How to Start Your Project

If you have just been assigned a project, you may be asking to know how to start your project. There are three steps that you should complete before you can plan, execute, and maintain control of your project.

Access our Project Startup Checklist Template (including examples)!

Steps for How to Start Your Project

Keep reading to learn about the three steps to start a project:

• Create a Project Charter
• Create a Stakeholder Register
• Create the Project Codes

Create a Project Charter

A project charter documents the initial information on the project background, purpose, and assumptions, and it formally authorizes you (the project manager) to start a project. This means that you need a project charter signed before you start a project.

The project sponsor, who is most likely the account manager or senior manager who assigned you to manage the project, may share a project charter (or statement of work) with you, or you may need to ask the project sponsor specific questions to collect the correct information and to create a project charter.

Check out How to Create a Project Charter to further understand what information you should include in a project charter and the questions to ask to create a project charter.

Create a Stakeholder Register

A project stakeholder is an employee, contractor, client, or other stakeholder who has influence on, or who has interest in, a project and its results. It is important to confirm all the key stakeholders on a project, prior to starting the project, so that you know who to engage with on the project and can minimize all risks and issues related to stakeholder engagement.

A stakeholder register includes the name and role for all employees, contractors, client, and other stakeholders on a project, as well as their influence and their interest on a project, so that you know how to best engage with them on a project.

The project sponsor may share a list of stakeholders with you in the project charter, and you may need to ask the project sponsor questions to further identify the stakeholders' engagement needs and to create a stakeholder register.

Check out How to Create a Stakeholder Register to further understand what information you should include in a stakeholder register and the questions to ask to create a stakeholder register.

Create the Project Codes

Many project teams allocate project work to specific project codes and categories in a time keeping system. To create the correct codes and categories for your project, you may create the codes and categories, or you may need to ask the project sponsor for them.

Below are three examples of project codes:

• MLLC2201 - where "MLLC" is the abbreviation for the client's name, "22" is the fiscal year, and "01" is the project count for the client within the fiscal year.
• Metispire LLC_Website Update_2022 - where "Metispire LLC" is the name of the client, "Website Update" is the name of the project, and "2022" is the fiscal year.
• XXXXXX.22.01 - where "XXXXXX" is a number assigned to the client, "22" is the fiscal year", and "01" is the project count for the client within the fiscal year.

In addition to the project codes, you may want to create categories to further breakdown the project work in a time keeping system. You could create the categories based on the project lifecycle or based on the project deliverables.

What's Next?

After you complete these three steps to start your project (create a project charter, create a stakeholder register, and create the project charge codes), you are ready to start planning your project.

Check out How to Plan Your Project for more information on the steps to plan a project.