How I have used my training as a young design engineer and the principles behind a Functional Design Specification 🤔to help clients define their projects with clarity.
As I was earning my wings as an electrical design engineer, this is a term that I used a lot.
And I mean a lot.
An FDS is a key to understanding how a single piece of equipment or a line needs to work.
We need to understand exactly how things should operate.
When that valve should open.
How much heat to apply in a process?
It is the detail that adds clarity and brings definition to the end goal.
It was a great lesson that is just as important in project management today 💡
In Project control terms,
We start with the project's skeleton,
The Project Charter.
Every single project requires this,
The most essential project document that you need is the Project Charter.
A Project Charter sets the scene for your project team from the off.
It’s the document you build from and can refer to as the project grows.
The information in your Project Charter should include all of the critical points to consider:
🧩 like background justification,
🧩 scope template,
🧩 what’s in scope
🧩 what’s out of scope,
🧩 key milestones,
🧩 potential risks,
🧩 assumptions that have been made,
🧩 roles and responsibilities,
🧩 as much detail as possible,
🧩 project constraints,
🧩 budget if known.
All the little pieces of the jigsaw help to start from the right foundations as you work towards a detailed project scope.
It might seem like I'm stating the obvious, but so many companies miss out on this crucial step.
P.S. If you were buying a new car, you would know what model, what colour, what extras, how much you wanted to pay and when you needed it buy, so when it comes to high value projects, you need to do the same 🙂
CEO Equita Group, President Chambers Ireland, President AIBF, Past President Mii, Chair TUHF, Past President South Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
2moWell done Zola