Challenges in Project Initiation: Project Manager's Perspective

This report delves into the critical phase of project initiation, emphasizing its importance for project success and the role of the project manager. It identifies that many project failures stem from issues during this stage, highlighting the need for project managers to understand and address potential problems. The research explores project initiation challenges from the project manager's perspective, focusing on key research questions such as the problems leading to project failure, the project manager's viewpoint on initiation issues, and strategies to avoid failures. The report examines the project initiation process, including high-level planning, risk assessment, and strategic viability testing. It also discusses the project manager's responsibilities, which include understanding customer needs, defining deliverables, and managing the project scope, budget, and schedule. Furthermore, the report identifies specific challenges like project team frustration, lack of management commitment, customer indecision, and resource scarcity. It concludes by outlining causes of project failure related to poor estimation and inadequate resource allocation during the initiation phase. The document provides a comprehensive overview of project initiation issues and offers valuable insights for project managers.

CHALLENGES IN PROJECT INITIATION
A Project Manager’s Perspective
[Name]

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Problem Statement..................................................................................................................2
Research Questions................................................................................................................2
Aims & Objectives.................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................3
Project Initiation.....................................................................................................................3
Role of Project Manager.........................................................................................................4
Elements of Project Initiation.................................................................................................4
Project Initiation challenges...................................................................................................5
Causes of Project Failure........................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................6
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Introduction
Problem Statement
Project initiation is a critical phase of project management as it builds a strong foundation
needed for the project success and the project manager has to take steps that affect the
chances of success. Several project failures are associated with project initiation issues and
research says that 65% of project failures result from problems in the project initiation stage.
To be successful in projects, project manager needs to understand the problems that can occur
at the initiation stage that can lead to failure so that these issues are avoided. This research
would explore project initiation problems from Project Manager Perspectives (Rahman,
2005).
Research Questions
 What are the problems in project initiation that can lead to project failure?
 What do project managers feel about project initiation issues?
 How can project failures be avoided with resolution of problems at the initiation
stage?
Aims & Objectives
The aim of this research study is to explore the project management challenges at the project
initiation stage that can cause failure as per project manager.
The objectives of this research would be
 Exploration of the problems that can occur at the stage of project initiation
 Understand the perspectives of project managers on project initiation problems
causing project failures
 Recommendations on solutions to these problems such that project failures can be
avoided.
Literature Review
Project Initiation
In the project initiation phase, a high level project plan is developed, the probable risks that
are likely to affect the project outcome are explored, and strategic viability of the project is
tested. The stage emphasises on the strategic requirements of the project. High level
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deliverables of the project are identified in this stage that act as foundation for making
estimates.
Project initiation stage takes the inputs for development of plan from the key personnel
through interviews, document reviews and lessons learned from the old projects. A stepwise
process is followed that begins with an interview with the customer. In this interview, the
strategic vision of the company and the objectives of the project are understood. The
objective of this interview is to determine the key problems faced by the customer that are to
be solved with the project. Proposed solutions can be reviewed and the scope of the project
can be verified by the customer during this interview (Wiegers, 2005).
After the interview is done, an internal research can be conducted where other people in the
company can also be involved for understanding the current state of the organization
including it processes, functions and resource structures. In the case of highly complex
project, subject matter experts may also be involved in the research process. Based on the
research findings, project requirements are developed with focus on the objectives that the
project sponsor wants to achieve (Ding, 2015).
At this point, lessons learned from previous projects act as point of reference and these can be
obtained from a project repository. The project manager would thus review the lessons
recorded earlier and based on the same identify possible risks on the current project to
develop a plan for risk management. This could include the review of the risk logs and
registered to identify potential areas of concern. The identified requirements are reviewed by
the project manager such that objectives and expectations of project stakeholders can be
clearly identified and project scope is finalized (Jordan, 2012).
Role of Project Manager
Figure 1: Unclear Objectives Hurt project Performance (Meggs, 2016)
The project manager is responsible for understanding the needs of the customers and
reviewing the project requirements as well as the business case such that the objectives of the
project and expectations of the stakeholders can be identified. The project manager needs to
identify all the possible project requirements that could be incomplete contradictory,
unfeasible or unclear and can cause hindrance in the successful completion of the project at
later stages. The project manager defines the final deliverables of the project and
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communicates them to the project sponsor. Once the scope and budget of the project is
approved by the project sponsor, the project manager defines the roles of each project team
member clearly considering their levels of authority, experience and expertise in handling
project. It is the responsibility of the project manager to develop a cohesive team that is
motivated to achieve the success on the project (Levine, 2016).
The roles and project plan are communicated to the project team and the stakeholders by the
project manager. Thus, project manager plays a very crucial role in bringing success to a
project. A project manager takes care of the project scope, cost, and schedule and customer
expectations while managing the project. Typically, a project manager would first develop
the project scope and project plan and then assign roles while providing guidance to the team
as a leader. The progress of the project is then monitored by the project manager who has to
ensure that all deliverables are met as per time and if there are problems stopping it from
happening, appropriate measures are taken to resolve then. In case of any variances on the
project scope, schedule or cost, the project manager would come up with the
recommendations on corrective steps. In case there are any conflicts between team members
during project execution, the project manager would also negotiate the resolution (City of
Chandler, 2000).
Elements of Project Initiation
There are some key processes involved in project initiation such as creation of the project
description, project feasibility study, project concept document, and creation of the project
charter. Project statement is a high level statement of the project which describes the
characteristics of the project deliverables including processes and products. It also includes
the purpose of project execution but it only presents the overview of what would be included
in the project. The detailed descriptions of the project processes are provided only in the
detailed project plan which is created later based on these descriptions.
Project feasibility is an important part of the project initiation process. The objective of
feasibility study is to explore constraints, assumptions, and alternatives. Project feasibility
study has four key components that include problem description, overview of the approach,
solutions, and recommendations. The project concept document includes list of deliverables
including what has to be done, why it is important for the project and the business value it
would provide on the completion of the project.
Project Initiation challenges
When taking decisions on projects, certain barriers are faced by project managers in the
initiation phase of the project such as:
Project Team Frustration: The staff of the project may not have the desire to start working
on the design of the solution that is proposed on the project. This can be due to the frustration
that may be caused due to several reasons like unnecessary delays, complications, and more
in taking decisions for the initiation of the project. If the project initiation is not done
properly, it could also lead to frustration in the project team as people would not have the
clarity on the objectives and what can be expected from the project.
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Management Non-Commitment: The project may lack commitment from the top
management because of little transparency and lack of appropriate knowledge about the
project in them. If they only know the rough estimates and overview of the idea, it cannot
motivate top management. Lack of commitment from top management would put initiation
processes on hold as they are important for not just getting the approval but also for gaining a
clear understanding of the requirements of the project. Lack of commitment is one of the
major causes of failure that cannot just affect the project at the initiation stage but also at later
stages of the project.
Customer Indecision: The customers may not be very clear about the requirement and thus,
may not provide the definitions and concepts on what is needed for the product or services
that would be delivered through the project. This lack of understanding would cause delays in
decisions as the customer would not be able to assess the requirements clearly which would
make it difficult for the project manager to initiate the project and prepare the charter for
approval. Customer indecisions often happen on projects when the customer is not clear
about what the customer wants to achieve with the execution of the project. At this point
strategic objectives of the organization can be useful for the planning.
There can be more problems that can pose challenges before the project manager making it
difficult to move forward with planning for the project such as:
Lack of commitment from stakeholders: If the stakeholders buy in is not obtained then it
can cause difficulties for the project manager in getting the project requirements in detail that
is necessary for the planning. For success of the project, it is essential that the expectations
and needs of the stakeholders are met. Thus, project manager needs to ensure that proper
communication reaches stakeholders such as their buy-in is achieved.
Scarcity of Resources: The project may not have sufficient resources required for
completing the deliverables. Finding the right people for the project is difficult and thus,
limitation of resources can make it difficult for the project manager to identify sufficient
resources for allotment to the project.
Lack of Consensus: If the consensus is not obtained between the stakeholders on the
objectives of the project then it could lead to problems in creating plan and initiating the
processes for the project. Different stakeholders would have different ideas on what the
project should attain and what it should not. Lack of clarity on the objectives of a project can
kill the project even before it starts.
Lack of Business Strategy: If there is no specific business strategy of the customer company
that has to b followed then defining strategic objectives would be difficult and if the project
outcomes would align with the strategic objectives of the company would remain a question.
In the situation where strategic goals are lacking, the starting point for the creation of the
project plan would not be clear which would make it difficult for the project manager to make
the proposal in the initiation phase of the project. Moreover, getting funds for the project
would also be difficult as the business case of the project would not be able to justify its
importance, viability, feasibility, and cost (Corporation, 2011).
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Causes of Project Failure
There can be certain mistakes or mismanagement of the initiation phase that can result into
the failure of a project such as:
 If linear approximation is used during estimation of the schedule which is done during
the initial stage of the project then the schedule may not remain suitable such that any
increase in the scheduled would add cost to the company
 Wrong time estimation can also lead to setting of unrealistic timescales in the
milestones which would make the project impossible to achieve within time without
the fast deliveries that may not even be feasible for the project.
 IF the size requirement of the project is team is not estimated appropriately then it
would make it difficult for the team to achieve deliverables on time and the project
would then need addition of resources that would add cost to the company at the later
stage.
 Staffing would affect the time requirement on the project which would be affected by
the experience and skill of the person. If the staffs are not selected properly which is
done in the initiation stage of the project then it would later cause difficulties in
achieving deliverables as the resources would not be able to fulfil the skill
requirements of the project.
 Wrong estimation of the cost in the project initiation stage can results into lack of
funds if the estimated cost turns out to be lower than the amount that is needed which
can cause difficulties in achieving deliverables at the later stage of the project.
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References
City of Chandler, 2000. Project Management Methodology Guidelines, s.l.: Chandler.
Corporation, O., 2011. Why Projects Fail: Avoiding the Classic Pitfalls, s.l.: Oracle
Corporation.
Ding, R., 2015. Defect-Free Project Initiation. s.l.:China Electric Power Press and Springer-
Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Jordan, A., 2012. The 9 Secrets of Successful Project Initiation , s.l.: AtTask .
Levine, H., 2016. TECHNIQUES FOR PROJECT INITIATION , Sunnyvale, CA: Scitor
Corporation.
Meggs, T., 2016. Major project initiation – making the right start, s.l.: MPA.
Rahman, R. A., 2005. Why IT Project Fail , Muscat: Audit Bureau of Jordan.
Wiegers, K. E., 2005. Project Initiation Handbook, Portland, Oregon. : Process Impact .
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