Envision Summary

Envisioning goes beyond project initiation. Initiation conjures an image of administration, of budgets and detailed schedules. And while these artifacts may be necessary, they need to flow from a well- articulated , discussed, and agreed-on vision. The four components of vision were expressed as questions early in this chapter:

• What is the product vision?
• What is the purpose of the project (objectives) and its constraints?
• Who will be included in the project community?
• How will the team deliver the product?

For some projects this Envision phase can be accomplished in a day, or several days. For others, particularly those that haven't gone through a feasibility study of some kind, it may take longernot necessarily in effort, but in the calendar time it takes for the vision to jell within the project community.

Envisioning doesn't stop after the Envisioning phase. At the beginning of each iteration (or milestone), as the team meets to speculate about the next iteration, team members need to revisit the vision. This revisiting can be for the purpose of modifying the vision or to remind the team, amid the hectic daily grind, of the purpose of their endeavors.