Gather data to define the project and who it will benefit.
Let's get the project off the ground by beginning to define its scope. You will work with the Project Sponsor to gather all the existing background documentation. After analyzing this information, you and the Project Sponsor will determine who should be interviewed to provide the additional data you will need to complete the Project Definition Worksheet (PDW). These individuals are generally company Executives who may end up on the Steering Team.
Then, you will notify the interviewees and conduct the interviews. Between interviews and after their completion, you will need to summarize your interview findings in preparation for the next four steps. You will also get input from the Project Sponsor and Executive Team to determine the appropriate Process Owner for the project.
| Step | Tool | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| None applicable | Information sources identified, documents collected and reviewed, and project tracking system created | |
| None applicable | Process Owner selected and notified | |
| Interview findings summarized and filed in the Project Library |
- From your understanding of the process being redesigned, review whatever material you can obtain to understand the theoretical challenges of managing this process.
- Review documentation of past projects on the same sort of process, if available.
- Seek out books and browse the Internet for information.
- It is almost always useful to interview someone from Finance who does financial analysis for their insight into the performance of the organization.
- Depending on the importance of Information Technology to the process, you may want to interview someone from IT at this early stage.
- Put together a preliminary assessment of the style of the organization. It is useful to understand the thinking of the "skeptics" and start getting your arms around the people issues you may encounter in Implementation.
Failure to read materials given to you before your first interview. You need to be familiar with product names, key acronyms, etc. to keep your credibility high and the interview productive.