The Concept process phase initiates the project lifecycle. This process phase outlines the activities that should take place to assess an idea in advance of formally initiating a project and developing a Project Charter. Key aspects of this phase include confirming the business drivers, problems, and opportunities for the project along with aligning the project’s objectives with the sponsoring organization’s strategic direction.

Each process phase Key Element is discussed independently below. Click on a Key Element title to expand the view and see the additional content.

•   Recommended Practices

• A review of the following recommended practices will help focus your thinking around the project and avoid pitfalls that commonly occur during the Concept process phase.

  Validate Your Concept for a Strong Foundation
  Regardless of how a project concept emerges, thorough vetting and validation improve the chances of a successful outcome. Ensure that stakeholders are engaged early and have a shared vision of project objectives and approach. Key stakeholders that may be critical of the project can often become the strongest champions when given a voice in the discussion.

  Have a Strong Business Case
  Establishing a compelling business case will help solidify support and commitment from organizational leaders. A business case captures the rationale for initiating a project or task. It is often presented in a formal document that includes justification for the organization expending resources and effort in support of a specific business need. Ensure that your stakeholders understand and support the business case and project objectives.

  Is Your Organization Ready for Change?
  A vast majority of IT projects bring some form of organizational change. These changes can affect various processes, workflows, and job functions, and they may require new skills from staff. Organizations that fail to plan for change add significant risk to the success of the project. Even if the project completes according to plan, users may fail to adopt and utilize the new system or process.

  It is never too early to consider the nature and impact of organizational change, and how the project team will effectively plan, manage, and navigate the project. Missing or inadequate Organizational Change Management (OCM) is often a contributing factor for unsuccessful projects. Many projects consider addressing organizational changes and impacts too late in the project evolution and sometimes not at all. Ideally, organizational change considerations and activities should be addressed from project inception.

  Don’t Underestimate or Oversimplify User Research and Engagement
  User research is the process of gathering feedback from users. The decision of whether or not to do user research can have serious implications for your project. Conducting user research early in the project is critical in defining the project scope and requirements. Additionally, ongoing user engagement is the most effective way to confirm whether the project is on the right track as activities proceed.

  For low complexity projects, teams may be able to learn and develop user research and engagement techniques as the project progresses. Medium and high complexity projects should consider greater formality and structure in seeking out and documenting user input. While research and engagement may be a straightforward concept, avoid underestimating or oversimplifying the task.

•   Roles

• The following table identifies primary participant roles and responsibilities for this process phase. In some cases, a project might have unique requirements that call for additional roles or responsibilities depending on the project’s size, type, and complexity.

  Role	Responsibilities
  Executive Sponsor(s)	Provides agreement for funding the project. Provides executive intervention to overcome organizational roadblocks. Key to assuring the project goals and objectives align with the organization’s strategic direction.
  Project Sponsor	Key to assuring the project goals and objectives align with the organizations' strategic direction. Key to allocating initial resources needed to complete the necessary tasks in the Concept process phase.
  IT Sponsor	Provides technical information that may be required to complete tasks in the Concept process phase.
  Business Owner(s)*	Provides information pertaining to a preferred product or solution. Communicate high-level requirements.
  Stakeholders	Any person or group with an active interest in the project outcome or process and wishes to participate, or is invited to participate, in the tasks associated with the Concept Process Phase, including SMEs.

  * May also be referred to as Business Sponsor.

•   Processes

• The following processes are associated with this process phase. The list below contains a high-level description of these processes.

  Identify the Project Sponsor(s) and Stakeholders - The sponsoring organization’s leadership typically will be tasked with the assignment of a Project Sponsor and the preliminary identification of key potential Stakeholders. If applicable, consult with the organization’s Project Management Office (PMO) or IT Governance Process to determine if there already are internal processes for proposing and approving project concepts. Typically, a Project Manager has not yet been formally named at this early stage.

  Conduct a Readiness Assessment - The Readiness Assessment is used to communicate the reason for taking on the project, including the business problem or opportunity to be addressed, potential benefits and outcome, strategic alignment, and return on investment. It also assesses the potential project’s impacts on the organization and its staff, and whether the organization is prepared to successfully conduct the project.

  Project Approval Process - The state’s project approval process starts during the Concept Process Phase. This includes completing and submitting a draft Stage 1 Business Analysis (S1BA) as part of the Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL). The information compiled for Concept Development and Readiness Assessment can be useful in departmental and/or statewide project approval processes.

  Concept Process Phase Review - A Concept Project Phase Checklist is completed after all of the phase’s activities are done. This ensures that the necessary activities have been completed and that a foundation has been established for the project.

•   Activities

• The following activities are undertaken in support of the processes that are associated with this process phase. The list below contains a high-level description of these activities.

  Identify the Specific Business Problem or Opportunity - The process of developing a project concept starts by clearly defining a business problem or opportunity. This helps determine whether the problem or opportunity can be solved by allocating resources to create a project solution, and also supports the process of identifying funds for the project.

  Establish a Clear Business Case - A clear business case will help build support and commitment for the project from the sponsoring organization’s leaders. Project leadership should be able to address fundamental questions about the project. If a clear business case cannot be developed, the project may lack alignment with organizational strategic objectives.

  Assess the Organizational Impact - IT projects cause organizational change. Organizational change management must be considered and effectively addressed to maximize the likelihood of project success. Questions to be considered include who will be affected, what will the impacts be, when should the changes be planned, and is the organization ready for the changes?

  Complete the Concept Development and Readiness Assessment - An environmental readiness assessment gives the organization an opportunity to adjust its project strategies, plans, and timing. Assessment topics that should be considered include organizational preparedness, organizational culture, capacity for launching a new project, project governance, and lessons learned from previous initiatives.

  Conduct a High-Level Risk Assessment - Conducting a review of the responses to the Concept Development and Readiness Assessment criteria, as well as the recommended actions and next steps noted, may help provide an initial gauge of the level of risk associated with the project.

  Draft Preliminary Business Analysis - The project approval process typically relies in part on outcome of business analysis. The information that is gathered will inform the project charter.

  Complete the Concept Process Phase Checklist - This checklist identifies the key activities to be accomplished during the Concept Process Phase

•   Tools

• A number of project management outputs are developed during the Concept process phase. The outputs are associated with tools available for your use.

  Tool/ Output	Definition
  Concept Development and Readiness Assessment	This template helps the project team determine (1) if an appropriate and complete business case has been developed, (2) if the associated project impacts have been identified, and (3) if the project should be undertaken. The template will also help to identify the business drivers, problems, opportunities, and objectives the project is intended to address. The written description of these factors outlines the information so that it is clear how the project concept aligns with the strategic direction of the organization. The assessment also provides a determination of the sponsoring organization’s readiness for undertaking and accepting the project results, and an analysis of possible organizational impacts. Some of the information for the assessment can be leveraged from the Preliminary Business Analysis.
  Preliminary Business Analysis	Provides a basis for project management, program management, and executive management to understand and agree on business problems or opportunities, and the objectives to address them.
  Concept Process Phase Checklist	Identifies the key activities that are to be completed during the Concept Process Phase.

   

•   Outputs

• The following deliverables are created as a result of the processes and activities completed during this process phase; these are called outputs. Many of these have an associated tool for use. The outputs associated with this process phase are listed below:

  • Completed Concept Development and Readiness Assessment

  • Completed High-Level Risk Assessment

  • Preliminary Business Analysis

  • Completed Concept Process Phase Checklist