OK, so we now know what a project is, and what project management is.  Now it is time to get to grips with an actual project.  It would be good to start from the very beginning.  Unfortunately, you actually have to start before that.

What is the start of a project?  Most people would say the start of the project is when you have your team in place, a plan ready, and start working to achieve the success criteria.  However, there are some very important things that need to happen before you get to this stage, before you actually start the project.

To me, the work begins with that initial twinkling in the eye, the first gem of an idea that kicks something off in somebody’s mind.  But, of course, you can’t be the project manager of this – the idea of what to do is, not surprisingly a pre-requisite for getting a project manager in!

So, what will happen here?  Well, let’s think about what we would want in an ideal world.  In this fantasy land, someone in the organisation, Bob, has an idea, an inkling that something could be done to help the organisation meet its goals.  He immediately scribbles this down on the back of a napkin (did I mention he was at a coffee shop?) and hurries back to the office.

Back at the office, Bob speaks to his boss, Alice.  Alice likes the idea too, and thinks it could help the organisation if this were done.  So she goes to speak to the head of the project management office, Carl.  Carl, worried by the creeping alphabetisation, asks Susan, a project manager, to help Bob and Alice to see if the idea is really a good one for a project.

The important thing that has happened here is the engagement of Susan into the progress.  The idea, the kernel of a project, that has been passed to her is the reason for the project.  In PRINCE2, it is called the Project Mandate – it is this that triggers the next step, that of starting up the project.  We’ll talk about that in the next post of this project management guide.

(Image courtesy of Sol Young.  Some rights reserved.)