What are the first five things you should do when you begin a new project?
It’s a good question and every project manager should know the initial steps he or she will take when beginning a new assignment. Starting on the right foot may not prevent future problems, but it will certainly make things easier down the line.
Confirm Your Authority
This is step one and arguably the most important step of all the others. A project manager without authority to make relevant decisions about the project is no project manager indeed. That’s why most project managers insist on a project charter that formally commissions the project and grants authority to the project manager to proceed. The charter usually describes the delegated decision-making authority in terms of the budget and project schedule. The budget provides the funding available to complete the project and the schedule determines when the project or major milestones must be completed.
Understand the Project Scope
The project charter should layout the scope of the project and list all the constraints and assumptions made during the initiation phases. If not, then this becomes the second task. The project scope sets a fence around the project deliverables and establishes the boundaries within which the project team will work. Understanding the assumptions and constraints will further focus the project scope by limiting the project deliverables and aiding in the risk assessment and risk management activities to be accomplished later during planning.
Gather Information
This step involves gathering as much historical information about the project as practical and includes gathering or reviewing whatever documentation that may be available about other similar projects by the organization. Such documents may include lessons learned, risk assessments, or more detailed information about past projects such as the WBS or quality planning documentation.
In some cases, this information may not be readily available, and the project manager should not limit the information search to the organization’s internal archives. Talk with other project managers to determine how they approached similar projects. Be sure to ask about any problems they encountered and how they were dealt with. Broaden the search to see what others within the industry or competitors have done and what issues they ran into when doing similar projects. Don’t be afraid to talk to past customers or clients.
Ask For Stakeholder Suggestions and/or Recommendations
Also be sure to research the project stakeholders. The project manager should know who is and who is not supporting the project. Knowing the project distractors could prevent being blind-sided during the project execution or implementation phases.
Begin Planning and Integrate Project Processes
Follow a structured planning methodology that employs existing forms, templates and checklists whenever possible. A well thought out project methodology can provide guidance and reduce errors due to oversight or shortcuts taken during the planning process. PMI presents 49 integrated processes in the current edition of the PMBOK. While not every process is required for every project, it is certainly worthwhile reviewing each of the processes to be certain that it is included in the project plan if relevant.
Finally, proceed with confidence knowing that you have taken all the appropriate steps to begin the project