Project Initiation Documentation

The Project Initiation Documentation bundles the information which was acquired through the Starting up a Project and Initiating a Project in a PRINCE2 controlled project environment. PRINCE2's 2009 renaming Document to Documentation indicates a collection of documentation that has been collected up creating a project rather than all the information in the system.

Keeping that in mind, the Project Initiation Documentation, or PID, is a PRINCE2 term representing the plan of approach in project management. It is assembled from a series of other documents, including the business case, the Terms of Reference, the Communication Plan, the risk register, the Project Tolerances, the project plan, and any specific project controls or inspections as part of a departmental quality plan or common project approach. The PID represents a detailed version of the basic project start-up document called the Project Brief.

The PID bundles together documentation to form the logical document that brings together all of the key information needed to start and run the project on a sound basis. It should be conveyed to all stakeholders and agreed and signed off by the business sponsors. In short, this is the, "who, why, and what", part of the project. It defines all major aspects of a project and forms the basis for its management and the assessment of overall success. The project initiation document builds upon the business case (if it exists) using the information and analysis data produced during initiation activities.[1]

A common part of formal project methodologies such as PRINCE2[2] the document is a major milestone in the Initiating a Project process. It is the document that goes before the Project Board for sign- off to commence a project.

The Project Initiation Document provides a reference point throughout the project for both the customer and the Project Team.

A Project Initiation Document often contains the following:[3]

References

  1. ↑ Project Initiation and the Project Initiation Document - Retrieved on June 3, 2010
  2. ↑ Prince 2: A Practical Handbook By Colin Bentley, ISBN 978-0-7506-5330-5
  3. ↑ Writing a Project Initiation Document

See also