Project Initiation and Planning
Initiation is generally handled by the program. The program coordinators will select the projects and decide if they are feasible for a Capstone Project Team, and if there are mutual benefit opportunities.
- Business Problem/Opportunity Defined
- Potential Solution Defined
- Project Team Formed
Planning is the most important part so that you then have a way to execute and monitor. Start by understanding the goal of the project – this is the “why” the project is being taken on. Having a clear vision on this will help with the ‘What’ of the project – what is the result wanted? (i.e., to increase revenue, drive traffic to the site, provide analysis of data, train individuals, etc.). In this, it is also important to understand who we are doing this for.
Project planning is where the students begin to engage and should be completed with the stakeholders. A project may look different depending on the group of students assigned and their specialty. The main questions to be addressed by students in this phase.
Accountability comes through assigning specific people to tasks, so it is clear to everyone who is responsible for completing them.
Courses and Guided Projects
OpenLearn University Course: Planning A Project
Gantt charts, critical path analysis, SMART objectives and estimation skills are just some of the topics covered in this course, planning a project, to help you understand how to plan for a project. You will gain an appreciation of the range of planning techniques available and the situations in which it is appropriate to use them. (Planning a Project Course, 2019)
Planning can be approached by asking a series of questions:
- What actions are needed?
- What is the end deliverable the client is expecting?
- How can we break this into manageable tasks?
- What is the dependency of the activities?
- Will you need primary research? This includes additional time and planning and may require additional timing if results are not achieved.
- Do you have alternatives for risk mitigation if something cannot happen?
- When are these actions needed by?
- Is there an event or milestone that must be met for the client?
- What other competing responsibilities do the students have that must be managed?
- Is there any equipment required, or lab time? When is this available? Must it be booked in advance?
- Who is going to do them?
- What is the skillset of the team?
- Can anyone do the necessary tasks, or must it be someone specific?
- What resources are required?
- What is required from the client?
- Are labs and/or equipment necessary?
- Is there anything that needs to be purchased or accessed?
- What is within the scope of the project? What is outside the scope of the project?
- What other work is not going to be done?
- How will we know if it is succeeding?
- What metrics can we track?
- What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’S)? What are the factors that show the project’s success?
- How can we keep everyone updated?
