Review Project documentation

Find out everything you can about the project:

• How did it come to be in the first place?
• Who suggested it?
• Is there a Project Proposal you can look at? Who wrote it?
• What problem is being addressed by this project?
• Has anybody ever suggested it or tried it in the past?
• If they did, what happened?
• Are there any similar projects in the past or going on now?
• Are there windows of opportunities that must or can be taken advantage of with this project?
• What do you NOT know about the project?
• Who are the stakeholders for this project?
• Is there any info about how you'd know when this project was done, and how you'd know if it was successful?
• Who's the project customer?
• Who's the project sponsor?
• and lots of other things I didn't list.

The Sponsor of a project is the person who is high enough in the organization that she can cut through red-tape and get things done for the project manager so that the project can go forward. She is often the person who assigns the project and has the last say when the Project Manager asks, "This is what I understand to be true; do you agree?" or who can provide additional resources (people and tools), who can authorize the change in scope of the project, or who can authorize a change in its completion date.

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Validate your understanding with the Project Sponsor

Have a meeting and discuss with the Sponsor all that you learned.

Talk about constraints: dependencies on other projects, skill sets needed but not available in the organization, internal politics, availability of the project Sponsor, etc. After you figure out what the constraints are and that you both agree on what you mean by those constraints -- you're both talking about the same thing -- then listen very carefully to the Sponsor. "This is a time when what you hear will be much more informative than what you say", said Ernie. Or, as my dear husband once told me, "Shirien, I've found that you can learn a lot more with your mouth closed."

Find out from the Sponsor who you, as project manager, are to send reports to and at what intervals. Maybe the sponsor wants reports sent to or presented to the Board. When getting updates, how much detail does the sponsor want? In what format (email? singing telegrams?).

After getting agreement with the Sponsor that you understand the scope of the project and what is wanted in this project, ask the sponsor:

1. Which functions are the most affected by the success of this project?
2. Which functions will most affect or contribute to the success of it?

This helps create the members of the planning team.

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