PLANNING THE

PROJECT

By
A.Khaliq
Project Management Chapter 04
Project Planning
This chapter initiates our discussion of
Time and Quality management in a
project.
Means how you can plan for timely
completion of a project according to the
given quality/standards.
This chapter presents the classic project
planning techniques that project
managers, customers, and management
use to provide a detailed plan of action.
 Planning ??
Planning is the process used by managers
to identify and select appropriate goals
and courses of action for an organization.
3 steps to good planning :
1. Which goals should be pursued?
2. How should the goal be attained?
3. How should resources be allocated?
The outcome of planning process is
ACTION PLAN which determines the
strategy for the completion of
project.
Action Plan ??
Aproject plan,
According to theProject Management Body of

Knowledge (PMBOK), project Action Plan is:

"... a formal, approved document used to
guide bothproject execution andproject
control.
The primary uses of the project plan are to
document planning assumptions and
decisions, facilitate communication
amongstakeholders, and document
approved scope, cost, and schedule.
Major Parts of Action
Plan
Two most important parts of Project
Action Plan are:
Projects Budget
Project Schedule

But in order to get the above two, we need

to define the things which makes parts of
these..
 Purpose of Planning
At a minimum, a project plan answers basic
questions about the project:
Why?- What is the problem or value
proposition addressed by the project? Why is it
being sponsored?
What?- What is the work that will be
performed on the project? What are the major
products/deliverables?
Who?- Who will be involved and what will be
theirresponsibilitieswithin the project? How
will they be organized?
When?- What is the project timeline and
Project Planning
The Planning section should answer the
following questions to be effective:
What work, exactly, is required in completing

the project?
What skills & resources are required for this

work?
Who, specifically, performs each task?

How many days and how much effort and

expense will each task require?

Should the tasks be performed in a specific

sequence?
How large is the project team?
CONTENTS OF A PROJECT PLAN
Defining Elements
Overview
A short summary of the objectives and
scope of the project. It contains the
statement of goals and description of
managerial structure that will be used for
the project.
Objectives
A more detailed statement of the general
goals noted in the overview section. It
should include the profit goals as well.
 Defining Elements
General Approach
describes both the managerial and technical
approaches to the work. Technical approach means the
use of technology in the project and managerial
approach means the procedures for implementation of
the project.
Contractual Aspects
includes a complete list and description of all reporting
requirements, customer supplied resources, advisory
committees, project review and cancellation
procedures, etc. All these are present in the form of
contracts with the project organization. To avoid the
risk of resource shortages the contractual aspects may
include some future contracts as well.
Defining Elements
Schedules
this section includes the list of various tasks and all
the important events. The estimated time for each
task should be given in the schedule. The
responsible persons should sign the respective
schedules.
Resources
this includes the budget (both capital and expense
requirements) as well as cost monitoring and control
procedures. Onetime cost is separated from
recurring project cost. Cost monitoring and control
procedures are also described.
 Defining Elements
Personnel
this section lists the expected personnel
requirements of the project including special
skills, training needs, and security clearances.
Security means to protect project related secrets
and to provide security to the project staff.
Evaluation Methods
every project should be evaluated against
standards which are established in the project
plan. This section briefly explains the procedure
for monitoring and evaluation of the project work.
Defining Elements
Risk management plans
this section covers potential problems as well
as potential lucky breaks that could affect the
project. Sometimes it is very difficult to
convince the planners to make a serious
attempt to anticipate potential difficulties or
benefits. The reason may be unexpected
technological breakthroughs, hurricanes or
sudden moves by competitors. PMs try to list
everything that can go wrong. Contingency
plans may be developed to meet these
disasters.
Elements of Project
Master Plan
Overview
brief description of project
deliverables
milestones
expected profitability and competitive
impact
intended for senior management
Objectives
detailed description of projects
deliverables

Elements of Project Master Plan
continued

General approach
technical and managerial approaches
relationship to other projects
deviations from standard practices
Contractual aspects
agreements with clients and third parties
reporting requirements
technical specifications
project review dates
Elements of Project Master Plan
continued

Schedules
outline of all schedules and milestones
Resource requirements
estimated project expenses
overhead and fixed charges
Personnel
special skill requirements
necessary training
legal requirements
Elements of Project Master Plan
concluded

Evaluation methods
evaluation procedures and standards
procedures for monitoring, collecting,
and storing data on project performance
Potential problems
list of likely potential problems
THE PLANNING
PROCESS
PMs First Job
Understand the expectations that
the organization has for the project.
Identify who among senior managers

has a major interest in the project.

Determine if anything about the

project is atypical(unusual).
Developing Invitation
List
At least one representative from
senior management.
Managers from functional areas that

will contribute to the project.

Perhaps highly specialized technical

experts.
The Launch Meeting
Senior management introduces PM
PM chairs meeting

develop general understanding of the

functional inputs the project will need
may brainstorm the problem
may develop preliminary plan
Important results
scope understood and temporarily fixed
functional managers understand their
responsibilities and have committed to
 Project Launch Meeting
The outcomes should be:
1. Technical Scope is established
2. Basic areas of performance
responsibility
are accepted by the participants
3. Some tentative(uncertain) overall
schedules and
budgets are spelled (suggested)out
Project scope
Project scope is a definition of the end
result or mission of your project-a product
or service for your client/customer.
The primary purpose is to define as
clearly as possible (in specific, tangible,
and measurable Terms) the deliverables
for the end user and to focus project
plans.
Your project scope definition is a
document that will be published and used
by the project owner and project
Project scope
To ensure that scope definition is complete,
you may wish to use the following checklist:
Project Scope Checklist
1. Project objective
2. Deliverables
3. Milestones
4. Technical requirements
5. limits and exclusions
6. Reviews with customer
(Refer to the case for example)
Sorting Out the Project
Hierarchical planning process (for
Action Plan)
begin with projects objectives
list major activities needed to achieve
objectives (level 1 activities)
delegate level 1 activities to individuals or
functional areas to develop list of level 2
activities
degree of detail should be same within a
given level
Three Levels of Detail in Hierarchical
Planning
The Project Action Plan
Project activities identified and
arranged in successively finer
detail (by levels).
Type and quantity of each required

resource identified for each

activity.
durations estimated for each

activity.
Milestones identified.

Using the Project Action

Plan
Project master schedule created by
combining milestones, durations,
and predecessors
used to compare actual and planned
performance
Use of templates
THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
Simple Approach for Creating the
WBS

Gather project team

Provide team members with pad of

sticky-notes
Team members write down all tasks

they can think of.

Sticky-notes placed and arranged on

wall
 WBS Format
The WBS is divided into different levels.
At the top level tasks are listed then

below each task the work groups and

below work groups are the work units.
From top to bottom the project

activities gets subdivided from level to

level unless its performance becomes
very much clear.
The WBS Example
Suppose you want to invite your friends on a
dinner and want to serve them chicken, rice and
soup.
Now chicken needs to be cooked and fried, it may
take some 30 minutes time.
First you boil and then cook the rice it will also
take some 40 minutes time.
Similarly to prepare soup it will take 50 minutes
and then serving Pepsi etc shall take 10 to 15
minutes time.
Suppose these are the entire activities in a project
and you want are going to make WBS for it.
Step 1

The following are the main tasks to be

performed in this project.

Preparing meal
Eating meal
Step 2

1.0 Prepare meal

1.1 Cook Soup
1.2 Cook chicken, rice, and sauce
1.3 Make dish
1.4 Buy Pepsi
2.0 Eat meal
2.1 Eat Soup
2.2 Eat rice and chicken (dish)
Step 3
1 Prepare meal
1.1 Cook soup
1.2 Cook chicken, rice, and sauce (dish)
1.2.1 Boil rice
1.2.2 Brown chicken
1.2.3 Prepare sauce
1.2.4 Cook chicken, rice, and sauce

1.3 Prepare dish (1.3.1,2,3 & 4)

1.4 Buy Pepsi
1.4.1 Open Pepsi
1.4.2 Fill glasses
2 Eat meal
2.1 Eat soup
2.2 Eat chicken and rice
WBS Example Graphical Representation

Dinner Invitation

Prepare Meal Eat meal

Cook soup Cook Chicken Eat soup

Eat rice, chicken

OpenBuy
Pepsi
Pepsi Boil rice
Prepare dish
Fill glasses Brown chicken

Prepare Dish
Responsibility Chart
Responsibility
Assignment Matrix
A Responsibility Assignment Matrix
(RAM) describes the participation by
various organizations, people and roles in
completing tasks or deliverables for a
project.
Its used by theProject Managerin
clarifying roles and responsibilities in cross-
functional team, projects and processes.
Also known as Responsibility chart.
Responsibility Assignment
Matrix
Why Special Structures & Charts

The Project Plan is usually a large

and complex document.
So PMs need fast and simple ways of

communicating specific kinds of

information about their projects.
Action plans, WBS and responsibility

charts are simple and highly flexible

ways of doing this.
Stay Tuned Many things still to
come
Two Extremes to avoid while
Planning

Ready, Fire, Aim

Paralysis by Analysis