A well-structured project intake process is the foundation of effective portfolio governance. When organizations fail to evaluate, prioritize, and approve incoming project requests properly, they expose themselves to misaligned goals, wasted resources, and failed initiatives.

What Is a Project Intake Process?

The project intake process refers to the standardized steps for collecting, evaluating, prioritizing, and approving project management support requests before new projects are initiated. It ensures that all project ideas—no matter where they originate—are assessed objectively based on strategic alignment, feasibility, resource availability, and ROI potential. 

Why the Project Intake Process Matters

Without a formal intake process:

  • Project managers chase every project request with little clarity on strategic priorities.
  • Resources are stretched thin across low-value or redundant initiatives.
  • Projects often start without full scoping, approval, or planning, leading to high failure rates.

With a governance-led intake process, your organization can:

  • Improve decision-making and resource allocation.
  • Align project work with the company strategy.
  • Reduce risk and increase project success rates.

Key Components of a Strong Project Intake Process

To establish a strong governance framework, you must include several essential components in your intake process:

1. Project Request Submission

All project ideas need a standardized intake form. This step captures the who, what, why, and when of each request:

Use an intake form or software system that makes submission easy while ensuring enough detail is captured for evaluation.

2. Initial Triage and Categorization

A triage step helps identify incomplete, duplicate, or non-strategic ideas early on.

Projects can also be categorized here:

This early sorting enables faster routing so that the right project manager to resourced to manage the project. 

3. Evaluation and Prioritization Framework

The level of request prioritization needed depends on the size of your organization and the structure of your Project Management Office (PMO). If your PMO is small, you can rely on straightforward decision-making to prioritize requests for project managers. Common frameworks include:

  • Weighted scoring models
  • Risk vs. reward matrices
  • Strategic alignment grids

4. Governance Review and Approval

In larger organizations, a project governance board—typically made up of executives and PMO leaders—reviews the prioritized project list and makes the go-or-no-go decisions.

This approval step:

  • Ensures transparency and accountability
  • Prevents “shadow” or rogue projects
  • Balances the portfolio across functions and goals

5. Resource Planning and Scheduling

Once approved, a project is assigned:

  • A project manager
  • Initial resources (budget, team capacity)
  • A timeline for kickoff

Best Practices for Project Intake Governance

To truly maximize the value of your intake process, follow these governance-driven best practices:

1. Use a Centralized Intake Tool

Centralizing all project requests into a single platform ensures visibility and eliminates silos. Whether it’s a project portfolio management (PPM) tool or a custom intake form, centralization:

  • It makes tracking and auditing easier
  • Reduces redundant or conflicting requests
  • Enables real-time reporting on demand and capacity

Tools to Consider: Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet, Wrike, ServiceNow

Google Forms + Sheets

How it works:

  • Create a standardized Google Form for all project requests.
  • Include fields like project name, business goal, timeline, budget estimate, and department.
  • Responses auto-populate into a Google Sheet used by the PMO or governance committee to review, categorize, and prioritize.

Transparency Tips:

  • Share view-only access to the sheet with stakeholders.
  • Use conditional formatting to show status (e.g., green = approved).

Slack Workflow

How it works:

  • Use a Slack channel (e.g., #project-requests) to post new requests.
  • Use Slack workflow to create the intake form
  • Governance or PMO teams can discuss in the post thread.

Transparency Tips:

  • Keep all intake-related messages in a dedicated channel.
  • Pin the intake form and criteria to the top.

Project Management Tools (Asana, Jira, Monday.com)

How it works:

  • Use Asana Forms, Jira Service Desk, or Monday request templates to gather project requests.
  • Auto-route new submissions into a centralized intake board.
  • Add custom fields (e.g., department, impact score, strategic alignment).
  • The governance board reviews projects directly in the tool using approval workflows.

Transparency Tips:

  • Share the intake board with all requesters.
  • Use status fields (and automation) to show decision stages.
  • Use dashboards to show accepted projects, pending requests, and rejected ideas.

2. Establish Clear Governance Roles

Define who owns which parts of the intake process:

  • Who approves what type of project?
  • Who scores and evaluates?
  • Who maintains the intake system?

3. Link Intake to Strategic Objectives

All incoming requests should map to organizational goals. Make this connection visible in the intake form or dashboard. Adding this ensures you’re supporting the right initiatives and can cut or delay low-priority work.

4. Set a Cadence for Intake Review

Batching requests for regular review (e.g., weekly, monthly, or quarterly) prevents ad-hoc approvals and keeps the intake process disciplined.

5. Prioritize Projects Based on Capacity

Even high-value projects can fail if the team is overloaded. Pair your intake process with capacity planning tools to prevent overcommitting.

Consider:

  • Resource heatmaps
  • Workload forecasting

6. Communicate Status Transparently

Stakeholders should always know:

  • The status of their request
  • Why a request was approved, denied, or deferred
  • Next steps or feedback required

How Project Intake Supports Portfolio Management

The intake process is the starting point for your entire project portfolio management (PPM) strategy.

Governed intake helps:

  • Build a balanced project portfolio
  • Identify gaps in capability or focus
  • Surface cross-functional opportunities
  • Allocate budget and talent more effectively

By aligning intake with broader portfolio governance, your organization becomes more agile, focused, and results-driven.