Practical Project Initiation: A Handbook with Tools was published in 2007 by Microsoft Press. Project initiation is the process of formally conceiving, approving, and launching a new project. This book describes many actions that lay the foundation for a successful project. Both experienced and novice project managers will find the practices described here to be valuable. Topics covered include: defining project success criteria and product release criteria, project chartering, risk management, lessons learned and project retrospectives, metrics, and many others. Each chapter in the book includes several practice activities and worksheets to help you begin applying the suggested techniques to your own projects immediately. The worksheets are listed below for downloading. The book also refers to numerous process assets, such as templates, procedure descriptions, spreadsheet tools, and other items that project managers will find useful. These items also are accessible from this page.

Training Resources Available

Process Impact offers several training options that align with Practical Project Initiation:

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Worksheets from the Book

Supporting Process Assets

Set 1, $5.00   

Project Management Plan Template (preview)

Project Charter Template (preview)

Set 2, $5.00   

Retrospective Procedure (preview)

Retrospective Planning Worksheet

Retrospective Summary Report Template

Set 3, $5.00   

Risk Management Plan Template (preview)

Risk List Template

Set 4, $5.00   

Subcontract Management Plan Template (preview)

Request for Proposal Template (preview)

Set 5, $5.00   

Action Plan Template

Lessons Learned Template

Project Prioritization Spreadsheet

Wideband Delphi Worksheet

(Shopping Cart by E-junkie)

Other Recommended Resources

If you need additional templates, Method123 offers a comprehensive set of project management templates for project initiation, planning, execution, and closure.