Before committing valuable resource, it is important that an organisation takes the time to assess the benefits, costs, and priority of any potential project...
Phase 1: Endorsement
A project can only be endorsed once it has been adequately defined and justified. To achieve this it is necessary to establish and understand three key issues, or constraints on the proposal, namely, the:
- Specification; what needs to be achieved & why
- Time; how long do you have to achieve it
- Resource; the amount of money, people, etc available to achieve it
What
falls between these constraints is the Project Scope, as is illustrated
in Figure 2:
The scope is documented within the Project Charter, which can be a simple one-pager, detailing the project’s key resources, stakeholders, sponsors, timelines, deliverables etc.
The Charter is produced & endorsed by the Project Manager and Sponsor, before proceeding with any detailed planning.
The endorsement phase is important to ensure the objective, resource and priority of the project are realistic and appropriate when put in light of the overall strategy and activities of the business. It is a green light from the senior management to allow the Project Manager to engage the involvement of the wider organisation.