Selection criteria for Project

BT6703 Creativity, Innovation and New

Product Development

UNIT2 PROJECT SELECTION AND EVALUATION

 Where do you start?
• This first step – understanding the directions you might take
– can be more important than many organizations realize.
• We saw a perfect example of this phenomenon with one
recent client, whose leadership believed they had only a
handful of potential projects to pursue. However, when they
decided to broaden the group of decision-makers, the sheer
number of possibilities that opened up surprised everyone.
This story is a reminder of another key principle: it’s
important that all stakeholders are in the room from
beginning to end.
• Once you’ve identified the paths before you, it’s time to
choose. As you embark on the selection process, make sure
to consider five key points:
Ensure that the project aligns with your organizational
strategy.

Why is it so important that organizations select

the right projects in the first place?
If a prospective project is simply a good idea – or
more problematically, someone’s pet project –
it’s unlikely to survive. For this reason, you need
to make certain that the prospective project
aligns with your overall organizational strategy.
Again, it’s important that all key stakeholders are
in the room, and that they’re familiar with your
overall strategy.
With your strategy as a guide, identify where
each project might meet multiple organizational
goals.
One way to measure the efficacy of a project is
using a two-by-two matrix.
• On one axis, chart the project’s ease of
implementation.
• On the other, chart its anticipated impact on
organizational goals.
• Without this comparative tool, your effort on
a project might ultimately outweigh impact.
• But by using this framework, you can select
the projects that will make the biggest
difference.
 Identify a project
• One of the most crucial factors in a project’s
success is its having a designated champion or
owner. Without a clear assignment of
responsibility and advocacy, a project can
falter. But with a properly identified
champion, you can make sure everything
proceeds as smoothly and efficiently as
possible
• The individual who serves as project champion
should have a role at the highest level of the
organization. They should also, of course,
carry a commitment to seeing the project
through. The champion’s job is to support the
project, communicate its progress to the team
at large, and tear down any barriers that might
hinder the project’s success.
Conduct an organizational or environmental
assessment
• How broad and intensive an effort will this
project be for your organization? In order to
find out, you should conduct an organizational
or environmental assessment. This is key for
helping you better understand the context in
which you will undertake your project
 In this process, you will answer questions
like:
• How involved will different functions or
processes within your organization be on this
project?
• Is it isolated to the IT department (for example),
or will this be a cross-functional department
project?
• Which departments’ processes will be impacted
by the outcomes of this project, and what
changes might they have to make as a result?
 Assess your resources
• Speaking of future needs, the next step is to evaluate
the resources you have at hand to accomplish the
project ahead.
• In this case, resources may mean people, time, or
budget. Do you have the resources necessary to
complete the project successfully and efficiently? This
should be a key consideration in selecting your
project. Projects for which you do not have sufficient
resources may stall and become an ongoing drain on
your organization, while less ambitious projects may
help you reach a position from which you can more
easily accomplish more expensive or time-consuming
goals.
Identify your parameters for success.
• When will your project be complete? This is a
crucial point to decide up-front. As you set out
on your undertaking, nail down your parameters
for completing the project, particularly the
timeframe. Will it take six months or a year?
• As you consider timeframes, you should also
decide on the metrics by which you will measure
success. When you know these metrics from the
start, you will be able to track not only your
results, but your progress along the way.
 Summary
• With these five considerations guiding your
project selection process, you’ll be ready to
choose the projects that will best serve your
organizational goals. From here, it’s all a
matter of implementing your project – and
managing it to a successful conclusion.