Project Stages

Stage 1 Project Proposal - identifying and specifying the project

Five Project Stages

This stage covers the work involved in identifying and specifying a project - identifying a need or a problem, generating ideas and options, and then developing a preferred agreed proposal or solution - "this is what we should do". It may not be a distinct stage but an evolutionary development from the normal policy management process.
In some projects, particularly in commercial organisations, this can be a very formal process with prescribed sub-stages for identifying new projects, filtering and shortlisting them, producing formal business cases involving investment appraisal, and selecting from a set of options against pre-prepared factors.
In much government policy work this stage is often quite complex and requires the involvement of a number of stakeholders and interested parties, who need to contribute to specifying the end-result and outcomes. Only in certain areas would a formal process such as the one described above be appropriate.
This stage should result in a brief Project Proposal within which the following key questions are addressed:

Rationale - What is the rationale for doing this? What is problem/issue is the project addressing?
Fit - How does it fit with our other policies and projects, and with our corporate objectives?
Options - What options are there for tackling this?
Practical - Is the solution proposed really practical?
Stakeholders - Who are the key stakeholders and what are their positions/reactions?
Key Issues - What are the key issues to be addressed?
Resource Requirements - In broad terms, what will it require from us in terms of resources and time?

A proposal, and agreement to proceed further
A project brief, covering what is to be delivered, by when; who is to be the project manager and project sponsor, and what resources are to be committed?