About project proposals

Ross Woods, 2023

Proposals for projects have several particular characteristics:

1. A project proposal needs to address a core strategic issue or opportunity in a way that would improve professional practice. In many cases, it will be a way to improve a facet of the activities of the student's organization and must directly support its overarching strategic plan.
2. The difficulty of the project needs to be commensurate with the degree level.
3. The size of the project needs to be commensurate with the amount of time allocated in the degree program.
4. It is always presumed that the student will be head of the project and responsible for any eventualities.

Although project proposals must usually be adjusted for the particular context, they typically include:

1. Clear, simple, compelling statements of:
1. the need or opportunity,
2. a solution or response,
3. expected outcomes, and
4. expected benefits.
2. Enough concrete, well-researched information to support any plans or assertions.
3. A plan and rationale for change, including a plan to coach staff through the changes.
4. An assessment of significant risks.
5. An operational plan for the project:
1. It must demonstrate feasibility.
2. It must include other operational information (e.g. timeline, critical path, cost schedule, Gantt chart, etc.)
6. A convincing cost-benefit business case. In a commercial business, this may be a business case with a clear dollar value because senior management will probably need to give approval, including any expenditure. Consequently, you need to include:
1. a detailed financial plan with firm estimates of costs.
2. savings and/or increased income over current revenues.
3. risk mitigation with a dollar value of the risk and its probability of occurring.
4. business ratios the student will monitor during implementation.
5. A statement that the project will function as a separate program or business unit, of which the student will be the manager.

Pointers

1. In some cases, decision-makers will be field workers, not subject matter specialists. Present information in a way that is easy to understand for non-specialists.
2. In some contexts, the student might be required to include a strategy to inculcate innovation into organizational culture.
3. Students should consult senior management for comment early in the process. However, students may not waste their time or get them to plan the project plan.
4. Some shortcuts do not comprise suitable projects:
• Incremental development with no intentional strategic change.
• A simple across-the-board budget trim.
• A simple staff reduction (e.g. sack people, cut hours of casual staff).
5. The approach must be sound. If significant theoretical concerns are identified, students must include a more detailed written section, containing, for example, a critical review or an annotated bibliography.
6. Write it up as a draft following the guidelines above. Later on, use any comments or insights from the presentation feedback to improve the draft.
7. If you want to use secondary data, make sure you have access to the data source and understand what kind of data you have before you propose your topic. If you find the source first, then you can build a proposal on it.