The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, 5th Edition

Part 2Defining the Project

Why is this project important? What benefit does it promise, and to whom?

Who is responsible for what? Who has authority? What are our goals? How do we communicate? How will we judge success?

The questions are the same every time we undertake a new project. How they are answered will constitute the rules of the game, and all those involved in the project—the stakeholders—have to agree on these project rules.

The rules define the project, and this structure of rules then provides the foundation for the next two stages of the project: planning and control. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 show us how a project begins and the critical actions that bring the necessary stakeholder to agreement on the definition and direction of the project.