As you move forward in your working life, you find more and more success factors that make projects more likely to succeed.

I see a lot of people picking up their pencil to start designing, or opening their IDE to start programming; before they have the relevant project information and before the appropriate analysis has been completed.

Before you begin a project you must have at least the following:

Brief

What are you doing?
What is the scope of the project?

You need to know the benefits or business change that the project sponsor requires, or you will not be able to find the best solution.

Rationale

What is your rationale for the solution you have chosen?
Will it hold up to scrutiny and analysis?
Most importantly does it answer the brief?

You need to know you have found the best solution and done plenty of research to back that decision up.

Conclusion

Extra time at the start of the project for preparation means that you are more likely to have a successful project outcome.

We never start designing or programming until these steps are complete and as a result our pitching success rate has increased and our client satisfaction has increased.