Project Proposal Meeting Template

“There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.” – Seth Godin

Whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee, a project proposal meeting is one of the most important meetings of your career. The project proposal meeting is where you discuss a project proposal with your boss or clients, and when it is approved, it marks the start of your career growth. The meeting allows you to present your proposal to the company’s management, and you can interact with them on a personal level.

Unlike the project meetings that are held at set intervals where all the parties involved can be kept abreast with the project’s progress, project proposal meetings are a bit different. Since you’ll be pitching your idea to the board members and other stakeholders, you will need one meeting to review the entire proposal.

The people present for the proposal meeting will vary depending on your line of work. If you are an entrepreneur, the potential client manager, head of operations, financial officer, and other stakeholders will attend the meeting. If you are a full-time employee, then your audience will comprise your boss, maybe their boss, and other heads of department. Essentially, whichever department your project targets, the concerned people will be there for the project proposal meeting.

How to Run an Effective Project Proposal Meeting

“First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal, a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends, wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” – Aristotle

To begin with, you have to come to the meeting fully prepared. You must have a checklist of the meeting’s agenda and all the talking points listed. This will help you cover all project proposal bases without leaving anything out.

Be as open as possible about what prompted you to come up with that particular project and why you think it will suit the company. Don’t be afraid to solicit candid feedback from everyone involved. Where possible, you can send the proposal to them earlier so that in case they have any questions; you are in a better position to answer them during the meeting.

Ask yourself why you want to pursue the said project with the specific company. Why is it necessary? How does the business benefit from the project? What are the financial implications or the cost of doing business with you? This will help you explain all areas of the proposal without missing any important details.

Prepare your points in an organized manner so that you also don’t spend a lot of time repeating yourself. Unless your audience has any questions, it’s important that you make sure you don’t waste their time. No one wants to sit through a repetitive meeting proposal.

What’s inside Project Proposal Meeting Template:

“Collaboration is the best way to work. It’s the only way to work, really. Everyone’s there because they have a set of skills to offer across the board.” – Antony Starr

With templates, you can ensure that your project proposal meeting will run smoothly without any hitches. Templates help you plan and execute meetings where there is a lot of information to cover.

1Executive summary

Here, you give an overview of the entire project. When someone reads this, they should be able to know what the project is about and what you intend to achieve if it’s approved.

Capture your audience’s attention and get them excited about the project you’re proposing. This is essentially the “elevator pitch” for the project life cycle. It should be short and to the point.

2 Project background

In this section, you write the idea behind the project you want to undertake. Think of it as your project’s origin story.

Explain when this issue started, its current state, and how your project will be the ideal solution.

3 Project approach

This outlines the process and methods you’ll use to execute and see the project to completion. All the steps you’ll take and the people you will work with should be included in this section.

Define the project management methodology, tools, and governance.

4Budget and timeline

All projects have specific budget projections, and yours should too. Give a detailed budget of how much your project would cost to complete. Also, don’t forget to provide timelines for when the project will be completed. The timeline needs to be realistic.

Make a rough estimate of how long this job will take to complete. Include some milestones that will let you know if the project is on track once they have been met.

5Decision-makers

These people will be tasked with making the decisions during the project.

Determine which internal stakeholders will be in charge of the project.

6Communication plan

This section includes how you plan to communicate with the team you’ll be working with and the management. There needs to be a clear communication plan with everyone involved.

How do we intend to update each other and stay informed at different stages of the project?

7Additional information

Any other important information that doesn’t fit in the above sections goes here. It could be more suggestions on project execution or anything concerning the project that is essential for proper implementation.

Use this section as an appendix to include technical documents or statistics.