A project is a temporary effort to create value through unique products, services and processes. Examples include the development of software to improve business processes, the construction of a building or relief efforts after a disaster.
A Project defines the scope of the task and establishes a budget for it. It also helps to evaluate the results of the project, so that future phases are planned accordingly.
Identifying a Project’s Purpose
When writing a project description, the goal is to clearly explain the purpose of your work and why it’s important. It’s like telling your client why you need a new website, or explaining to your manager why you are investing in a business expansion project.
What are the benefits?
If your project is designed to provide tangible benefits, then it’s a good idea to describe those in the same section as the justification. For example, if you’re creating a project to automate a manual check posting process, then the benefit is that it will help your organization reduce errors, and save you money in the long run.
The benefits should be linked to the justification of your project; they can also be included in other sections.
Identifying the Project’s Stakeholders
A project has many stakeholders, both internal and external. In order to be successful, it’s vital to communicate with all of them effectively. This means that you need to understand what drives each stakeholder group, and that you should create a communication plan that will keep everyone informed of project progress.
Keeping all of your stakeholders happy is one of the most important parts of managing projects. If you can’t do that, then you might end up wasting resources and time, which is not what any project should be about.
You need to create a communication plan for each of your key stakeholders, from clients and top management all the way down to your team members. This will ensure that they don’t feel left out and know how to contact you if they have any questions or concerns about the project.
Use SMART goals to map out the project’s objectives and outcomes. These will give you a clearer picture of what it takes to reach your target status and how much time it will take to complete the project.
Break down the project into smaller tasks and assign them to each of your team members. This will make it much easier to estimate how long each task will take, and will help you to keep track of your team’s workloads.
Then, put the completed tasks into a timeline with milestones and make sure your team has the right amount of time to finish them before moving on to the next task. This is the best way to stay on track and to avoid missing out on important things in your project’s lifecycle.
Using a Gantt chart will help you to monitor your team’s workload and avoid any surprises. You can also keep your clients and top management informed of what’s happening on a regular basis by setting up check-in points that will allow you to share updates on project progress.
