The project set up phase is similar to the team meetings or huddles that a sports team holds before the

game begins.
Just before the whistle blows and the game starts, the whole team gathers together to discuss the strategy of the game
with the coach. Once they finish their huddle, the game starts.

In a similar way, during the project set up phase the project leaders and the project manager gather together to discuss
the project's strategies, goals, and requirements. At the end of this phase, the project officially starts and the planning
phase begins.

GOALS OF THE PROJECT SET UP PHASE

There are four main things that need to be established during the project set up phase. In this section of the module we
will learn how to accomplish all four:

 Establish project governance

 Align on scope and requirements

 Authorize the start of the project

 Communicate the start of the project

PROJECT CHARTERS

We recommend using a single tool called a project charter to facilitate and record these decisions. The project charter is
a short document signed by the project manager and key stakeholders. There are different formats for project charters,
but usually they define:

 Project purpose
Including the need that this project is addressing

 Project scope
The project's deliverables, outcomes, and activities

 Project estimates
Including budgets and schedules

 Project risks

 Project change log

 Project governance
Who is in charge

Usually, the project manager and project leaders will review the charter together, sign it, and distribute it to key
stakeholders. A project charter is an excellent way to ensure that everyone on the project team gets started with a clear
shared understanding of what will happen next. Later on, we will provide you with a detailed project charter template.
Project Charters

Project charters, in their simplest form, record:

 Project purpose: What is the purpose of this project? What problem is it addressing?

 Project deliverables: What outcomes and outputs will this project create? We will discuss deliverables in this
module.

 High-level estimates of activities, schedules, budgets, and roles.

 Project risks: What might go wrong?

 Project tolerances: How much flexibility is there about deliverables, schedules, costs, and risks?

 Project change control and change log: How do you handle requests to change the project scope, budget, or
schedule? What changes have been made to the original project design?

Identifying Scope

When we talk about scope, we are discussing two related concepts:

 Project scope: The tasks and activities that will need to be done.

 Product scope: The products or services that will be delivered.

It is important to define both project scope and product scope during the set up phase. Both parts of the scope should
be discussed with the project governance, the project manager, and other important stakeholders. They should be
clearly documented in the project charter.

Project Tolerance:

Perhaps you planned on training 2,000 farmers on new irrigation techniques and recorded that target in the project
charter. However, only 1,900 farmers show up to your workshops. Does this mean that your project has failed?

Not necessarily. No one expects you to predict the future, so the scope of your project should allow for a little bit of
uncertainty. We recommend specifying targets in your scope, along with tolerances: the amount of variability that will
be allowed. Let's look at the example of the irrigation training project, with tolerances specified:

Product Scope: 2,000 farmers will be trained on new irrigation techniques, with a tolerance of +/- 5%.

What does this mean? Well, a tolerance of +/- 5% means that the project will still be successful if 5% fewer farmers are
trained than our target (1,900 farmers), or if 5% more farmers are trained than our target (2,100 farmers).
Many project teams do not explicitly list the project tolerances. We think that this is a mistake. By deciding on project
tolerances ahead of time, you are avoiding awkward negotiations later on between the project manager, the project
governance, and the stakeholders.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The tool most commonly used by project managers to define project scope is the work breakdown structure (WBS). A
WBS takes all of the work that your team will do throughout the project and breaks it into pieces small enough to be
done by a single person. These small pieces of work are called work packages. Work packages are organized into
categories and subcategories.

A WBS can be shown in a few different formats. Each format, however, shows the same basic information: work
packages organized into categories and subcategories.

GRAPHIC FORMAT WBS

A graphic WBS is an attractive way to present your project scope.

This graphic format is easy to read and excellent for presentations. It can be easily created using sticky notes or made in
a digital word processor.
 INDENTED FORMAT WBS

The indented format is simple to produce in a word processor.

A WBS can also fit into a table. This is the format that we will use for your assignment.

Whichever format you use, the process is the same:

1. Gather as many project team members and stakeholders as you can. One person working alone is unlikely to
think of all the different types of work that will need to happen. By bringing a diverse group of people together,
you are making sure that nothing is forgotten.

2. Brainstorm the big categories of work first, then the subcategories of work. The highest level might be the
different services you are creating or the different departments of your team. For example, a project that is both
installing solar panels and teaching the community how to use solar panels may divide the work into
"Education" and "Installation." Within "Education," there may be subcategories of "Teaching," "Materials," and
"Hiring."

3. Get down to the details. Each work package should be small and specific enough that it can be done by a single
person. For example, it would be difficult for a single person to manage the task "Increase the use of solar
panels in our state." This task is too big and contains too many smaller tasks. Instead, your work package should
be specific enough for a single person to complete. A good example would be "Hire teachers who can train
residents to use solar panels."
Video Transcript:

As an NGO, if you have a very strong program and you're able to obtain

funding from a particular donor for a particular project, you will definitely

be hiring a new project manager to run this project. In our case at We Love

Reading, our program is very clear. It's running all the time

with the trainings and the activities. And when we get a fund for a particular

project, it's just about continuing that programming going on. So, when the project

manager, the new project manager we want to hire comes in, we want to make sure

that she or he understands what is the organization, where did it come from, what

is its history, what are the activities, what is the philosophy behind this

organization, behind the programming, to make sure that she has the proper and

correct mindset as she runs the program. And these issues are not written out on

paper, they won't be written, spelled out clearly in the proposal that we

submitted to the funder. These are things she has to live and experience so what we

do at We Love Reading whenever we hire a new project manager, we first of all, you

know the director, myself, sit with her and explain to her the whole history:

how I started, because I want to empower her. I want her to motivate her and to

get her passionate. We also invite the project manager to go and attend the

training, to go talk with the woman and men that actually take the trainings, to

go visit them in their neighborhoods where they are reading aloud in

these reading circles, to engage in a conversation, to listen to the children,

to listen to the parents, listen to the community, so she becomes immersed in the

whole program. To us, that's very, very important so that she's in the mindset

and understands that the priority is the program. The priority are the

beneficiaries, these adult women and men, and the children. Those are the ones we

serve, not the funder! The funder is only a method, a way, a tool to serve them.