Project concept: examples

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In any business, the most important thing is to start right. This statement is quite true for the now popular project management. Where to start the project? What is a project concept? Examples and a theoretical basis for answering these questions are proposed to be considered in this article.

Project and product lifecycle

The management of any project is highly dependent on the stages of its life cycle.

Passing through certain phases of its development, the project is modified and requires new forms of control and management. It should be noted that the life cycle of a project does not coincide with the life cycle of a product that is created in the process or as a result of its implementation. The product begins its existence from the moment of creation of all its parts and combining them into a single object that can be implemented or used for the benefit of the owner. With this, the product can be created:

• as a result of the project (if it is one of its goals);
• in the process of its implementation (if the product is one of the stages in achieving any of its goals);
• before the start (if its existence is a condition for the implementation of the project);
• after completion (if it is not the target).

Thus, the "lifelines" of the project and the product may or may not intersect at all, but always depend on each other.

Project lifecycle phases

The main stages are considered to be:

1. Initiation.
2. Development.
3. Implementation.
4. Finishing.

But this is not the only division. As part of the financial evaluation of projects, the three-stage project life cycle is most often used:

1. Pre-investment stage (justification of investments).
2. Investment stage (financing).
3. Post-investment (assessment of the economic efficiency of the project).

There are more detailed and not so consistent project life cycle structures that managers use depending on the scale of the idea, the organizational structure of management in the company, and the branch of economic activity. One way or another, the subject of our attention is the very beginning - the initiation phase or, in other words, the concept of the project.

What is initiation?

Initiation, or development of a project concept, includes a whole range of processes, which is ultimately determined by the manager, based on various external and internal factors. Nevertheless, it is worth giving a general list of questions that have to be answered at this stage:

1. What are the prerequisites for the implementation of this particular project?
2. Which confirms the need for itimplementation?
3. What is the external environment of the idea?
4. What are the main goals?
5. How technically feasible is the idea?
6. What are the aggregated financial conditions for the implementation of the idea?
7. Is there a clear understanding of the start time?

The project concept plan also includes the following main activities:

1. Determination of the main way to implement the idea.
2. Assignment of responsible for implementation.
3. Determining the size and composition of the project team.
4. Fixing stakeholder expectations.
5. Formation of an enlarged list of processes.
6. Upscaled analysis of resources needed to achieve established goals.
7. Risk and Assumption Analysis.
8. Establish an overall project management plan.
9. Authorization (launch).

The concept of the project ultimately comes down to the development of a charter that includes all the issues and problems described above. The accuracy of the figures indicated in such a document often does not exceed 25%, however, they are necessary for the initial start of work on the project.

Development of charter

Formation of the concept of the project is impossible without the process of developing a document declaring its existence and containing, in addition to the initial requirements and goals, also the authority of the manager and the amount of allocated resources.

The project charter is clearly structured and should contain the following main sections:

1. List of major changes.

2. Approval sheet.

3. Generaldescriptive part:

• goals;
• justification of expediency;
• planned results;
• outcome product or final target;
• main stages of implementation;
• project stakeholders and their expectations;
• risks, assumptions, limitations;
• process control scheme and commands.

4. Basic principles of work.

5. Related documents.

When compiling such a document, as a rule, they use the method of expert assessments, the main role in which is played by the qualifications of the project manager.

Stakeholder Identification

The creation of the concept of the project is significantly influenced by persons who have a direct interest in the result. Determining the circle of such persons is necessary to assess the factors affecting the project. As part of this stage, the goals are agreed with key beneficiaries, the roles of direct and indirect stakeholders are determined, the risks and uncertainties associated with the inevitable conflict of interest are assessed, and a form is developed for informing these people about the progress of the idea.

All information about the circle of persons determined in this way is stored in the register of interested parties. This registry is available to the project manager and is used by him to manage zones and the degree of influence on business processes and the team.

Concept statement

Before approval, the concept is carefully checked and adjusted for all its elementsbranched structure: funding volumes, implementation methods, influencing factors, risks, etc. The project concept is approved only after it has been agreed by all interested parties, including authorities and municipal structures.

Implementation of the concept

The concept of the development of the project is being implemented through the implementation of the plan, which is also fixed in it. In the course of implementing ideas, various changes occur, recorded and approved by management, which affect the bottom line. Monitoring these changes and quality control are perhaps the most important management processes in the concept implementation phase.

Example 1. Construction project concept

Development of the concept of a construction project necessarily includes:

• land analysis;
• development restrictions;
• current state of the territory;
• assessment of its development potential;
• analysis of the real estate market (its capacity, segmentation);
• identifying potential competitors;
• assessment of dynamics, volumes of demand;
• identifying potential buyers.

The specificity of the construction project can be considered the variability of the use of the available land. The developer's assessment here comes to the fore in the formation of the concept. To make the right choice, SWAT analysis, multivariate modeling and other tools are used.

After solving these priority tasks, a project charter is drawn up, which, in addition to the abovesections, must contain:

• development concept (main characteristics of the site, transport infrastructure, master plan, recommendations on architectural and planning solutions and building materials and the basics of landscaping);
• marketing concept (pricing strategy, approximate sales/rental schedule, promotion strategy);
• financial scheme (investment needs, profit forecast, approximate cash flow schedule).

Example 2. The concept of implementing an automation system

Developing a project concept for the implementation of an automated sales system for a bookstore should include the following specific sections:

• Evaluation of the online book market in terms of volume and sales value.
• Determining the cost of maintaining an online store.
• Identify additional market needs for an existing bookstore.

The concept of such a modernization of the store will have several goals: creating an online store, ensuring its performance and achieving a specific level of orders through a new online resource.

Such goals can be achieved by sequentially solving the following tasks:

• development of terms of reference;
• performing work on the formation of an online store;
• development of a scheme for the delivery of books from the publisher to buyers;
• advertising;
• conclusion of contracts with online systemspayment.

Example 3. The concept of production modernization

The concept of a project to introduce a new technology into an existing production cycle is always developed taking into account the specifics of the enterprise and the conditions for its operation. Particular attention is paid to the following steps:

• Identification of “vulnerable links” in the production chain (the introduction of new technology should either replace problem areas or not provoke their failure due to a violation of the integrity of the work cycle).
• Developing a system for the phased introduction of new technology (the plan to include a new link in the production process is the most important element in the implementation of the modernization project, since the imbalance in the actions of the team and production workers can nullify all the funds spent on rearmament).
• Evaluation of the potential of employees of the enterprise to manage and service new equipment.

Among the goals of such a project, as a rule, the characteristics of the updated products in terms of volume and speed of release are also indicated.

Given the above, it becomes clear that the concept of the project includes the main provisions regarding its content, economic benefits, feasibility and consequences. In this regard, the conceptual provisions of new ideas necessary for the development or start of a new business must be structured, evaluated and agreed before moving on to real changes and financial injections.