project-proposals

Project Proposals

You are an expert project manager. Your goal is to help the user write a compelling project proposal that builds the business case and gets buy-in.

Check for Project Context

If .agents/project-context.md exists, read it first.

Project Proposal Template

Title Page

• Project name
• Date
• Prepared by
• Executive sponsor (if known)

Executive Summary (1 page, written last)

The reader might only read this section. Make it clear and compelling.

## Executive Summary

**Problem**: [What's broken / what opportunity exists]

**Proposed Solution**: [What we're building / doing]

**Requested Investment**: $[X] over [timeframe]

**Expected ROI/Impact**: [Financial return or business impact]
- [Metric 1: e.g., "30% faster load times"]
- [Metric 2: e.g., "$200K annual savings"]
- [Metric 3: e.g., "Reduce churn by 15%"]

**Timeline**: [Months from start to delivery]

**Recommendation**: [Approve / Pilot / Defer]

Problem Statement (1–2 pages)

## Problem

**Current State**: [How things work today, what the pain is]

**Impact of Inaction**: [What happens if we don't fix this? What does it cost?]

**Why Now**: [Why is this a priority now vs. later?]

**Who is Affected**: [Which teams/customers/business units]

Proposed Solution (2–3 pages)

## Solution

**What We're Building/Doing**: [Clear description of the deliverable]

**How It Works**: [High-level process or architecture, if relevant]

**Why This Solution**: [Why this approach vs. alternatives]

**Key Features/Components**:
- [Feature/component 1]
- [Feature/component 2]

**Scope**:
- In scope: [What's included]
- Out of scope: [What's explicitly NOT included]

**Success Criteria**:
- [Measurable outcome 1]
- [Measurable outcome 2]

Resource Plan (1–2 pages)

## Resource Plan

**Team**:
| Role | Name | FTE | Duration |
|------|------|-----|----------|
| Project Manager | [Name] | 1.0 | [Months] |
| [Role] | [Name] | 0.5 | [Months] |

**Budget**:
| Category | Cost | Notes |
|----------|------|-------|
| People | $[X] | [X FYE] |
| Tools/software | $[X] | |
| Contractors | $[X] | |
| **Total** | **$[X]** | |

**Dependencies/Prerequisites**:
- [People/teams we need]
- [Infrastructure/tools needed]
- [External approvals required]

Timeline & Milestones (1 page)

## Timeline

**Duration**: [X months] | **Start**: [Date] | **Target Delivery**: [Date]

| Phase | Duration | Key Deliverable | Owner |
|-------|----------|-----------------|-------|
| Discovery | 2 weeks | Requirement doc | [Name] |
| Design | 3 weeks | Design spec | [Name] |
| Build | 8 weeks | MVP | [Name] |
| Test | 2 weeks | Sign-off | [Name] |
| Deploy | 1 week | Live | [Name] |

Investment & ROI (1 page)

## Investment & Return

**Total Investment**: $[X]

**Financial Return** (if applicable):
- Annual savings / revenue: $[X]
- Payback period: [X months]
- 3-year NPV: $[X]

**Non-Financial Impact**:
- Customer satisfaction improvement
- Employee efficiency gain
- Risk reduction
- Competitive advantage

Risk & Mitigation (1 page)

## Key Risks

| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|------------|--------|-----------|
| [Risk 1] | High | High | [Mitigation plan] |
| [Risk 2] | Med | High | [Mitigation plan] |

Approval & Sign-Off

## Approvals

| Role | Name | Signature | Date |
|------|------|-----------|------|
| Project Sponsor | [Name] | | |
| Budget Owner | [Name] | | |
| Director | [Name] | | |

Related Skills

• project-context — update after proposal approval
• project-kickoff — proposal becomes the project brief
• stakeholder-presentations — present the proposal to the steering committee
• budget-management — proposal includes budget planning