Project Feasibility Studies – Do’s and Don’ts

Feasibility studies help to show the potential viability of a proposed project. A feasibility study should recommend initiating a project if business conditions are right. If conditions aren’t right, the study should help management understand the risk they’re taking if they approve the project anyway. Here are do’s and don’ts when you run a project feasibility study.

+ Do focus on risks. The purpose of a project feasibility study is to identify and understand project risks. Provide management with a detailed description of the risks you identify along with mitigation activities that could be used to reduce them.  Also be sure to include opportunities (positive risks) that the project provides.

x Don’t skip risks that you consider insignificant. A feasibility study should identify circumstances the project might encounter. That means you need to include all risks, even the ones of lesser concern. With these less significant risks, explain why you believe they aren’t important. This shows you’ve been thorough in the feasibility study.

+ Do share the likely path the project will take. Telling a story is the best way to do this. When management sees how the project might run through a believable story, you can ease their concerns and help a reasonable project move forward.

+ Do include an executive summary. Storytelling doesn’t typically start by giving away the ending. But, it’s a good idea in a project feasibility study. Executives appreciate high-level overviews.

+ Do build a milestone plan. A milestone plan enhances your project story and highlights the approach you think makes the project feasible.

x Don’t create anything deeper than the milestone plan. You still don’t have enough information to do that. One thing a feasibility study does is determine whether you should undertake a deeper planning exercise.

+ Do understand what the person who will approve the project cares about most. Think about the triple constraints of time, scope, and cost. Talk with project approver(s) to determine which of those constraints is the most critical. Make sure everyone understands how those constraints will affect project viability.

x Don’t neglect the less important project constraints. Of course, you want to emphasize what is most important. But finish the job. Describe how all the triple constraints might affect the project quality.

+ Do focus on external factors that might affect the project. It isn’t only the conditions within your organization that can affect a project. Evaluate and describe external factors, like market conditions, as well.

x Don’t skip things like environmental and community concerns. These can be make-or-break items when it comes to project delivery.

+ Do make assumptions during your feasibility analysis if necessary. There are too many variables to research to cover everything. Do a thorough feasibility study. If a “deep dive” is needed to validate a point, make an assumption and be sure to mention in the documentation that you made an assumption. (You can also provide detail how you could validate the assumption.)

Do you have any other tips – or questions – about feasibility studies? Other results that help feasible projects get approved and weed out the rest? Share with us in the comments!