“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
“I don’t much care where –”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
― Lewis Carroll
Trends in users, business, technology, politics or environment are the key for having a need. If the need assessment is positive, it can be converted to a business case. The business case should give overall idea of the 3 Ss; Situation, Solutions and Suggestions.
An accepted business case can trigger the probability of starting a project.
Chartering a project will be your elevator pitch.
One can gather who all are involved and interested during the business case discussions. Knowing people especially the ones effected is critical for project progress. People judgement, knowledge of office politics and power plays, interpersonal skills etc are the phenomenal in constructing the stakeholder list.
Important
Need, Business Case, Project charter, Benchmarking, Make or Buy Analysis, Expert Judgement, Rates of return – NPV, IRR, Cost/Benefit Ratio, Benefits management plan, Baselines and the Configuration Management Plan, Change Requests and the Change Management Plan, Project Management Information System, Project Charter, Organizational Breakdown Structure, Stakeholder Register, Power/Interest and Impact/Influence grids versus Salience Model, Stakeholder Engagement Assessment Matrix, Facilitation, Interpersonal and Team Skills