A Project Request is a simple description of a project given to an organization’s project management department. It briefly describes the project, its purpose, and how it will benefit an organization. It can also be referred to as the project proposal, but the difference is that the project proposal is a bit detailed, whereas a project request is brief.
As its name depicts, the project request is just a request submitted to the leaders of an organization to consider a project idea. It enables an organization to find project proposals to evaluate how well the project supports their organization’s strategic goals.
What Is the Project Request?
The project request is a system for proposing a project to the project management team for consistent value-based approval and automated project routing. Before approving it, the project management team considers its impact on the organization’s financial and strategic goals.
They may vary depending upon the type and scope of the project. It could be a multipage description or a single paragraph that briefly explains the project. They can describe a project that has been formally submitted to management. It includes the main information about a project that may develop their interest.
A project request can also be submitted by using a project request form. That form contains the general fields to be filled.
Elements of Project Request Form
There are five elements of a project request form:
Project Name
In this section, you must write a few-word description or a self-explanatory name.
Project Description
This section describes the goals and objectives of the project. You can also mention any issues or problems you are trying to solve through a particular project.
Timing
This part defines the timelines for the project.
Resource Requirements
In this part, you are supposed to define any material or human resource requirements specifically for your project.
Support Organization
Name of Person Filling the Form
Here, the person filling the form must mention their name.
Budget or Sponsor Information
Mention the available budget or any possible sponsors of the project here.
Business Case
Briefly explain the business goals you are trying to achieve through a particular project.
The Need for the Project
This section is needed to increase the project’s priority as it describes why a project should be executed.
Much other information can go into the form, but these are the essentials for considering a project request.
The Need for Project Request
Due to limitations, a particular organization can have many project ideas that cannot be completed simultaneously. So, the company has to decide which project to complete first.
To decide which project to work on, a request document is created that briefly describes each project. This document helps the company leaders and the project managers choose some viable projects. All the selected projects then go through the project selection process, and the project that fulfills the criteria of selection goes into the process.
Considerations
A project request might contain the redundant data proposed in other stages of a project’s lifecycle. So, the document should only be used in certain circumstances, which are as follows:
- When a large number of projects are being proposed regularly.
- When the size of an organization is large.
- When the material and human resources are limited
- When tracking mechanisms are limited.