When you start new projects, you often can carry out your activities based on routine and experience. You know very well how to start a new project, how to create overview and how to organize your daily project activities and the ones of your project team.

But when you’re starting something completely new, it can feel a bit vague at the beginning. I’ll give you some tips on how to start a project in an area that’s completely new to you to create structure and overview form the beginning.

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When you can’t run on your experience

It’s easier to have a smooth project start when you can rely on your experience in managing projects. But if you start with something completely new, it can be helpful to create a high-level overview of what you think should be set-up and structure of this new challenge.

To communicate clearly to your project team and other stakeholders, creating a short presentation explaining how you see the project set-up, will support you in getting everyone on the same page. 

Why create a project set-up presentation for your new project?

Having a few slides available to explain the purpose of the project to new team members or other stakeholders is extremely convenient. It works efficient if you can pull up your PowerPoint slides and show people the ‘what, why and how’ of the project they are involved in. You can use the slides when you’re explaining or asking for feedback.  Create the presentation at the start of your project and adjust along the way.

What topics to include in your project set-up presentation?

First open a PowerPoint file and create a title slide with the working title of your new project.  You can use the next slide to explain the project goal (that should be included in the project briefing you’ve received).

Add a new slide to create the project team set-up. If you already know who is in your team, add those names to the slide. If you don’t know, add the disciplines you expect to work on your project.

Add a new slide to show the first steps you’re going to take to get this project of the ground. Maybe this is finalizing the selection of project team members or organizing a workshop to get more clarity around the direction of the project. After that, organizing a kick-off meeting is the right way to go. Include a timeline with these steps to give an indication of the planning.

Consult your peers on your project approach.

When you’ve finished the PowerPoint presentation, ask a few peers to give feedback on your approach. Often, they can give you valuable recommendations on how to best set-up your project and who to invite on your team.

Get it out in the world!

When your first project set-up PowerPoint is ready, share it with the relevant people. Make sure your project is known and people understand the importance of it. It will open doors and you can ask for support more easily as you don’t have to explain the project purpose time after time. 

These are some tips on How to start a project in an area that’s completely new to you.