Project Initiation Tips...

If a project is properly estimated, meaning the scope is defined and associated costs for delivering what is defined in the scope, including the human resources, the project budget can be planned and maintained throughout the project life-cycle.

If during the project life-cycle, items that were not included in the project scope arise, keep in mind two things.

1. A change in scope inevitably means a change in cost and/or time
2. Change requests, which refers to items that arise that are out of scope, should be documented.

The project charter, as well as the change request form, are two project management templates that I provide for free.

• The project charter allows you to clearly define the project scope and communicate it to all your project stakeholders.
• The change request form allows you to document the reason for the change, identifies who requests the change, and creates an audit trail for the reason for accepting or denying the change. If the project requires additional funding the change request form will provide the detail needed to approve or deny the funding request. Save the change request forms in your project repository (web-based or LAN based directory location accessible by project stakeholder).