Stuck at the Start of a Project? Use the S.A.V.E. Technique

One of the most common questions I hear from new project managers is:

“I know we need to start this project… but how do I actually figure out what my team should do?”

The classic advice is often, “Write a Project Initiation Document” or “Create a plan”.

But if you start with a blank document or a blank Gantt chart, your brain freezes, the team talks in circles, and you end up making it up at 7pm on a Tuesday night.

There’s a better place to begin.

When you’re starting a project, what you really need is a clear, shared view of:

• What needs to be done

• What matters most right now

• Where the big unknowns and risks are

  
  
  
  

That’s where the S.A.V.E. technique comes in:

Silent writing

Ask a clear question (for example “What could go wrong on the project?”). Everyone writes their answers on post-its in silence for a few minutes. This ensures every perspective makes it into the room.

Affinity clustering

Bring the post-its to the wall and group similar ideas together.Some will be obvious and many people will think of them:

• Build the landing page

• Get budget approval
  

Others will be more niche with only one person thinking of them:

• Get sign-off from the accessibility team

  
  
  
  

Vote

Give everyone a small number of votes (for example 5 to 10). Within minutes you’ll have a prioritised list of what the team believes truly matters.

Execute

Before the meeting ends, agree owners, actions, and timelines for the top items. This is where clarity becomes momentum.

S.A.V.E. works so well at the start of a project because it gathers the team’s thinking, organises it, and turns it into immediate next steps. You can begin with this for your high-level plan, then run it again when you need to get into more detail (for example “What do we need to do to get budget approval?”).

The same four steps work brilliantly for risk identification. Simply change the opening question from “What do we need to do?” to “What might go wrong?” and you’ll quickly build a clear, shared picture of your project’s risks.

Here’s how to run SAVE step-by-step with your team:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USOZR8ekXCM