Writing Project Proposals

When you write a proposal for your project, these six sections help us all clarify, standardize and simplify the submission process. Would you like someone to guide you? Would you like to guide?

We want a group into which to submit these proposals. This group may need to pass a submission onto a more specific group. For now we will hold onto these proposals.

Need

Describe the issue that needs to be resolved or problem that needs a solution. Is it a thing to be added or to be removed?

Context (social and economic)

In what current community (or group) does this issue arise?

Implications

What happens if we don't put effort into addressing this need? What or who is in pain? Describe the pain.

Solution

Show how how it will address the need and bring socio-economic benefit to the community.

Measurable Goal

Describe the project endpoint in sufficient detail and the measurements used to confirm it is done.

Plan

Tentative early draft of a road map to reach the endpoint from inception through full running operations.

Timeframe

Are we talking about a month, a year or a decade for how long this project will be operationalized. For how long it will operate? Hint: short term is less fraught with unpredictables.

Important things to note

celebrate the milestones and successes

This massively helps reinvigorate people involved and counteracts the tendency to feel overwhelmed.

brevity

Less is more. Brevity is godlike. Good to limit every section to 250 words.

agility

No plans survive encounter with reality, and needs to adapt often and possibly in bulk, in order to actually reach that endpoint. Agile everywhere.

socio-economic context

who is impacted by this (youth, grandparents, employees of government, education, private industry)? Geographic region (city, state, country, continent, planet).

hint

Prepare yourself by privately by writing three scenarios on how to start the project.

Asides

IRAC method (issue, rules, application, conclusion)
SPIN selling (situation, problem, implications, needs fulfillment)

Implications are the most important, nearly always neglected component of the sales process. Ask profound questions. What is the impact of the problem? How is this need felt, detected? What is the cost associated with not resolving it? How does that compare with the cost of resolving it?

Contributors

• Bill Larson
• Judith Benham
• Jonathan Sand

We welcome additions and contributions from every Meta Project member, posted in our Lionsberg Town Square.