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Project Prerequisites

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00 Project Prerequisites

Although not officially one of the 5 PMP Process Groups it would be remiss not to include the pre-project requirements that must be satisfied before a project can be established. These prerequisites form the foundation on which the entire effort is built. Specifically, the Initiating Phase of the Project cannot begin until these are met; without them, any attempt to plan or execute is likely to fail.

If the [[3-glossary#|Project Management Plan]] is the road we’ll travel, the business case and the project charter define the destination—because if we don’t know where we’re going, any road will do.

Key Activities Before Initiation

  1. Engage Stakeholders and establish trust.
    Building trust through early engagement ensures the customer feels heard, and the project team gains clarity about needs and expectations.

  2. Capture and document the customer request.
    Translate initial wants into a clear, documented request that reflects the customer’s true intent.

  3. Work with stakeholders to formalize the request into a business case The business case outlines the Benefits|benefits, costs, risks, and strategic alignment, providing the foundation for deciding whether a project should move forward.

  4. Identify the sponsor or authority.
    Determine who has the organizational power and Financial Responsibility|financial responsibility to Authorize|authorize the project.

  5. Assess resource availability.
    Verify that funding, staffing, and materials are realistically available to support the project if approved.

  6. Secure business case approval.
    The business case must be endorsed by the sponsor or governing body. This approval provides the justification needed to advance the idea into a formal project.

Once the business case is approved, the project can move into the Initiation phase, where the project charter is created and formally authorizes Planning to begin.

Stakeholder Engagement and the Business Case

The customer request is the basis of any project. Before a project can move forward, the team must understand the customer’s true intent.

Often, customers do not fully understand what they need — they only know what they want. By engaging stakeholders early, the project manager or sponsor can validate what the customer actually needs versus what they initially asked for.

The fastest way to introduce failure into a project is by skipping this step. Taking time to interview stakeholders helps the team uncover the true problem to be solved and clarify the definition of success from the customer’s perspective. Once this dialogue is complete, the request can be formalized into a business case.

This is especially important when the customer is not the sponsor. In those situations, a clear and comprehensive business case is essential to |justify the project to the sponsor — who usually bears the most financial risk.

If the business case is missing critical elements:

  • Does not reflect the customer’s true need
  • Fails to justify the project
  • Ignores high-level risks

The sponsor may approve or deny the project based on faulty information.

“It is necessary for the Project Team to listen to the customer, determine the needs, and fully understand who is going to use the product or service.” — PMI, Defining the Needs of the Customer in Terms of the Project (pmi.org)

Example in Practice

Earlier in my career as a car salesman, it was common for customers to walk onto the lot asking for a two-door convertible sports car. But through careful questioning, I often discovered they were buying for a family of five with three kids and a dog who needed room for soccer weekends.

Had I simply sold them the sports car, I would have delivered what they asked for, but not what they needed.

The same is true in projects: if the team accepts the initial request without stakeholder engagement, the deliverables may be produced, but the intent and need remain unmet. True success comes from uncovering the real problem and ensuring the business case reflects it.

Stakeholder Engagement Builds Trust

The first step before any project can begin, is to establish the relationship of trust between all stakeholders and define the true needs of the sponsor and customer. A detailed customer request is key to establishing a strong charter and plan.

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