3: Chapter 1 - Project Initiation
- Page ID
- 49233
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Introduction: The Moment Everything Begins
You’ve been hired. You’ve formed your team. You’ve set up your process. Now comes the real test: your first professional challenge.
This chapter places you inside a fast-growing company, C-Bay Inc., where infrastructure is cracking under the pressure of expansion. The executive team is counting on you to respond—fast, clearly, and persuasively.
But there’s a catch: you don’t have all the information. The expectations are vague. The pressure is high. And the decision needs to be made anyway.
This is what project initiation feels like in the real world.
What Is Project Initiation?
Project initiation is the phase where a problem becomes a project.
It includes:
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Recognizing the business need
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Forming a project team
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Drafting a Project Charter
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Clarifying goals, risks, and constraints
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Getting executive support to move forward
You don’t have to solve everything in this phase—but you must set the direction and earn the trust to continue.
In this chapter, you’ll do exactly that.
What You’ll Do in Chapter 1
Your consulting team at C-Bay will:
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Analyze an urgent memo from the Director of IT
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Define your project’s goals and constraints
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Evaluate multiple options for physical expansion
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Build a decision matrix and cost estimates
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Write a professional Project Charter
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Present your recommendation to leadership in a 10-minute team briefing
This is your first opportunity to think like a PM, work like a strategist, and present like a professional.
What You’ll Produce
By the end of this milestone, your team will submit:
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A completed Project Charter
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A scored and prioritized Decision Matrix
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A Preliminary Cost Model
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A Team Presentation with a clear, persuasive recommendation
These deliverables reflect how projects are actually launched in organizations—and they’ll become the foundation for everything you do in future chapters.
What Success Looks Like
Success in Chapter 1 means:
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Your team is aligned
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Your decision is supported by logic and structure
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Your charter reflects the project’s business purpose
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Your presentation earns executive trust
No one expects perfection. But they do expect clarity, teamwork, and professional polish.
You're not learning about project initiation. You are doing it—right now.
Let’s begin.
- 3.1: Scenario Brief
- Introduces urgent IT expansion project. Requires identifying building criteria, selecting locations, outlining actions, and creating a financial model—delivered quickly without step-by-step guidance.
- 3.2: Plan of Attack
- Guides teams from uncertainty to structured action—clarifying tasks, defining criteria, analyzing requirements, assigning roles, drafting charter, and preparing polished executive briefing for high-stakes IT expansion decision.
- 3.3: What You Will Submit
- Lists required milestone outputs—Project Charter, Evaluation Matrix, Preliminary Cost Model, and Team Presentation—each demonstrating professional planning, decision-making, and communication skills for C-Bay’s urgent IT expansion project.
- 3.4: Reflection Questions and Lessons Learned
- Encourages individual and team reflection on assumptions, decision-making, collaboration, and trade-offs—extracting lessons from challenges to improve ownership, communication, and problem-solving in future milestones.
- 3.5: Submission Checklist and Final Assembly
- Provides detailed checklists for all deliverables, packaging instructions, and common pitfalls—ensuring polished, consistent, and professional submission of C-Bay milestone work to leadership.
- 3.6: Instructor Notes / Evaluation Criteria
- Outlines rubric, weighting, and feedback approach for milestone deliverables—assessing clarity, critical thinking, teamwork, and professionalism to simulate real-world project leadership performance under pressure.
- 3.7: Transition
- Summarizes milestone achievements and shifts focus to defining project scope—clarifying deliverables, priorities, and dependencies to prevent scope creep and align teams for Chapter 2 success.
- 3.8: Resource Guide for Student Success
- Outlines professional templates, planning tools, and communication guides to support Milestone 1—helping teams plan, decide, present, and manage roles effectively in C-Bay’s initiation phase.
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