Continuing with our series on the PM² methodology, it's time to take the first step. As an old project management proverb says: "Actions speak louder than words, and methodologies are proven by applying them!".

To launch a project with PM², it is key to know the six essential points of the "Quick Start" that is recommended by its official guide.

1. Define Project Governance and create a Business Case.

The Project Steering Committee (PSC) is the body that makes the key decisions affecting both the project and the team's ability to achieve its objectives. It is composed of (discussed in a previous blog post) roles):

• Management Roles: Project Owner and Solutions Provider
• Management Roles: Business Owner and Project Manager

The Business Case is the responsibility of the Business Owner and must include a description of the problem, a comparison of several possible solutions, the justification for the project and its impact on the organization, its business requirements and budget constraints, and a high-level roadmap of the project, including the main milestones.

2. Identify the Stakeholders and create the Project Charter which provides a greater level of detail and requires:

• Define the scope of the project.
• Identify key stakeholders.
• Identify high-level requirements, assumptions, and constraints.
• Decide on a project approach and calculate the necessary resources, costs, and timelines.
• Report on key milestones and deliverables.

3. Create the Project Manual. Create the Risk Register, the Incident Register, the Decision Register, and the Change Register.

• The risk register will be used to document risk management: identification, assessment, response actions, and assignment of responsibilities.
• Similarly, the Incident log documents the management of incidents, the Decision log documents the making of relevant decisions, and both are linked to the addition of elements in the Change log.

4. Begin Project Planning with a Planning Kickoff Meeting.

• Invite the necessary people to the meeting.
• Review the Project Charter to ensure common understanding, clarify expectations, and identify risks.
• Communicate the next steps in the Planning Phase.
• Distribute the meeting minutes.

5. Adapt the Project Management Approach.

• Decide which planning documents to use and how they should be adapted to the specifics of the project and the organization.
• Define rules, assign responsibilities to the team, and define a conflict resolution process.
• Identify all stakeholders who require information during the project.
• Document the above in a Project Manual, which serves as a reference throughout its life cycle

6. Create the Project Work Plan.

• Break down the work to be done into smaller, more manageable parts (create the Work Breakdown).
• Calculate the effort and cost of each part of the work.
• Establish in detail the budgetary and resource needs.
• Create the project schedule (identify dependencies, assign resources and dates).

The good news is that the PM² methodology provides editable templates for these documents (business case, charter, stakeholder matrix, minutes, records, project manual, work plan, etc.) and many others, which can be downloaded directly from https://www.pm2alliance.eu/the-pm2-artefacts/.

Without a doubt, it is advisable to invest some time in reading the Guide (PM² Guide v3.0.1PM² Guide Spanish Translation) to learn about the methodology and thus have at least a global view of PM2 and know all the Open Source material it offers.

There are fewer and fewer excuses to start, shall we?