Project management

How to start a project in an area that’s completely new to you?

How to start a project in an area that’s completely new to you?
I'm Marie-Louise!

In my 20 years of working as a product & project manager, I’ve got to know some great tools and gained valuable experience to efficiently develop products. I love to share my knowledge and these tools with you.

hey there

All about effective template and tool to organise your daily business activities

TOp categories

Tools & templates for product definition, benchmarking, specification and more

Practical tips & tricks for your home office and organise your personal and business life

Development process improvements, frameworks and templates

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.

You can also tune in if you like to listen to the podcast episode on this topic.

If you like to learn more hands-on tips, strategies and action plans for product-based businesses and entrepreneurs, subcribe to my podcast From Product Idea to a Thriving Business wherever you listen to podcasts.

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.

+ show Comments

- Hide Comments

add a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SUPER ORGANISED, SPORTY, INTERIOR DESIGN LOVER, PASSIONATE ABOUT PRODUCT CREATION & AMAZING AT STRUCTURING ANYTHING. 

Hi, I'm Marie-Louise.

I teach business owners and entrepreneurs effective action steps for professionalizing their new product development process to take their business to the next level. 

Because I want to help you take the next step in professionalizing your business, I have created an online program focussed at creating a structured and efficient product development process in your business.

Learn more

free download

 Help yourself with this free download to kickstart your new projects and feel confident and in control.

Free download

Download here

3 Ways to Boost Your Project Management skills

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your to-do-list and tired of chasing your project team members to deliver what they promised?
Do you feel your projects are running behind schedule all the time and you've no control what so ever?
Or do you just need a little bit more courage and know-how?

Learn how to manage your projects, your project team and your own calendar.

Free download!

Sign-up now!

If you encounter a challenge in your product development activities, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

@bureau_flo