Session 01: Project Kick-off
Hi! Welcome to this inaugural session for the Compass Definitions project where I will construct objective definitions, limitations, and targets for terminology within the vision, mission, and value statements. Since these statements serve to guide the company, I’ve nicknamed them collectively, as the “compass”. The purpose of this session is to identify the need, goal, and objectives of this project. Let’s begin by looking at the history.
History
It was the most recent session I worked on – the project kick off for the Cryptiquest Guide to Marketing – when it slowly became apparent that to best complete company objectives, they need to first be defined – and to be done so relative to company limitations. I have a compass (vision statement, a mission statement, and value statements) but I don’t have it defined in an objective manner. It’s like I have a compass but it’s missing labels for cardinal directions and the metal does not distinguish north from south (it was at this point Luke wished he had chosen an easier metaphorical tool).
Need
The reason this is important is that I need to be able to measure the success of my projects based on objective tests. These tests should directly reflect the compass statements of the company and whatever additional principles that are identified as supporting the compass statements.
Need: To have terminology from compass statements (vision, mission, values) objectively defined and measurable.
Limitations
There are a few issues with this need. Cryptiquest is still a fledgling company with limited funds, staff, and skills. Its goals are incredibly lofty – even if resources were unlimited – but especially so for a company of its means. For instance, since the vision looks to reach creators of every and any identity, it would be fitting to have documents translated in various languages; which, will either cost money or need to be done in house (and neither of those options work right now).
In addition, there has not been a concrete listing of all the elements required to support the compass statements. For instance, legally protecting the work is imperative to ensure that another entity will not take it and sell it when the intention is to make it freely available. But nowhere in the compass statements is there mentioning of “legal” (though a case could be made that this could fall under the “professional” value of the Policies portion of the mission statement). Another example: funding will be important in order to pay for things like the translations that were mentioned in the previous paragraph, despite the fact that “making money” is not part of the compass statements.
Solution
The proposed solution to the first limitation is to fulfill this task for a few versions of Cryptiquest: a final state, the current state, and iterations in-between. By doing this, it is possible that supporting elements not listed in the compass statements (financing, legal activity, etc.) will come to light.
It sounds that this project will start with a concrete definition of the future state based on the compass statements (as if resources were of no concern), then a list will be compiled of all the needs required to meet this definition, followed by some sort of feasibility chart to plot out what Cryptiquest is capable of doing now and what capabilities will be required in the future.
This sounds like a big project with many sub-projects which – through experience – means that I should treat each one like its own project. But does that make sense in this case? What would be the products of each project and would they be publicly released?
- Defined “future state” of Cryptiquest (this could nestle under strategy)
- Capability requirements for future state (this is not necessarily public information)
- Feasibility chart of Cryptiquest (this is not necessarily public information)
Okay, I’m not necessarily sure what to do with this information. The first project listed here technically meets the needs for this “Compass Definitions” project but the other two (in tandem) identify what Cryptiquest is capable of regarding the current state of Cryptiquest. Perhaps, ultimately, this “current state” to “future state” comparison will show a map of milestones – a long term road map that is not based on brands but company needs.
I think I have enough of an understanding to establish a goal for this project.
Goal: To define a future state of Cryptiquest based on concrete and measurable terms from the compass statements.
That’s all for this session. In the next session, I will tackle objectives and deliverables. See you there!
Action Items
- Add Kick-off for Vision Road Map to the All Projects Deliverables list.
- Add Objectives and Deliverables for Compass Definitions to the All Projects Deliverables list.
- Consider adding “Limitations” to the project planning document since this project is an unexpected prerequisite of another unexpected prerequisite of another project.