Project start-up phase: the weakest link

A project is normally undertaken to produce a product or facility that has been deemed necessary to satisfy a need. Within the total life cycle of a project, from start to finish, the period that often receives less than the attention and effort it deserves is the initial start-up phase. The start-up or concept phase is defined as that period prior to identifying that a project exists, and before the allocation of substantial funds, and when all options including the no-go option have been investigated. Yet it is during this phase when decisions are taken that can have maximum impact on the outcomes during the later phases of a project. Should appropriate problem solving and decision making be neglected in the early stages (a stage being part of a phase) of a project then the very reasons for creating the final product for which the project was initiated would be highly questionable. In this paper the normal decisionmaking process is examined for completeness and in particular with regard to how obtaining value should be integrated within the start-up process. Value here is defined as the maximisation of project functionality while concurrently minimising the total life-cycle cost. The paper concludes with the author’s recent experiential view of a practical guide that all clients, sponsors, project managers, and other project stakeholders should consider as the process and the associated deliverables for the start-up phase for capital works projects.