Project selection refers to the process of selecting a project. In an organization, many projects might be running simultaneously, and many new projects are proposed on a daily basis. So, the company and the project team must decide which project to start first and which project can be delayed. Before a project is selected for execution, many aspects are considered, and the project is evaluated. The project that aligns with the organization’s business goals has the most chances of being selected.
The process of evaluating a project and selecting it for execution is called project selection. Companies nowadays have many project ideas, but they can not work on them simultaneously due to the lack of resources and time. So, the company leaders and the project managers have to choose particular projects that their team could complete within the given budget and time.
Project selection is one of the stages of the project lifecycle, and at this stage, all the projects are just ideas and are not defined completely. So, the project managers have to select the project based on a brief description.
Criteria for Project Selection
For a project to be selected, it should satisfy the following criteria:
Alignment with Business Goals
Every organization has some business goals that it is trying to achieve. A project must align with those goals, meaning that it should support the organization’s business in one way or another. These criteria help the project managers utilize the material or human resources correctly.
Resource Capability and Availability
Before selecting a project, the selection team must consider the resources needed to complete a particular project. The project could be passed to the next assessment if the available resources are enough.
Risk Evaluation
Every project has some risks associated with it. The project managers should first check if the risk is high or low. They should consider different ways to mitigate those risks or reject the project in either case.
Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty
The next thing to consider in the project selection process is customer satisfaction. The organization should look into the impact of the project on customer satisfaction. This assessment should clarify how a particular project will help your customer solve their problem and how the project will improve your brand.
Data Availability
Before selecting a project, the project managers should ensure that all the required data is available. All the data regarding the project should be available so that the resources can be utilized effectively. Otherwise, the project team will have to spend countless hours collecting, analyzing, and implementing the necessary data.
Expected Revenue
Calculating the investment and the organization’s profit after completing a project is crucial and necessary. After completing the project, the project managers or the project selection team should consider the organization’s revenue.
Project Selection Process
The process of project selection consists of certain steps, which are as follows:
I. Identifying Potential Projects
As stated earlier, a company may have several project ideas simultaneously. So, the project selection team should list out all the project ideas. This list should have a brief description of the project.
II. Comparing the Projects
After listing out the potential projects, all the projects should be compared against one another based on the project selection method. This step is fulfilled by listing out the benefits that an organization is looking to achieve, and each project is given certain points based on how well it supports certain benefits.
III. Analyzing the Findings
Once the project team has the list of all the projects along with points, the findings are analyzed, and the project that aligns with the organization’s goals is selected for execution. Or, in other words, the project having the most points is selected.
Who Does the Project Selection?
The leaders of an organization are responsible for carrying out the project selection activities. In most cases, the project managers are involved in the selection process as they can better understand the capabilities of their teams.