Project Setup for starting your new project

Project Setup for starting your new project

Introduction

 

Project Setup involves all the key internal activities that are performed by the Operations teams and/or the Project Manager. These include User Responsibilities, Creating People Plans and SharePoint Site Setup, etc. These are all the organization’s internal activities that do NOT include the Client. Any client-specific requirements related to time booking or other unique requirements need to be documented in the Resource On-Boarding guide and agreed with the Operations team.

 

Let us look at the flow of the Project setup which is shown in the diagram above. This activity takes place only after the handover is complete from Sales to Operations. You can check this process here and I strongly suggest you read it before proceeding to read this blog.

 

Key Tasks to be performed

 

Though there are multiple tasks to be performed, here are some of the key tasks that are required to be performed for setting up a project for success later on.

 

Review Lessons learned from previous projects

 

Incorporating lessons learned from prior projects into the project setup phase is crucial for improving project outcomes and avoiding past mistakes. Here are the activities to perform during project setup while taking lessons learned into account:

 

Lessons Learned Review

• Conduct a thorough review of lessons learned from similar or related past projects. Identify successes, challenges, and areas for improvement.

Document Analysis

• Analyze existing documentation, project reports, and post-mortem analyses from previous projects to extract valuable insights.

Identify Common Issues

• Identify recurring issues or bottlenecks that were encountered in prior projects. These can range from communication breakdowns to scope creep.

Best Practices Identification

• Determine the best practices, strategies, and methodologies that were successful in previous projects and can be applied to the current project.

Adaptation Planning

• Plan how to adapt and implement the lessons learned and best practices within the current project’s context.

Risk Assessment

• Assess potential risks that were previously encountered and determine how to proactively mitigate or address them in the new project.

Communication Plan Enhancement

• Revise the communication plan based on lessons learned, ensuring clear communication channels and timely updates among stakeholders.

Resource Allocation Optimization

• Allocate resources based on the resource allocation strategies that worked well in past projects, considering skill sets and workload distribution.

Timeline Adjustment

• Adjust the project timeline by incorporating insights into potential delays or scheduling conflicts faced in previous projects.

 

Additional items for lessons learned

 

Also, consider the following in your lessons learned

1. Stakeholder Engagement
   • Engage stakeholders based on the lessons learned, ensuring that their expectations are managed and their feedback is taken into consideration.
2. Contingency Planning
   • Develop contingency plans based on prior experiences to handle unforeseen events or changes in project scope effectively.
3. Team Training
   • Provide training to the project team based on areas where skills gaps were identified in previous projects.
4. Performance Measurement Criteria
   • Define performance measurement criteria that reflect the lessons learned and align with project success indicators.
5. Regular Review Mechanism
   • Establish a mechanism to periodically review the project’s progress against the lessons learned to ensure continuous improvement.
6. Lessons Learned Documentation
   • Document the specific lessons learned and strategies adopted in the project setup phase to serve as a reference for future projects.

Setup User Responsibilities

 

User responsibilities in project setup vary based on their roles and contributions to the project. However, here are some common user responsibilities that span various project roles during the project setup phase. It’s important to involve users from the beginning of the project setup phase to ensure their needs are considered, leading to a more successful project that addresses their requirements effectively. Use this list below as a checklist that you can add or delete from.

 

• Users are responsible for identifying and defining project stakeholders, including end-users, clients, sponsors, and anyone else impacted by the project.
• Users play a key role in gathering and documenting project requirements, ensuring that the project aligns with their needs and expectations.
• Users contribute to defining the project scope by specifying features, functionalities, and deliverables that will fulfil their requirements.
• Users should validate that the project objectives and goals outlined in the project charter align with their needs and expected outcomes.
• Users provide valuable feedback and input during project planning, helping to shape decisions about design, technology, and project strategies.
• Users offer data, information, and insights that contribute to project planning and risk assessment. This could involve sharing historical data or domain expertise.
• Users may be asked to participate in workshops, requirement sessions, or meetings to clarify their needs and collaborate on project decisions.
• Users help define acceptance criteria that ensure project deliverables meet their quality standards and are acceptable for deployment.
• Users actively participate in testing and validation processes, ensuring that the developed solution meets their functional and non-functional requirements.
• Users engage in change management activities, aiding in the smooth transition from the old system to the new one by providing user training and support.
• Users provide regular feedback during the project setup phase, helping to identify potential issues early and ensuring alignment with their needs.
• Users contribute to the identification of potential risks associated with the project, drawing from their knowledge of the industry or operational challenges.
• Users provide insights into resource allocation needs, including personnel, tools, equipment, or facilities required to support the project.
• Users ensure that the project’s objectives and outcomes align with broader organizational goals and strategies.
• Users actively participate in user acceptance testing, confirming that the solution meets their expectations and works as intended.
• Depending on their role, users might be responsible for reviewing project plans, documents, and deliverables to ensure they meet their needs.

 

Other Activities and tasks

 

Apart from the two key activities, setup project includes the following which are also important:

Baselining your project. Budget for your project. Preparing a proper people plan. (Use the link for people plan to get a good understanding that I found useful).

As your project team grows, you need to give access to your project personnel to get access to all project related documents, code etc., It is a good idea to use SharePoint or any other tool like Google Drive to keep all files accessible to your project team members. This is a important project setup task.

Prepare and be ready to conduct governance calls or a tollgate review.

Explain the importance of customer satisfaction to your team members and the PMO has to have the process ready and in place during the project setup phase.

 

Authored by Vijay Chander – All rights reserved 2023