All good projects start with a great idea, however all bad projects also start with a great idea. The difference is how the project is defined, getting to the heart of the challenge, making sure the scope of the project is well understood and aligned with the line organization, who in the end are going to be held accountable for the business success, using whatever it is the project delivers. All to often we hear "the project was a success, meaning it was delivered on time and within budget, however the solution that was delivered is no longer useful in its current state".

So in order to define a good project, you have to engage with the business, force them to the table to look at the brief they have given, to examine it together, to create a solid project proposal which clearly identifies what is expected of the project and equally important what is expected of the line organization that is going to use it. 

In this phase of a projects' life it is all to easy for the sponsor to think that they have successfully delegated the responsibility for the "Great Idea", while in reality, this is often the first failure point for many projects.

The next failure point is to disregard the business case. Either it is done as a pro-forma check point or not done at all; because the inherent value of the project is so obvious or this is strategic or there is no budget to do a proper business case. In our experience, the harder it appears to create a solid business case, the more you need it and should prioritize time, money and attention for it.

We at PDPC are experts at creating reliable project plans and a solid business cases. We have the ability to bring various people from different functional areas together in an efficient and effective manner and we have a deep understanding of business finance and project dynamics and cost signatures.