Idea Initiation Phase

 

Initiate Idea

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To generate ideas that will bring benefit to the company
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    1. Generate an idea
    2. Expand the idea into something that can be discussed
  • An idea

An idea can come from anywhere. It may be a personal idea or it might come out of a meeting. The key thing is to ensure it is captured and not lost. It may be appropriate for the Initiator to have a preliminary discussion with stakeholders to clarify the idea prior to contacting IT.

Before initiating work on the idea it is advisable to understand if this idea is related to existing or planned activities. For example, if the idea relates to a report for a system that is being implemented, it would be more appropriate to discuss the report with the existing Project Team rather than initiating it as a new idea.

New ideas are predominantly:

  • Ideas that are not being pursued at present, or where there are no plans to pursue the idea
  • Ideas not related directly to existing work. If it relates to existing work, it should be treated as a variation or change request
  • Ideas that will address a business problem and bring benefit to the organisation
  • Ideas that will take a considerable amount of work to complete. Typically this would mean at least 2 weeks work.

In the new International Project Management standard (ISO 21500) currently under development, the definition of a Project states that a project does not exist until funding is allocated. For this reason, we use the term "Idea" as the initial thought from the Initiator regarding a parcel of work, and "Concept" which is a documented form of the "Idea"

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