Schedules, Resourcing Plan, and Project Budget.

Our Project Initiation Toolkit includes a comprehensive Workbook and a structured initiation process that ensures early and close stakeholder involvement, realistic goal setting, and effective risk identification.

Our Project Initiation process will:

• Map the environment in which the project will operate
• Construct a project profile and strategy for how to achieve the objectives of the project
• Determine specifically what will be delivered by the project
• Determine the optimum approach and provide a plan for successful project delivery