Project PlanningIn this chapter, we explain how to develop the project management plan. Project planning follows the triple constraint: Project scope, project schedule, and project budget. On this basis, we present the essential project planning tools.
What do we need to plan? How can we provide sufficient flexibility? What tools can we use? How do we document the planning results? What do we need to plan?The following picture shows what plans we need, and in what sequence we are going to create them.
Planning the Project Scope - Steps 1 and 2We plan the project scope in two steps, first the product breakdown structure PBS which describes the product or service we are going to create with the project. In a second step, we setup the work breakdown structure WBS that describes all the work that has to be done in order to create that product or service in the form of work packages. For a more detailed description please go to Planning the Project Scope.Effort Estimation Step 3After setting up the WBS we have to estimate effort and duration of each work package. We do this by asking the work package experts how much of what resources they need, for what period of time, thus obtaining the effort. We recommend combining effort estimation with the first risk analysis into a workshop, with all the experts involved. Then we have better chances to avoid over- or under-estimation, or hidden security blankets for the work packages since we can discuss these issues openly with the whole team and address critical items and risks explicitly. For a more detailed description please go to Effort Estimation.Planning the Project Schedule Steps 4, 5, and 6Planning the project schedule comprises three steps: planning the milestones, creating a network diagram of all the work packages, and setting up the Gantt chart. The milestone plan gives us a top level view of the project without the details of all the work packages. In the network diagram we arrange the logical sequence of all the work packages, while the Gantt chart represents the actual time schedule of all the work packages of the project. Network diagram and Gantt chart also show the critical path of the project which we analyze for risks affecting the schedule. For a more detailed description please go to Planning the Project Schedule.Assigning Resources Step 7Having prepared project scope and schedule, we now assign all the necessary resources to each one of the work packages, that is, human resources, tools, and material. Especially, getting all the human resources on board requires some preparation: we coordinate the level of skills and experience of the available people with what is needed; we prepare and discuss their target agreements; we prepare, negotiate, and sign sub-contracts for those work packages that will be provided by external suppliers; we set up and maintain close contact to those resources that are critical; we coordinate the resource planning of our project with that one of others. For a more detailed description please go to Assigning Resources.Planning the Project Budget Steps 8, 9, and 10Planning the project budget, in another three steps, concludes the project planning process. Having all the resources assigned, we can now allocate hourly rates of human resources and tools, as well as material cost, and integrate all these data with the project schedule on work package level. Thus, we obtain the finalized resource plan, and from that, the (accumulated) cost plan. Together with a payment plan (in case of a customer-contractor based project) or sales plan (in case the project is about product development, marketing, and sales) we prepare the financing plan for our project. For a more detailed description please go to Planning the Project Budget.We can go through steps 1 to 10 and set up the entire project plans manually, with paper and pencil. Of course, using planning software is much more convenient. However, we should keep the whole planning process a team effort. Building these plans, PBS and WBS milestone plan, network diagram, and Gantt chart resource plan, accumulated cost plan, and payment plan would conclude project planning. But real life holds just too many surprises, and thus, we need to prepare for eventualities. Project Risk ManagementIn order to prepare for flexibility in implementation phase we need to integrate another important element into project planning: the risk management process.
We will be able to identify different types of risks only with reference to the different types of plans, for example: technical risks after setting up the PBS risks of delays after creating the milestone plan, network diagram, and Gantt chart risks of missing resources after producing the resource plan. Thus, it is essential to start the risk management process early in planning phase, e.g. combined with effort estimation, and depending on the size of the project, repeat steps 1 to 4 after each step of planning. Ideally, we combine steps 1 to 4 into what we call risk analysis, and we usually carry out this risk analysis in workshops of one to three days, depending on the size of the project. The results of these risk analysis workshops in planning phase are (1) Preventive actions, i.e. add-ons to already existing work packages or completely new work packages which we have to integrate into the WBS and all the other planning documents. (2) Corrective actions, that also add to the WBS or make for decision points in our project plan in the following way. If event X happens then we follow plan A, if X does not happen then we follow plan B. Preventive and corrective actions together reflect our risk management strategy or risk management plan. Creating contingencies in form of corrective actions or just in form of budget reserves represents the first important part of keeping our project plans flexible for foreseeable eventualities in implementation phase. For a more detailed description please refer to sub-sections Risk Management and Risk Analysis. Project Change ManagementWhile risk management can take care of foreseeable eventualities there will be things happening which nobody can plan for. For all unforeseeable events we need to make provisions in a different way. We only know that something is going to happen that will change project scope, schedule, or budget. So, we have to prepare a project change management process that tells us how we are going to deal with necessary changes.We can think of two different types of situations: (1) Situations in which we have enough time for finding mutually agreed decisions before implementing any change, without jeopardizing the project goal(s). (2) Situations in which we cannot wait for mutually agreed decisions before implementing a change. Project Contract ManagementIn case we manage a project that is based on a contract we have to integrate a project change management process into that contract in order to take care of the first type of situations, and a project claim management process for the second type of situations. Project contract management comprises change and claim management.Thus, project contract management as such is the second important part of keeping our project plans flexible for all the unforeseeable eventualities in implementation phase. For a more detailed description please go to Project Contract Management.
Planning the Controlling ToolsThere are a couple of controlling tools available which support us controlling the implementation phase. It is worthwhile to spend some time to plan which one of those tools we want to use for what kind of work packages. These tools, sometimes also referred to project management metrics, comprise Comparison of actual with planned quantities (e.g. 76 of 105 windows installed) 0 100 % method (work on work package not started finished) 0 50 % 100 % method (work on work package not started ongoing finished) Estimation of remaining effort and duration Milestone Trend Analysis Earned Value Analysis (including schedule variance and cost variance) In order to collect all the details we ask our team members who are responsible for the work packages in periodically scheduled project status meetings. Obviously, there must be a high level of trust in each other to obtain the truth about each one of the work packages. This high level of trust is the key to successful project controlling. For a more detailed description please go to Project Controlling Tools.
Project Communication PlanSuccessful project management depends on successful communication: between project manager and team members Communication takes place in many different ways: discussions in project meetings In order to make all this project communications successful we need to prepare a project communications plan. For a more detailed description please go to Project Communications Plan. Best practices would dictate that the materials forming the Project Handbook be protected from loss and made easily but securely accessible to all the participants. A simple way to accomplish this is to use an on-line storage service such as Esotera Secure Storage Solutions to hold all data. Each participant would be provided with a web interface to a set of directories. Some directories would be read-only and contain planning documents and reports, other directories would allow the participant to place updated documents for the rest of the group to review. Acceptance ProcedureWe undertake projects in order to create clearly specified results, products, or services. These clear specifications or requirements are the result of the activities in definition phase and part of the project goal(s). They guide us in planning phase to create the plans and help us at the end of implementation phase and in closure phase to decide if the project goal(s) are reached or not. In case we have to follow a contract we develop acceptance procedures for preliminary and final acceptance of the project results, discuss and negotiate them with the customer, and integrate them into the contract. Acceptance procedures define how we are going to check the project result(s) if they are compliant with all requirements and specifications set in definition phase. Hence, contract clauses that describe, or are related to acceptance procedures, significantly contribute to the decision if the requirements and specifications are met, and thus, project goal(s) are reached.Conclusion of Project Planning PhasePlanning scope, schedule, and budget define the classical core of the project planning process. Important steps in this process are effort estimation and the assignment of resources. As part of the contract, we setup acceptance procedures for preliminary and final acceptance of the project results. In order to create enough flexibility we supplement this by a risk management plan, and by integrating change and claim processes into the contract. Ideally, the supplier follows these planning steps when preparing a proposal that has to be submitted to the customer. Finally, we set up the controlling tools we want to use and define our project communications, reporting, and documentation. After mutual negotiations, customer and supplier sign the contract for implementation phase. This concludes project planning phase.Additional Remarks (1) Creating a project plan is a recursive process Optimization of all project plans makes planning the project a recursive process sometimes with many loop backs. You find some details in sub-section Project Management Plan. (2) Software support While planning the project should be a joint effort of the whole project team, we use supporting planning software for our convenience. We just need to make sure that we do not become slaves of a specific software package, but rather tailor the software to the requirements of the project and the team. You find some details in sub-section Project Planning Software. Return from Project Planning to Home Page
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