How to initiate a new project

Initiating a new project can be confusing.    It means you have not started a project.  It may also mean that your project might not have been approved yet.  In either case, project managers should familiarize with enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets (PMBOK Guide, 2013) because they can affect the delivery of projects.  Once project managers are able to develop and validate a Project Charter, identify key stakeholders, understand enterprise environments factors, and familiarize with organizational process assets, they will be better equipped to initiate a project.

Subsequent phases

Subsequent and common phases such as planning, executing, and closing, whether done iteratively (e.g., Agile delivery method) or serially (e.g., Waterfall delivery method), can then be easily completed.

Enterprise environmental factors

What are these and why does PMI stress their value in each knowledge area of the PMBOK? Enterprise environmental factors, such as culture and infrastructure, are outside PMI® standards but form part of organizations.  These factors are important because they influence various processes integrated in each knowledge area (PMBOK guide, Fifth Edition, 2013).  These factors answer the question “what are the conditions that may influence a project negatively or positively?”  Therefore, these conditions are not under the control of project managers or project teams and should be taken in consideration.  Among others, there are common enterprise environmental factors such as organizational culture, structure, and governance (PMBOK® guide, Fifth Edition, PMI, 2013, p. 29).

Organizational process assets

What are these and why does PMI stress their value in each knowledge area of the PMBOK®? Basically, organizational process assets are what the performing organization has at its disposal that may be applied to/used in a project.  Organizational process assets are outside PMI® standards but exist in organizations in terms of policies and procedures, historical information, and lessons learned knowledge bases that are inherent in organizations and can influence any process (PMBOK® Guide, 2013, p. 27).  According to the PMBOK®, organizational process assets may be updated or added by project teams if necessary while managing a project.

Stakeholder management

Stakeholder management is about humans, period.  It is about people, groups or organizations that may have a ‘stake’ on ‘something.’  That ‘something’ in project management parlance is a project.  That being said, stakeholder management is about managing humans who have a stake in a project either directly or indirectly.  According to the Project Management Institute (PMBOK® Guide, 2013), stakeholders may affect or be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project.

Since the beginning of time people have been intrigued about humans: they want to know how we can get along better, why we get angry, or how we can manipulate people to do what we want.  This book is not a psychology book, and it will not go over these intriguing aspects of humankind.  However, it will help you identify, analyze, and manage stakeholders while managing your project.

Who are those individuals who have a stake in a project and are called ‘stakeholders’?  The following people or groups can be considered stakeholders:

Excerpts from:

  How to Initiate a Project and More, Dowdell, 2017