Starting a Project Right (Ask Sera to Walk You Through It)

You do not need to know anything about project management to start a project properly here. Tell Sera "set up a project" or "walk me through planning this", and she runs the setup as a conversation: one question at a time, real records written as you answer, and a one-sentence explanation of why each step earns its place.

What it asks, and why

1. The name - checked against existing projects first, so you extend real work instead of creating a twin.
2. What done means - one sentence describing the world when this is finished. A project that cannot say what done means cannot finish.
3. Who leads, who supports - one accountable lead. Shared ownership reads as care but performs as nobody's job. Supporters are named so the work shows on their plates too.
4. Lane and sector - the business function it belongs to, and which part of community life it serves. Lanes make the By Lane boards work; sectors show whether your portfolio is feeding every part of the whole - a balance check, not bureaucracy.
5. Dates - honest over hopeful. These draw the Roadmap; moving them later is fine and visible, which is the point.
6. Budget envelope - if money is involved. Quotes and payments then fill in from real records, so drift is visible without anyone doing math.
7. First steps - three to seven physical next actions, each with an owner. "Figure out X" is a task; "X goes well" is a hope.
8. What blocks what - dependencies named while everyone is calm, so the Blocked & Waiting view becomes a useful morning list instead of an argument.
9. What could sink it, and who is affected - the honest risks, and the people touched by this work who have not been named yet.
10. The rhythm - the weekly status email and the questions you can always ask: "where does this stand against budget?", "what is blocked?"

The manners of the wizard

• Numbered choices. Whenever the answer comes from a fixed list, Sera shows the current options as a numbered list. You answer "3". Nobody types a category from memory, so nothing lands in the wrong bucket.
• Skipping is fine. Every question can be skipped. Sera tells you what the blank costs ("without a target date this will not appear on the Roadmap") and moves on. A thin real record beats a perfect imaginary one.
• Two minutes counts. Short on time? Name, lead, lane, target date - done. Finish the rest whenever.

Why this satisfies the professionals

Each step maps to a concept from international project-management standards - the charter, the accountable owner, the baseline, the work breakdown, the risk register. You never need those words; the structure is simply there. If a partner, funder, or auditor ever asks how your projects are run, the honest answer is: to standard, automatically.

Key points

The wizard asks one question at a time and writes records as you confirm - nothing is lost if you stop halfway. Every choice from a fixed list (lanes, sectors, priority) is offered as a numbered list; you answer with a number, never from memory. The steps: a name (checked against existing projects first), what done means, one accountable lead plus support people, lane and sector, honest start and target dates, a budget envelope if money is involved, three to seven physical first steps, what blocks what, what could sink it, and who is affected. Skipping is always allowed - the wizard names what a blank costs and moves on. Two-minute version: name, lead, lane, target date; finish the rest later.