Do you want to carry out a project, but there are millions of unanswered questions about how to write it correctly in your head? No problem, we’re here to help. There are basic principles for success in writing a project. In this article, we will detail the ideal procedure for creating your project and the possible variations that can be made to make it unique.
What Is A Project?
Nowadays, “project” has become a buzzword in the corporate landscape, so much so that various figures are responsible for its planning, implementation, and optimization. But, ultimately, how is this concept defined? What is a Project? A project can be defined as a set of coordinated actions toward pursuing a goal that must be achieved in a given period. In other words, the project is an autonomous process to achieve a specific goal. It is delimited by stages of realization and has a well-defined beginning and end.
How To Do A Project?
To draw up a good project, you must first know how its life cycle is structured. In general, a project typically consists of 7 phases:
- The planning
- Draft drafting
- The drafting of the project
- The revision (and correction )
- The presentation
- The action
- The evaluation
Let’s see these steps in detail.
First Stage: Planning A Project
The first stage of the project life cycle is fundamental, as it constitutes its foundation. It is a reasonably long phase and consists of many steps. Let’s see them together.
Collect Useful Information
In the initial phase of a project, collecting the information that will allow it to be drafted is necessary. At this point, the work team members work in synergy with customers and all interested parties to understand the following:
What Is The Scope Of The Project?
Design implementation is widespread in many different contexts: from the scientific sector to the industrial sector, from the world of marketing to that of school education. While the essential criteria for drafting remain the same, each domain requires different implementation parameters. As a result, you will have different types of projects. It is advisable to analyze the reference context of the possible competition to develop a winning strategy.
Who Is The Project Aimed At?
Knowing your target audience is essential to create a functional project. Even an excellent project can only succeed from a formal and content point of view if it is pleasant to the category to which it is addressed. It is necessary to inquire carefully about the needs, desires, and inclinations of the subjects concerned. This way, it will be possible to create a satisfactory project according to their evaluation standards.
What Are The Deadlines To Be Respected?
It is necessary to define a time frame within which the project must be designed, sketched, implemented, and presented.
What Are The Expected Costs?
Each project is an investment and involves a specific expense; estimating it in the initial phase is good. Having a point of reference regarding the budget is decisive for the optimal planning of the subsequent phases of the project.
What Roles Should Be Defined Within The Project Organization?
Every project team member needs to know precisely what they need to do. He must know his role within the project, its objective, and how he must proceed toward its achievement.
What Modus Operandi To Adopt?
The working group must be educated through the definition of guidelines to be followed, which allow a high degree of productivity. It is important to set monitoring and evaluation points during the process. Checkpoints are essential to understand if the project is proceeding in the right direction.
What Are The Goals To Be Achieved?
Defining project goals is a critical point in the planning process. The project develops according to specific objectives. In the absence of the latter, a project draft would be devoid of substance and, ultimately, meaningless. This preliminary phase in the realization of a project is usually the Project Manager’s task.
Identify The Problem
The fundamental to setting up a good project is to define the problem to be addressed. The right question to ask is: To solve which problem/to respond to which need am I developing my project? Once the fulcrum around which to develop the project has been defined, it will be necessary to contextualize it correctly. At this time, the following questions need to be asked:
- What process/situation is the problem related to?
- What are the causes that generated it?
- What have been the solutions proposed so far for its resolution?
- Where did these work or fail, and where could they be improved?
Find A Creative Solution
Any self-respecting project must match its problem with a functional and effective creative solution. Many solutions may seem, at first glance, ingenious and sensational. However, they must first of all be feasible. Many ideas that are very valid on a theoretical level are not very translatable into practice. Therefore, be careful to develop a workable solution.
Mission And Sustainability
The project is continuously developed for a specific target. Therefore, it must be attractive to the potential client, client, or reference public. The purpose is the persuasion of its effectiveness. Therefore, the project must contain a mission close to the target’s heart and propose an agile, inviting, and convincing solution. It must also demonstrate its validity and sustainability regarding resource exploitation and budget use.
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Second Stage: The Project Draft
The preliminary draft of the project is a support that helps the team get an idea of their program’s effectiveness or possible weakness: the points to improve, the missing parameters, and the choices to modify become evident. It will be possible to have an overview of the project through a draft. The draft must include all the points above: problem, solution, and how to get there.
Third Stage: The Project Proposal
Once the project’s draft has been created, it must be examined and possibly modified or validated. Once this process is complete, you can move on to the actual drafting of the project. It is essential that a project is also pertinent on a formal level: since it is a persuasive text, it must report a precise implementation scheme. It must present the following:
- An introduction. Clear and decisive, it must offer essential information, such as: what is the problem and why is it important to solve it?
- A corpus in which it is outlined how to deal with the problem and what solutions are proposed. In this part, it is necessary to offer precise references on the required budget, the equipment used, and execution times.
- A conclusion . Similar to the introduction. It should be short but to the point. It is time to briefly review the cornerstones of the project and present any consequences. In this final moment, it is essential to highlight the advantages that the realization of the project will bring.
- Any appendices (data sheets, copies of articles, etc.).
Writing Tips
Whatever the nature and purpose of a project, it must communicate its message clearly and engagingly. Long-winded formulations and beating about the bush are not favored in drafting a project: you must go straight to the point and express yourself concisely. Here are some practical writing tips:
- Avoid slang expressions: they could be taken as an indication of poor education and, therefore, lack of preparation;
- Avoid passivating forms, as they are more difficult to understand;
- Use short but meaningful sentences;
- Use understandable language.
Fourth Stage: Revision And Correction
As with any quality work, a review process is necessary. To err is human and often happens: oversights, writing or typing errors, gaps, and calculation errors can be very frequent. Therefore, it is worth spending some time reviewing the entire project. It is essential to ensure that the goal is achieved during the initial phase. It is also good to ensure that facts and not personal opinions support the content. Indeed, the persuasive force of a project is also based on its reliability and trustworthiness: the reference sources are essential for the reader.
Fifth Stage: Presentation Of The Project
Now the project is ready. Nothing is left to do but make it usable for the reference group for which it was designed. Whether it was commissioned, to persuade a customer, or to convince a specific target group, the project must be presented or shared with the interested party. At this time, it is essential to prepare a suitable presentation, if needed, also supported by a visualization via Beamer. Anyone presenting the project must possess strong communication and relational skills: persuasion is also based on involving the audience and capturing their fleeting attention.
The Sixth Stage:Take Action
After defining the project and presenting it, it’s time to take action. This is the point where the theory must be translated into practice. Depending on the project type, it will be necessary to get in touch with the agencies or companies responsible for carrying out the operations described in the project. This is the time, therefore, to rely on the trade professionals to implement the ideas expressed in the design draft.
Seventh Stage: Monitoring And Final Evaluation
Once the project has been completed and concluded, it is advisable to operate an overall evaluation system based on the results obtained. In this final moment, it is good to ask yourself the following questions:
- Was the project successful?
- Was it quickly doable?
- Were there any impediments and problems during the implementation? If yes, which ones?
- What worked particularly well in the project, and what could be improved?
- Was the customer satisfied?
The final monitoring phase is critical to improving one’s performance in implementing a project and must be addressed.
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