Whether the project is big or small, if it’s unique and important, in Information and Educational Technology (IET) there’s a process to help it succeed. Since May 2024, the IET Project Management Office (PMO) has been using a streamlined Project Intake Process to ensure projects are evaluated, prioritized, and supported from the start. Now one year in, the process is gaining traction and helping project leaders set their work up for success.

“The Project Intake Process is intended for anyone who has a project they need to get done, regardless of if they think they need a project manager,” explained Julie McCall, Project Management Office (PMO) Manager.

What counts as a project?

A key part of building the intake process was agreeing on what qualifies as a “project”. According to the IET-PMO, a project is:

“A unique and temporary endeavor (not recurring, has a start and end date, and is not a standard service offering of a group or individual) with specific deliverables (e.g., new product or service) produced by a cross-functional project team convened solely for the purpose and duration of the endeavor.”

To qualify as a project, one or more of the following must be true:

• Takes more than 320 hours to complete
• Requires collaboration across two or more teams
• Spans six months or longer
• Impacts multiple areas of campus
• Involves external vendors or contracts
• Depends on other projects
• Has complex problems or unknown solutions
• Has hard deadlines due to mandates

“Bottom line – if it’s a project, it needs to go through the intake process and be approved by a department head,” McCall emphasized.

Submit a project in 5 steps

IET PMO has made the submission process a breeze with 5 easy steps.

1. Submit the IET Project Intake Form (about 15 minutes to complete)
2. PMO reviews your submission and follows up if needed
3. PMO scores the project based on urgency and impact. May recommend a PM/analyst support.
4. Department head approves or rejects the project
5. If approved, project is added to the portfolio and then prioritized by the IET Leadership Council (IETLC)

McCall recommends submitting your project several months before the target start date to allow time for planning and staffing. The earlier, the better.

Early submitter gets the resources

The intake process helps IET work smarter and more efficiently, ensuring projects have a higher chance of success. By filling out the intake form, project leaders are encouraged to:

• Clarify the problem and proposed solution
• Assess potential risks and impacts
• Confirm initial review with their manager/supervisor or IETLC member

“We're trying to avoid those last-minute projects and resource conflicts by building a project roadmap,” explained McCall. “If you know something is coming up, go ahead and submit it. That way we can get it into the mix and make sure it's on leadership’s radar.”

Submitting early can help avoid delays due to resource constraints:

“If you need a project manager and we don’t have one available, it can take several months to hire an agency contractor, if that’s an option. That slows everything down,” McCall warned.

What’s working—and what’s next?

McCall says the process is off to a strong start, even as improvements are still underway: