Task: PM.1 Project Planning
The Project Planning activity documents the planning details needed to manage the project.
Disciplines: Project Management Process (PM)
Purpose

The primary objective of the Project Planning Process is to produce and communicate an effective and workable project plan.

This process determines the scope of the project management and technical activities, identifies process outputs, project tasks and deliverables, establishes schedules for project task conduct and required resources to accomplish project tasks.

Relationships
Categories
RolesPrimary Performer: Additional Performers:
InputsMandatory:
    Optional:
      Outputs
        Main Description

        The activity provides:
        Reviewed Statement of Work and the tasks needed to provide the contract deliverables and to satisfy customer requirements.
        Work team and customer roles and responsibilities.
        Project resources needs.
        Estimate of effort, cost and schedule.
        Project repository to store, handle and deliver controlled product and document versions and baselines.

        Steps
        Step 1. Identify products and activities

        The project manager identifies all the products, tasks and activities that need to be completed before the project can be finished. It may be necessary for the project manager to liaise with the customer and the work team to fully understand the objectives of the project and to break down each one into its constituent parts.

        Step 2. Create a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

        The WBS aims to identify all of the projects tasks that need to be completed and organises them in a hierarchal format, where smaller sub-tasks contribute to the completion of a larger task at a higher level.

        A typical WBS would consist of:

        • Project
        • Task
        • Sub-Task
        • Work Package
        • Effort

        Once a WBS is complete, project milestones (key deliverables) can be identified and may be used for project tracking.

         

        Tip: Many software packages such as MS Project can structure WBS information and automatically generate useful graphical representations.

        Step 3. Estimate resources, effort and duration

        For each task in the WBS the effort and duration should be estimated and the overall resources required to complete the project calculated.

        Typically a ‘bottom-up’ approach is used to estimate the effort required for each task in the WBS in terms of person hours or person days. 

        In order to create a schedule of tasks and estimate total project budget, it is necessary to estimate the resources (people, equipment, services, etc.) required to complete each task.



        Step 4. Create a schedule
        Tasks should be organised into a coherent sequence, including parallel activities, and mapped against time and resources, to produce a schedule of tasks to be completed by individuals during the lifetime of the project.
        Illustrations
        Key Considerations
        Whatever the size of the project, good planning is essential if it is to succeed. Effective software project management depends on thoroughly planning the progress of a project. A plan formulated at the start of a project should act as a driver for the project. The initial plan should be the best possible plan given the available information. It should evolve as the project progresses and better information becomes available.
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