Introduction

In the first module we have considered various project management concepts and fundamentals. Amongst others, we have established what the main responsibilities of the project manager are and who the other stakeholders on a project might be. At this stage, you should have a good understanding of the “what” of project management, but you are probably curious about the “how” of the various phases of a project.

In this learning unit, we will discuss the key stages of phase one: project initiation.

Project initiation in essence comprises of the following key stages:

• Project conception and start-up;
• Project definition; and
• Project planning.

These stages are essential to get the project off to a good start and although it is a time-consuming phase, it can save the project manager and all the other stakeholders a lot of despair once implementation gets under way. Remember, the key objectives of project management are to meet specified performance within cost and on schedule!

Once the project manager has reviewed the project definition and ensured that all relevant information has been included, he can seek the approval of the project sponsor and customer. Approval of the project definition will lead to the detailed project planning stage.

It is important that the overview is to be verified first, before further effort is committed to planning at a detailed level. To make sure that all project requirements and stakeholder needs are fully understood and correctly interpreted before committing to too much detail. Meetings with all stakeholders are crucial in the beginning to fully understand their requirements for the project.