The Initiating a Project process is where the foundation of a PRINCE2 project is built. It produces the Project Initiation Document — the baseline against which all project decisions will be made. Get it right, and the project has a solid foundation. Get it wrong, and the rest of the project is built on sand.
Too often, the pillars of this foundation are weak — not because teams don't try, but because they fall into predictable traps.
Pitfall 1: Isolated Planning
Project managers often produce the initiation documentation in isolation — writing management approaches, product descriptions, and risk registers without adequate collaboration with the people who will be doing the work. The result is plans and strategies that are technically complete but lack ownership from the people who need to implement them.
Solution: Establish mechanisms for building ownership within supplier organisations through genuine dialogue. Involve team managers and subject matter experts in defining management approaches, particularly for quality and risk. Plans that people have shaped are plans they will follow.
Pitfall 2: Inadequate Strategy Reflection
When time pressure mounts, the temptation is to copy-paste management approaches from previous projects. This produces documents that are technically present but intellectually empty — generic strategies that don't reflect the specific characteristics, risks, or stakeholder environment of this project.
Solution: Treat each management approach as requiring genuine thought. Ask the four key questions: Does this make a difference? Is it non-obvious? Is it realistic? Is it specific? Content that can't pass this test should be removed or replaced with something that can.
Pitfall 3: Premature Concept Evaluation
Some teams use the initiation stage to conduct in-depth evaluation of solution concepts, technical architectures, or product approaches. This extends the initiation process far beyond its intended scope and delays the move into actual delivery.
Solution: If detailed concept evaluation is needed, close the initiation stage on schedule and move concept evaluation into the first delivery stage — with its own Stage Plan, resource allocation, and objectives. Initiation should define what the project will deliver and how it will be governed; the first stage evaluates how it will be delivered.