> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.supria.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.supria.com/home/get-started/projects/what-are-projects.md). # What are projects? Understand what a project represents in Supria Workspaces, what information it contains, how projects are organized, and how they move from idea to closure. In Supria Workspaces, the project is the primary unit of value: the single record where an organization's strategy, scope, schedule, budget, risks, and results come together, from the moment an idea is proposed through the investment's formal closeout. *** ### **The project as a single source of truth** Every initiative an organization undertakes, from a capital investment to a plant expansion or a digital transformation, can be managed as a project in Supria Workspaces. Instead of keeping scope documents, schedules, budgets, and status information scattered across different tools, the platform brings everything together in a single, connected record. This gives stakeholders a consistent view of project performance and makes it easier to answer questions like: * What are we planning to deliver? * Are we on schedule and on budget? * What risks or changes need attention? * What's been approved? * What value should this project generate? *** ### **How projects are organized** Supria Workspaces uses a flexible hierarchy to represent how an organization manages its portfolio: * **Workspace**: The organization's environment that contains projects, teams, and settings. * **Megaprojects**: Large, multi-year investments that group related work under a strategic structure. * **Areas**: Components of a megaproject, organized by work front, discipline, process area, or another structure. * **Standalone projects**: Independently managed initiatives that don't belong to a megaproject. * **Tasks**: Detailed activities used to plan and track execution. This structure gives leadership a consolidated view, while letting project teams work at the level of detail they need. *** ### **The project lifecycle** Projects move through a governed lifecycle, with clear checkpoints from proposal to closeout. #### 1. Idea → project creation Every project starts from one of two entry points: * **From an idea**: A requester submits an idea (objective, scope, business unit, and category) for the PMO to review. Once approved, Supria Workspaces automatically creates the project from it, carrying over all the information already on record and keeping the link to the originating idea. Most capital and strategic projects start this way. * **From a project type**: For work that doesn't need to go through an idea evaluation step, you can create the project directly by selecting a project type (for example, "**Capital expansio**n" or "**IT initiative**"). Each type has its own preconfigured approval flow, so the project already knows who needs to approve it and in what order. Regardless of which path you use, the platform automatically: * Creates the project record from the information already collected, so you don't have to enter the same data again. * Assigns the correct approval flow based on the project type. * Makes a default project team and access permissions available, so the right people can start working right away. #### 2. Project charter Every project goes through the same approval mechanism used across Supria Workspaces, the same one that later governs baselines and change requests. This means: * Approvals happen in a defined order and by defined roles (for example, PMO → functional manager → sponsor). * Nothing moves forward without a record; every step is visible and auditable. As the project reaches key milestones, the platform automatically generates a **Project Charter**: a record that represents the project's state at that point in time, documenting what was approved, by whom, and with what scope, schedule, and investment rationale. It establishes the approved context that guides the project from that point forward. #### 3. Execution and monitoring The team executes the project against the approved baseline while monitoring its performance. Key areas to track include progress, costs, risks, and status. #### 4. Change control During execution, projects may need changes to their approved scope, schedule, or budget. These changes are managed through a change request and its corresponding approval flow. Once approved, a change generates a new version of the project charter, preserving a clear record of what changed and why, without losing the project's history. #### 5. Closeout and post-audit When execution is complete, the project is formally closed, and its final performance is evaluated against the original commitments. The post-audit evaluates: * How well objectives were met * Schedule performance * Cost performance * Overall project success These results provide insights for future investment and project decisions. *** ### **What information does a project contain?** A project brings together the information stakeholders need to understand, evaluate, and manage an investment throughout its lifecycle. * **Strategic context**: Why the project exists and how it contributes to the organization's priorities (objective, rationale, current situation, and links to strategic pillars and business priorities). * **Scope**: What the project will deliver and its boundaries (deliverables, exclusions, assumptions, and constraints). * **Schedule**: When the project takes place and how execution is progressing (start and end dates, progress, and baselines for comparing planned versus actual performance). * **Costs and finances**: Visibility into the investment and its financial performance (budget, actual cost, and indicators such as NPV, IRR, and payback period). * **Benefits**: The value the project should generate, qualitatively or quantitatively, which can be tracked against the value actually delivered. * **Governance**: Who's responsible and how the project is classified (sponsor, project manager, requester, approval dates, project type, complexity, and investment category). * **Closeout and post-audit**: Evaluation of final performance against original commitments (objectives achieved, schedule and cost variances, and overall project outcome). *** ### **Governance and collaboration** Projects have defined teams and role-based permissions, so each stakeholder can access the information and take the actions relevant to their responsibilities. Approvals, baselines, changes, and other governance processes are managed within the platform, providing a consistent record of decisions throughout the project's lifecycle. *** ### **Why this matters** Because project creation is standardized and governed, no project reaches execution without approval from the right people, and no project is set up inconsistently because someone skipped a step. For leadership, this means every project that enters the portfolio already meets the same level of scrutiny and rigor, and every approval can be traced back to a specific person and date, not just an email exchange.