What is a PID in Project Management?
PID in Project Management means a Project Initiation Document. When handling a project, a manager needs to create a Project Initiation Document (PID), a top-level planning document. In this document, you will find everything there is to know about your project. It also explicitly shows key details that every project stakeholder should know.
Is a Project Plan the Same as a PID?
Many times, a Project Plan has been confused with a PID. They are not the same. A Project Plan shows the layout of what to do but doesn’t get into details. On the other hand, a Project Initiation Document is a top-level project plan that shows the project’s entire purpose. It outlines and plans what to do in a project.
What is the Purpose of the Project Initiation Documentation?
A PID is always important in every project, and here is why:
- It gathers the consequential details about a task in one document so that everyone involved can clearly understand what to do.
- It helps project managers know when they are on track and the steps they need to take to reach the company’s goal.
- A PID presents stakeholders with a comprehensive outline of what to be done and allows them to make key decisions on the project.
- The document ensures proper teamwork – everyone involved in the project knows their responsibilities and how to reach their goal while considering time constraints.
What is Included in a Project Initiation Document?
A Project Initiation Document (PID) is a full plan of action for a project to get started. However, the content may vary depending on the project. Notwithstanding, it often contains key information like project goals and objectives, background history, motivation, roles and responsibilities, risks involved, and project timeline. It is an example of a living document because it is constantly updated or revised as the project develops.
PID Format and Presentation
A PID can exist either for business or classroom study; hence, it comes in different formats depending on the need. For commercial business owners, the document is presented to the project sponsor, the team involved, and the stakeholders during the initiation phase. Everyone has a copy to follow up on the progress of the job.
Constructing a PID
When constructing a PID, there are important sections to include. These are:
- Background & Goals
The background is a significant part of a PID. It is a short summary of the project’s goals, and it gives a contextual idea of what to expect at the end of the project. This background often contains certain keywords that business owners, directors, stakeholders, and teams would want to see to understand.
- Parameters
The ability to complete a project often depends on the parameters involved. This part is also important in the document. These parameters include labor, resources, and budget. And with these parameters, predictions can be made. Given the right circumstances where all parameters are considered and available, the project can take certain phases and be completed within a particular period.
- Roles and Duties
Before a project starts, other people are involved apart from the manager. These are people with various skills required to design and complete the project. However, they all answer to the project manager, who oversees everyone’s roles and responsibilities. Therefore, stating roles and duties is another important part of initiation documentation.
- Risk Assessment
Every business comes with its risk. However, businesses that can evaluate and assess the risks involved always thrive. Doing a risk assessment and showing it on the document is also important. It lets stakeholders, directors, and other people involved know the potential risks and develop strategies on how to mitigate them.
- Success Criteria
This project initiation documentation is incomplete without adding the success criteria section. It briefly describes everyone’s quota or contribution to achieve the desired goal. That means that if they can reach a particular level or go above, the project will be successful; however, if they don’t, there could be issues.
- Roadmap
The last part is the roadmap. It outlines the different phases of the project for successful completion. And with each phase comes the strategies to use. The Project Roadmap is the foundation, so it needs to be accurate and comprehensive.
Project Management Plan (PMP) vs Project Initiation Document (PID)
The Project Charter is a general term for Project Management concepts such as Project Specifications, Project Management Plans, and Project Initiation Documentation.
Oftentimes, Project Management Plan (PMP) and Project Initiation Document (PID) have been confused for each other. However, while they share similarities, such as outlining the plan for completing a project, they differ
A Project Management Plan is defined as the output of the initial stage of a project. It only consists of information such as strategic goals, sign-off page, SMART objectives, milestones, and budget. Sometimes, it has fewer or more details, depending on the project.
On the other hand, a Project Initial Documentation is a focal observation of the project/business goal. It presents everyone involved with a concrete plan of the project and the potential risks involved. It also has varying details but never misses sections like background, roles, parameters, risk assessment, success criteria, and roadmap.
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