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Initiating a Project 

 February 23, 2023

By  Dave Litten

Initiating a Project

The Eight Activities of Initiating a Project

Let us take a look at what you will learn in the Initiating a Project Process. You will learn about the eight activities which are:

  • Preparing the Risk Management Approach, which will answer how to manage risk during the project, in other words, manage the rules of engagement for risk
  • Preparing the Change Control Approach, which will give information on how to manage the products produced during the project
  • Preparing the Quality Management Approach, which will answer the question on how to ensure quality
  • Communication Management Approach, which will answer questions related to communication with stakeholders
  • Setup of Project Controls, which will provide information on how the Project Board can control the project
  • Creating the Project Plan, which covers costs, timescales, risks, quality plan
  • Refining the Business Case, which means to complete the Business Case

Lastly, assembling the Project Initiation Documentation, which is to collect and assemble documents & information from most of the documents created to date.

Purpose & Objective

The purpose of the IP process is to understand the work that needs to be done to deliver the required products. This understanding is needed before deciding to continue with the project.

Like any project there are a number of important items to discover and so there are a number of questions to ask about the project:

  • What are the reasons for doing the project and the Benefits and Risks?
  • Scope: What is to be done and what will not be included?
  • When can the products be delivered?
  • How to ensure that quality will be achieved?
  • How risks, issues and changes will be identified and followed up?

How project progress will be monitored, who needs to be informed and how often do they need to be informed?

And lastly how PRINCE2 will be tailored to suit the project?

The objective is to find an answer to these questions.

Let us put Initiating a Project into context and look at what it really does for the project.

The Starting Up a Project Process checks if the project is viable, while Initiating a Project is about building a correct foundation for the project so that all stakeholders are clear on what the project will achieve.

The alternative would be to allow projects to start after the “Starting Up a Project” process without knowing and of the following: planning, milestones, cost and level of quality. It is a bit like building a foundation for a house without knowing what type of building will go on top.

Initiating a Project can be a big investment for a company but it’s a necessary investment to plan and run the rest of the project and ensure a correct project. During Initiating a project, the Project Manager will be creating a collection of management products to show how the project will be managed, the cost, how quality will be checked, planning and communications.

PRINCE2 recommends 8 activities which are:

  • Preparing the Risk Management Approach, which will answer how to manage risk during the project, in other words, manage the rules of engagement for risk
  • Preparing the Change Control Approach, which will give information on how to manage the products produced during the project
  • Preparing the Quality Management Approach, which will answer the question on how to ensure quality
  • Communication Management Approach, which will answer questions related to communication with stakeholders
  • Setup of Project Controls, which will provide information on how the Project Board can control the project
  • Creating the Project Plan, which covers costs, timescales, risks, quality plan
  • Refining the Business Case, which means to complete the Business Case

Lastly, assembling the Project Initiation Documentation, which is to collect and assemble documents & information from most of the documents created to date.

Overview of Initiating a Project

The Project Manager will begin with the 4 strategy documents, and then he will create Project Controls and Project Plan. These are iterative activities so they will continue to be updated during the Initiation Stage.

The Business Case can then be completed after the Project Plan as the Project Plan provides information required by the Business Case (time and cost information). The final activity is to assemble the Project Initiation Documentation.

Dave Litten


Dave spent 25+ years as a senior project manager for UK and USA multinationals and has deep experience in project management. He now develops a wide range of Project Management Masterclasses, under the Projex Academy brand name. In addition, David runs project management training seminars across the world, and is a prolific writer on the many topics of project management.

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