Make A Project Initiation Document In A Flash

Why bother going through the trouble of creating a Project Initiation Document? You’ve received sign-off from your client, completed your planning, secured your resources and now you want to get started on your project. You could simply start assigning tasks to the team and hit the ground running, and get ahead of schedule.

But while it may seem this is a good idea, a project Initiation document, or PID is crucial to starting a project right. A successful (or unsuccessful) start to a project can determine the project’s success fairly early on.

I’ve caught myself wondering a few times in projects: where did the project go off- track? Wasn’t it clear what the client wanted? Didn’t I communicate exactly to the team what needs to be done by when? Don’t I have a ticket for everything? Why did we create this, even though it’s out of scope? The truth is: if it’s not documented, chances are people don’t know.

What Is A Project Initiation Document (PID) And Why It Is Important?

A Project Initiation Document defines the project scope, management and overall success criteria that the team can go back to during the project. It contains the basic information of the project such as context, scope, team, and collaboration. It is equally important as an internal guide and for external stakeholders

A solid start to a project is key, no matter how small or large a project is. A Project Initiation Document helps guide the team early on — to a successful project start without creating too much extra work upfront. The PID can be a living document that the team can fall back on. It also provides a safeguard if there is a change in resourcing or new team members are brought on to the team and is an ideal starting point for ramp up.

The Project Initiation Document (PID) is the first basic step to ensure your project sets off on the right foot. It sets the tone, context, expectations, and constraints. The PID specifically is derived from the Prince2 methodology, but generally all methodologies have artifacts that outline the project start. Project Initiation Documents are sometimes also called Project Charters or Project Brief.

7 Simple Steps To Create A Project Initiation Document

As a Digital Project Manager, your job is not only to manage a project to completion, but also to ensure that the team is aligned on what needs to be done, by whom and by when.

The why is just as important, so the team gets a sense of the mission and buys into the overall success criteria. Context is king and needs to be established early on. Ultimately as a DPM, you’re the coach who brings a team of experts together and it is extremely important to provide the necessary details to set the team up for success.

Rather than creating a complex template, this project initiation creation guide will focus on the most important sections of a project initiation document, with a focus on Digital Project Management. It’ll help getting your team and client on track without creating a massive PID document.

Continue reading here for the step-to-step guide and get your free project initiation document template.

Originally published at www.thedigitalprojectmanager.com on May 8, 2018.