A6 – Make a go/no-go decision

At this point, we’re almost ready for the go/no-go decision. Before asking the responsible person or group to make the decision, each hat-wearer should express their concerns:

Project Manager Hat

Do we have a proper, consistent understanding of and foundation for the project?

Creator Hat

Are the targets and expectations realistic and achievable?

User Hat

Is the existing definition of the project's output suitable for end users?

Investor Hat

Is the project goal achievable?

Is the project justifiable?

Is the project the best investment for us at this time?

After this, the person or group responsible for the go/no-go decisions (set in A1) makes a decision. If the decision is no-go, the project repository should be archived and the project stopped. You should make sure the archive remains accessible, though, because you may come up with a similar idea in the future, and checking the work you’ve done on this idea would be helpful then.

You may have to initiate multiple projects to end up with a few justifiable ones you want to execute. For this reason, the initiation of later-rejected projects shouldn’t be seen as wasted time but rather as an investment for finding the best projects.

When there’s an external customer, this activity is when the proposal will be sent to them, and the contract will be signed.