The goal of project intake is to make sure that the projects that meet approval are aligned with the business goals of the organization. They should also be well-defined and prioritized based on available resources and strategic objectives<\/a>.<\/p>\n The project intake process typically involves capturing relevant information about the project, evaluating its feasibility and determining its priority within the broader portfolio<\/a> of ongoing or upcoming projects. It helps ensure that only well-thought-out projects are approved, reducing the risk of inefficiencies or wasted resources.<\/p>\n The importance of a project intake form should be clear. The process itself is thorough and a template is designed to capture all the pertinent information and repeat it without anything falling through the cracks. Using this free template will make sure that all the bases have been covered before a project is accepted or rejected.<\/p>\n The project intake form template also formalizes the process, which helps ensure that the proposed project is in alignment with the organization’s broader business strategy. It allows the project intake form team to evaluate the projects upfront, so organizations can focus resources on initiatives that provide the most value and help achieve long-term objectives.<\/p>\n By formalizing the intake process, organizations can better manage resources. They can identify potential conflicts between proposed projects, prevent resource bottlenecks and ensure that the right talent and budgets are allocated to the right projects.<\/p>\n Evaluating projects at the intake stage allows potential risks to be identified early. This includes risks related to budget, timelines, technical feasibility<\/a> or external dependencies. Early identification of risks can lead to more effective mitigation strategies.<\/p>\n A formalized intake process ensures clear communication between stakeholders about project expectations, goals and requirements. It ensures that everyone involved in the project understands its purpose and scope from the beginning. This standardized intake process helps streamline decision making, too. Instead of relying on informal or ad hoc processes to evaluate projects, the intake process provides a structured framework for assessing which projects should move forward.<\/p>\n When those projects are chosen, then they need to be closely monitored. Project management software can help project sponsors and PMOs track project progress and allocated resources. ProjectManager<\/a> is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has powerful portfolio roadmaps that collect all the projects and display them on one Gantt chart, with resource management, time tracking and task management features. Users can filter by assignee, project manager or customer to make forecasts, view which projects are open and highlight key performance indicators (KPIs) for stakeholders. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.<\/p>\n A project intake form is widely used across numerous functions of an organization. A template provides a standardized, consistent way to collect key information about a project before it begins, which helps assess its feasibility, alignment with goals, resource requirements and potential risks. Therefore, it is used by a variety of teams and individuals involved in project management and decision making.<\/p>\n In essence, a project intake form template is used at the start of a project\u2019s life cycle<\/a>. That is whenever a new project is proposed, whether it’s a simple internal task or a complex strategic initiative. The project intake process serves as the gateway for all new projects, helping teams and stakeholders assess them. Here are some of those scenarios.<\/p>\n Once the project intake form for Word is downloaded, users have a fully customizable document. We\u2019ve outlined the key parts of a project intake process, however, different organizations might have slightly different requirements. They can be added. Let\u2019s define the parts of the template that are provided.<\/p>\n At the bottom of the project intake form template are two signature and date lines, one for the individual who prepared the form and the other for the person who reviews it.<\/p>\n The project intake form template is actually made up of many sections that can be filled out by using some of the other free templates available on our site. There are over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word<\/a> that cover all aspects of managing a project, across multiple industries. Here are a few that will be useful when going through the project intake process.<\/p>\n When defining the goals and objectives of the proposed project, use this free SMART goals template for Word to ensure that those goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timebound.<\/p>\n The project scope statement is a big part of the project intake form template and this free project scope template for Word covers all the bases. It includes the scope description, but also justification for the project, business objectives and more.<\/p>\n This free resource plan template for Excel breaks the proposed project into resources, teams, rates and costs to help estimate those needs in the project intake form template. There\u2019s also a calendar to schedule those resources if the project is approved.<\/p>\n All of these templates are helpful when filling out the project intake form template. They\u2019re less useful if the project is approved. Templates are static documents and projects are dynamic. One doesn\u2019t want to stop and manually update templates that are not even collaborative. They\u2019re just going to slow down progress. More efficient is project management software. ProjectManager<\/a> is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has multiple project views that allow project managers to plan on Gantt charts, while teams can execute their tasks on kanban boards and task lists. Stakeholders can stay updated on progress by using dashboards and reports.<\/p>\n Our resource management features<\/a> allow users to track resource utilization and streamline resource planning for one or multiple projects. When onboarding teams, their availability can be set, such as vacation, PTO and global holidays for distributed teams. They can also note their skill sets. This helps streamline the assigning process. Once assignments have been made, managers can view the team page or color-coded workload chart, which provides an overview of one or all projects being managed. From there, it\u2019s easy to see who\u2019s overallocated or underutilized and balance the team\u2019s workload to keep them working at capacity and avoiding burnout.<\/p>\n To ensure that projects are performing as planned, there are a number of tools available to project managers. For a high-level overview, toggle over to the real-time project or portfolio dashboard<\/a>, which is automatically being updated by live data. Easy-to-read graphs and charts track KPIs, such as time, cost, workload and more. To get into the details, there are customizable reports. It\u2019s easy to generate status and portfolio reports on tasks and timelines, or reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more. All reports can be filtered to highlight status, customer, priority and more. Project managers can get into the weeds and stakeholders can get a more general view of progress.<\/p>\n For those looking to read more about the project intake process and more, there are many entry points on our site. We publish weekly blogs, guides, eBooks, tutorial videos and templates. Below are links to some recent posts on project selection, PMO templates and more.<\/p>\n![\"Free](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Project-Intake-Form-Template-600x497.png\")
\nWhy Use a Project Intake Form?<\/h2>\n
Formalization for Better Outcomes<\/h3>\n
Better Resource and Risk Management<\/h3>\n
Improved Communication<\/h3>\n
![\"Manage](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/light-mode-CTA.jpg\")
<\/a>Who Uses a Project Intake Form?<\/h2>\n
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When to Use a Project Intake Form Template<\/h2>\n
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How to Use this Project Intake Form<\/h2>\n
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Other Free Template to Help With Project Intake<\/h2>\n
SMART Goals Template<\/a><\/h3>\n
Project Scope Template<\/a><\/h3>\n
Resource Plan Template<\/a><\/h3>\n
How ProjectManager Helps With Managing Projects<\/h2>\n
Manage Resources to Stay Productive<\/h3>\n
![\"Resource](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/workload-page-resource-management-lightmode.png\")
<\/a>\nTrack Cost, Progress and More in Real Time<\/h3>\n
![\"ProjectManager's](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/portfolio-dashboard-screenshot-lightmode.png\")
<\/a>\nRelated PPM Content<\/h2>\n
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