Planning Phase
The Project Planning phase is the second phase of a project, and it provides the Project Manager with a roadmap for how the Project will progress and how it will be executed.
The Phase begins after the approval of the Project Charter and ends with the approval of the Project Plan, which along with the Business Case is the primary document for this phase of the project. Do not skip over this phase of the project, as time and effort invested here will pay off further down the line when you enter the Execution phase of the project. The Planning activities here provide the solid foundations to establish and run a successful project. Without these, the project will be on shaky foundations.
The documents available for this Phase are:
• Benefits Plan
• Business Case
• Change Management Plan
• Communications Plan
• Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)
• Project Budget
• Project Plan
• Quality Assurance Plan
• Terms of Reference
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Depending upon the size of your project, you may wish to combine some of the above documents in to the Project Plan. Smaller projects can have a Project Plan that covers off benefits, change management, communications, options analysis, PBS / WBS, budget and quality planning. However, for larger projects it is worthwhile detailing all of these in separate documents as listed above, and combining this information to form the Project Plan. It is up to the discretion of the Project Manager (with guidance from the Project Director / Steering Committee) as to which documents need to be produced.
The typical chronological order of project planning is as follows:
1) Agree Project Scope (section of the Project Plan)
2) Determine tasks (WBS & PBS)
3) Calculate durations and resources required to complete tasks (Project Schedule & Project Budget)
4) Document dependencies and identify the Critical Path (Project Schedule)
5) Calculate costs of completing tasks (Project Budget)
6) Complete the Project Plan to include details on how the project will be delivered.
The Benefits Plan should document what the Project’s benefits are, how they will be realised and when, who is responsible for realising them, and how these benefits will be tracked and measured (both during the project and afterwards).
The Business Case defines WHY a project is being undertaken, and along with the Project Plan (the HOW) is the most important document a Project Manager will produce.
The Change Management Plan documents how Project changes will be raised, evaluated and approved to ensure that only appropriate changes are made to the baselined plan.
The Communications Plan documents how and when the project will communicate with all its stakeholders, and who will be responsible for what.
A Product Breakdown Structure is a key tool in Product-based planning. It provides an exhaustive hierarchy of project deliverables.
A Project Budget forecasts all of the Project's expenditure (and revenue). Once baselined, it is used as a living document to track actuals v.s. budget.
The Project Plan defines HOW a project will be delivered and along with the Business Case (the WHY) is the most important document a Project Manager will produce.
The Quality Assurance Plan is required to ensure that final Project products are of the upmost quality.
The Terms of Reference template details the context, scope and purpose of a particular group – e.g. a Steering Committee
A Work Breakdown Structure is a planning tool, similar to a Product Breakdown Structure, to build an exhaustive hierarchy of the work required to complete a project.