The best first project is one that helps the team answer a specific question. A focused evaluation gives the people doing the work a way to assess fit before planning a wider change.
Pick a recurring decision
Choose a review, reporting or submission-follow-up task that already occurs in your organization. Describe the input, the person doing the work, the expected output and who uses it. Keep the first scope small enough that the team can explain the result.
Avoid selecting only an unusually clean or unusually difficult project. A representative workflow gives more useful evidence about the everyday work.
Use demonstration data first
A walkthrough can establish the basic fit using demonstration data. Before sharing real project material, agree the permitted information, access participants, data-handling arrangements and evaluation terms.
Prepare the relevant baseline, update, narrative or report. Identify versions and reporting periods so the evaluation does not spend its time reconciling the package.
Involve the people who own the handoffs
Include the person who prepares the input, the reviewer and the decision maker. Bring IT or procurement requirements into the scope early enough to influence the process. Someone should own the evaluation questions and keep the findings in one place.
Agree how you will assess the result
Choose observable criteria such as clarity of findings, ability to trace a statement to a source, preparation effort and ease of following an open item. Record the existing process before making a comparison. Do not turn a small demonstration into a claim about organization-wide savings.
End with a joint review of what worked, what requires adjustment and what remains untested. A wider rollout should follow a clear decision about those findings.