The PRINCE2 Pitfalls of the Initiating a Project Process

Initiating a project is mainly about building the project plan, setting up the rules (strategies) for the project and firming up the business case.

The Purpose of Initiating a Project process is to establish solid foundation for the project, enabling the organization to understand the work that needs to be done, but too often pillars of the foundation are weak. Rules have no value if they are irrelevant for the project or not agreed upon, and a plan loses its value if there is no ownership to it on the supplier side of the stakeholder table. 

Here are some common “Initiating a Project” pitfalls, and how to avoid them:

·         Isolated planning. Too often the project manager is planning the project in isolation. A good plan is built on dialogue between project manager, team managers and other expertise. One should have mechanisms in place to build ownership to the plans within the supplier’s line organization.

·         No reflection on the strategies. Copy-past is tempting when authoring the strategies, and can ruing reflections and alignment on what the appropriate strategies are for the specific project.  

·         Investigating and evaluating concepts. Some end up using Initiating a Project to evaluate various concept options in depth. This can cause the Initiating a Project process to last and last. In these circumstances, the correct approach is usually to close Initiating a Project and move concept evaluation into a first delivery stage.

Read more about PRINCE processes on the PRINCE2 Processes page

Relevant articles:

What is a PRINCE2 Product?
PRINCE2 Governance: Who is Accountable for the Project Plan?
PID - The PRINCE2 Project Contract

 

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