Stage 01
Initiation
Agree why this project exists, who owns it, and what 'done' looks like.
PMBOK view
Project Charter, business case, stakeholder register, sponsor sign-off.
Agile equivalent
Product vision, initial Definition of Done, a named Product Owner and a first thin slice.
You are here if…
- Nobody can state the goal in one sentence without arguing.
- There is enthusiasm but no named sponsor or budget owner.
- You were handed a project with a deadline and no scope.
What to do
Write a one-page charter
90 minGoal, out-of-scope list, sponsor, decision rights, success measures. One page, no appendices — it has to be readable in a meeting.
Name the sponsor and get it in writing
1 dayOne person who can say yes to money and scope. If you cannot name them, that is your first risk, not a formality.
Map stakeholders by power and interest
45 minFour quadrants, ten minutes with a colleague. It tells you who to brief weekly and who to merely inform.
Define the first measurable outcome
60 minSomething observable within 30 days. It anchors planning and proves the project can ship.
This is the stage where most of my client work starts. Book a free 20-minute consultation — free, no obligation.
Where it usually goes wrong
The charter becomes a 40-page document nobody reads.
Cut to one page. Everything else lives in linked working documents.
Sponsorship is shared between two executives.
Shared sponsorship is no sponsorship. Ask them, in the same room, which one signs off — and write down the answer.
Templates for this stage
Work with me
Sometimes the fix needs a person, not a template.
I am Tigran Zakarian, a senior project manager with 13 years of end-to-end delivery for clients such as H&M Group, TV4, SEB and Clear Channel. I work on exactly the situations described across this site: rescuing drifting deliveries, setting up governance that people actually use, and facilitating the workshops that unblock decisions.
Projects & programmes
- Interim / rescue project management
- Programme & multi-team delivery ownership
- PMO, governance and steering setup
- Product ownership & backlog clarity
Workshops
- Risk analysis workshops
- Planning and prioritisation sessions
- Decision and stakeholder alignment
- Retrospectives that change something
Talks & training
- Educational talks and keynotes
- Hybrid PMBOK + Agile training
- Kanban / flow ways of working
- Team coaching for new PMs