The most important concept I learned from the assigned readings for this week was that the project initiation stage is when a project team starts working together to figure out what their project will be about, who will be involved, and how long it will take. Chapter 7: Project Show a project goes from an idea to being started by having a team of people who are interested in doing it. This involves finding potential partners and getting them involved in the planning process. The whole point ensures you have enough people on your team, so there are no conflicts or misunderstandings about what needs to be done (Rotter, 1975). The authors also discussed the importance of project initiation, which involves a thorough understanding of all the stakeholders involved in a project. They also discuss focusing on problem identification and defining the scope of work.
I also learned in Chapter 8: Overview of Project Planning that it is time to start planning after you have identified all of your stakeholders. You will need to get their input on what they want out of their involvement in the project and then figure out how much time they are willing to give up for this project versus other projects they might have going on at the same time as yours. The author also discussed project planning to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of what needs to be done to contribute their unique strengths and abilities to the project’s success (Bourne and Walker, 2005).
The method I found most helpful while reading through these chapters was when they talked about scope creep—when your team starts adding more features or features that were not originally part of the original plan because people felt like they should do more than what was originally planned that is in Chapter 9: Scope Planning. Here, they discuss scope planning as one way for stakeholders to ensure enough time for everyone involved with the project’s completion
