Now that you have been introduced to Focus HQ and know its anatomy, let’s help you start managing your projects by creating your first one. 


But before we begin, let’s talk about the stages of a project in Focus HQ (which are configurable). 



A project goes through a lifecycle from its “ideation” to its “closure”. This sequence of stages provides the foundation of setting a project up for us to be successfully delivered.



A project goes through the following stages: 

  • Ideation Stage- The goals, key dates, potential benefits and risks of the project are understood. 

  • Feasibility Stage- The project’s milestones, priority, stakeholders and costs are evaluated to determine if the project should be invested in 

  • Planning Stage- The detailed tasks, timeline, budget, benefits and risk profile are defined to create the final business case that is reviewed prior to the execution phase. 

  • Execution Stage- Once approved, all project data is baselined when stepping into execution and is then managed throughout the project's delivery using forecasts, actuals and real-time reporting. 

  • Benefits Realisation Stage- Benefits can be tracked and realised during and post-execution, however, this stage in the project lifecycle is where the project team have completed delivery and the business is tracking the realised benefits against the original baseline & forecast. 

  • Closing Stage- Once the tracking of benefits has concluded (eg, after 2 years), the project is closed, analysed, key learnings are summarized, and it can also be used for data harvesting.


Each stage in the project lifecycle has a definite start and end date, and the life cycle can be defined and modified according to the project’s requirements. 

 


The project’s lifecycle helps you communicate between your Project Teams and Stakeholders at ease, align the execution plan against the corporate strategy, align resource availability as well as mitigating any identified risks. 

Having all projects sit within one application ensures that your organisation gains visibility of its full pipeline of projects, while also allowing you to set up project teams faster. 

 
Focus HQ's Project Lifecycle structure is based on the stages that can be configured within the company’s Profile page. (Contact your administrator if this needs to be configured).

 

To learn more, check this video below:
 

 


In these emails we will move through each stage. So for today, we’re going to get your project into the “Planning Stage” (ready for execution).


Step 1 - Ideation Stage 

The first stage where the project’s scope is identified, and the action plans are listed for it to be successful.  

Now, each stage goes through a stage gate, a decision point whether the project can move to the next stage or not. Stage Gate approvers can assess projects that are pending approval, and to decide whether they’re to be approved or rejected.


Step 2 - Feasibility Stage 

The second stage where is used to further explore the project’s feasibility. All project requirements are specified as clearly as possible and are reviewed if the project can proceed to the next stage.


Once your Feasibility Project gets approved, it can proceed to the next stage, which is Planning.  


Step 3 - Planning Stage  

The third stage where your project plan takes place. The Project Timeline, activities, risks, issues, budget, etc. are identified 

 

Click on this video to know how to create your Project from Ideation to Planning stage


 

Please also visit the Focus HQ Support Portal for more details: 

https://support.focushq.com/support/solutions/47000519844 

 

 

Feel free to start creating your new project in Focus HQ. Start from creating an Ideation project until it goes all the way to Planning. Have an Approver to approve your newly created project at each stage. 

 

If you have any other questions, you can reach out to us via the Focus HQ Help or send us an email to support@focushq.com.  We’ll be happy to guide you in navigating through these and provide other valuable support links when needed.