4. Project Planning

Project planning is a fundamental part of executing a successful project. The main purpose of the planning stage is to establish detailed instructions that the project team will use to complete the project to deadline. These instructions must be realistic, detailed and have clearly defined parameters (time/budget etc) which can be worked towards. The planning stage must identify all the relevant stakeholders (project sponsor, client, supplier, project manager, quality assurance, risk management and end users) and have specialists that are able to explain and deliver requirements (Hickey, 2021).

A project baseline plan is used to determine the initial scope, cost and schedule of the project and is created in the planning phase of the project. This plan is used to measure progress, performance, and completion of the project. The baseline plan is an integral part of the process as it tracks the efficiency of the project and provides an overview of the impact of any complications that may arise (Hickey, 2021).

The Baseline Plan

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The main elements that are covered in the Baseline Plan are:

1. Project Plan - this provides an overview of the scope/objective of the project

2. Task Breakdown - details the works to be undertaken providing a detailed statement of the general goals

3. Schedule - details the times and dates that each task is due by, key milestones

4. Cost - an estimate budget report (earned value analysis) is created outlining the budget and actual cost

5. Initial Project Coordination - an initial meeting is established to determine and agree the overall objectives of the project that should be in line with the mission of the company. Tasks/schedules/budgets should fall outside of these parameters

6. Technical scope - is a responsibility matrix that outlines the tentative schedules/budgets and identifies key tasks/performance and linking these to responsible parties

7. Composite Plan - each responsible party is required to provide a preliminary plan on how their task will be accomplished. This should contain descriptions of the required tasks, establishing the budgets and schedules. These plans are then scrutinised by the group and combined into a composite project plan. The composite plan is only complete when all stakeholders have approved each component part. Senior management then has final sign off which endorses the overall project/baseline plan. Any changes to the project scope cope must be made by processing a formal change order (hickey, 2021).

Other key elements should be considered within the planning stage and these should be outlined in the baseline plan providing a framework on how they should be handled. These are:

1. Method Statement - outlines the general management and technical approach to the work required

2. Resource Statement - alongside the budget which details all the capital and expense requirements of the project, the resource statement should also outline the procedure on how the budget will be monitored and controlled.

3. Contractual Aspects - includes a complete list and description of all reporting requirements. For instance, a project communication planner, customer supplied resources, liaison arrangement, advisory committees, project review and cancellation procedures.

4. Personnel Issues - details all the requirements of the people involved in the project. For instance, outline of skills, training, and security clearance etc.

5. Evaluation methods - each project should establish a set of standards and measures in which the project will be evaluated against.

6. Project Issues/Risks - pre-planning can ensure that most issues can be averted or mitigated against. Issues can arise from technical failures, under resourcing, tight deadlines, going over budget etc. It is recommended that a risk manager be appointed to the project to measure specified risks (Hickey, 2021).

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Project Initiation Stage

Once all these areas have been addressed, a project initiation document can be submitted to management which will include:

1. Project Charter - outlines the project justification, definition, assumptions, deliverables, stakeholders, quality assurance etc.

2. Business Case - cost benefit analysis

3. Organisation Chart - which includes team and communication plan

4. Project action plan - details of tasks and responsibility matrix

5. Controls/risk - outline of process procedures, controls, and excepted risks

6. Contingency - outlines documentation structure (Hickey, 2021)

An example of the project initiation document is below.

@apepm.co.uk

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Scope Creep & Leap

@zoho.com

Without a detailed project plan, or if it hasn’t been formerly defined and agreed, it can be very easy for a project to cause concern, conflict and even failure to complete. This can lead to scope creep and leap.

Scope refers to all the work involved in creating the products of the project, the people involved/responsible for these works (stakeholders) and the processes used to create them. Both the stakeholders and project team must have the same understanding of what products will be produced as a result of a project and what processes will be used in producing them (Hickey, 2021).

Scope management process = project charter-scope statement minus the scope management plan-work breakdown structure.

Scope creep and leap are often the root cause of project failure as it can increase work and budgets.

Scope creep is when project changes slowly.

Scope leap is when it changes quickly.

A scope statement document should be created to protect against scope creep and leap. It is used to develop and confirm a common understanding of the project scope, justification, objections etc and provides a summary of project deliverables and statement of what determines project success (Hickey, 2021).

The scope management plan describes how project scope will be managed and how scope confines will be integrated into the project. For instance, how likely scope will change/how frequent/how much. It provides an overview on how scope changes are identified and classified. This plan can be formal/informal, highly detailed, or broadly structured, sub plan of the project plan (Hickey, 2021).

An example of a project scope form/statement

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A formal documentation procedure for changing the scope of a project would need to be submitted and should include rationale for change, brief overview of the changes and impact of changes and then fully signed off by all parties (Hickey, 2021).

References

Hickey, R. (2021). Project Planning. URL: https://www.learning101.ie/projectmanagement.html