Feasibility analysis

Effective feasibility studies can do more than just help executives choose which
projects to greenlight. Managers involved in a feasibility study can actually use
much of the same data to shape the project planning process. Four main
advantages to feasibility studies can generate crucial insight for approved projects.

1. Understanding Demand
Feasibility studies always analyze whether a real demand exists for a product or a service. This
holds true for internal projects as well as for potential consumer offerings. For example, a project
manager tasked with launching a customer relationship management system can examine the real
demand for specific features, based on feedback from customers and from staff. The resulting
data can shape the priority list, which impacts both the budget and timeline. This way, project
managers can avoid spending resources on features or projects with low impact and low demand
among end users.
2. Assessing Resources
Another of the advantages of feasibility studies is the opportunity to catalog the current resources
available for a project and to estimate the need for additional resources. Feasibility studies that
recommend against projects often cite a lack of human resources or financial capital. This kind
of result gives a project manager the opportunity to reset expectations based on real budgets and
headcount.
3. Marketing Feasibility
Even for products and services with measurable demand, companies must examine their ability
to spread the word about a new offering. During the evaluation process, project managers learn
whether the market is already over saturated with stronger competitors. Company leaders can
also discover any potential legal roadblocks involving trademarks, patents, or other intellectual
property rights.
4. Marking a Timeline
One of the biggest advantages of a feasibility study is the validation of a prospective timeline.
When moving into a formal project planning phase, a project manager can use data generated by
the study to help set milestones and deadlines. A quality feasibility study examines the timetable
suggested by project sponsors for potential delays or breakdowns. When project managers use a
study as the basis for making timeline decisions, they run the least risk of being overruled by
anxious stakeholders.
For some projects, particularly large or innovative ones, it may be appropriate to
carry out a feasibility study before beginning the detailed work of planning and
implementation. Alternatively, or in addition, it may be possible or desirable to try
out an idea on a small scale, as a pilot project, before the main project begins. It

may also be appropriate to carry out a feasibility study when there are still a
number of options that would all appear to offer appropriate solutions to the
problem addressed by the potential project. A feasibility study can help to clarify
which option or options would achieve the objectives in the most acceptable way.

failure

the training needed to get people to work differently has not been considered. (If a project is
supposed to lead to successful implementation of a new way of working, the training needs of
staff and volunteers are an essential consideration.

it might run over budget (or have to stop before the goals are achieved because of
insufficient funding)

it might take much longer than planned to achieve the goals (or might have to stop when
time runs out before the goals are achieved)

it might be completed within the time and budget available but fail to meet the quality
requirements (and so be of lower value than expected).

5 Setting aims and objectives

Aims are broad goals and can encompass an organisation's mission and values, whereas
objectives define more precisely what a project is trying to achieve and how success will be
recognised. The SMART principle is often applied to objectives. They should be:

Specific clearly defined with completion criteria

Measurable you will know when they have been achieved

Achievable within the current environment and with the skills that are available

Realistic not trying to achieve the impossible

Timebound limited by a delivery date based on real need.

This provides a useful checklist, but it is not always possible to achieve objectives with all of
these details established at the outset and it may be necessary to revisit them as the project
progresses. It is also possible to develop groups of objectives to deal with different aspects of the
project. For example, there may be process objectives that identify ways in which the work will

be carried out as well as the more usual outcome objectives to identify the details of outcomes
required.

The stakeholders and their interests

Anyone in the organisation, or outside it, who has or might have a legitimate interest in the
project and its outputs or outcomes, is a stakeholder. You need to identify these people and
groups so that you can make sure you meet their expectations and manage the influence they
may wish to exert over the progress of the project. Particularly important among the stakeholders
will be:

the project sponsor the person or group who set up the project, authorised the resources
and put you in charge of it;

the project team the group of people who are going to carry out the tasks and activities;

beneficiaries, clients and service users;

board members and trustees;

volunteers and other staff;

carers and families;

members and supporters.

Depending on the nature of the project, many other groups or individuals may have a stake in it,
such as:

regulators;

advocacy and interest groups;

staff and volunteers of partner or collaborating organisations;

professional associations;

government;

members of the public (especially if you are managing a new service or a new building);

media representing public interest.

Each of these stakeholders is likely to have different expectations of the project and thus
different criteria for its success. These may be overt or covert, and they may conflict with one
another. You need to ensure that, as far as possible, the goals and objectives of the project take all
these criteria into account, because this is how your success will be measured.