The process of planning projects Chapter 5 The process of planning projects

Initial project Coordination It Is crucial that the project’s objectives be clearly tied to the overall mission, goals and strategy of the organization, such as might be reflected in the project portfolio process. Senior management should delineate the firm’s intend in undertaking the project, outline the scope of the project, and describe how the project’s desired results reinforce the organization’s goals. Without a clear beginning, project planning can easily go astray.

Cont… Project launch meeting : it is vital that the senior managers call and be present at the project launch meeting, an initial coordination meeting, as a a visible symbol of top management's commitment to the project. The individual leading the launch meeting is first to define the scope. The success of the project launch meeting is absolutely dependant on the existence of a well-defined set of objectives.

At the launch meeting , the project is discussed in sufficient detail that potential contributors develop a general understanding of what Is needed. It is useful to review the major risks facing the project during the launch meeting. The known risks will be identified during the project selection process. It Is important not to allow plans, schedules and budget to go beyond the most aggregated level (level 1), possibly (level2) if the project deliverable are fairly simple and so do not require much interdepartmental coordination. Remember that this is only one of a series of meetings that will require the plan projects of more than minimal completion.

Whatever the process, the outcomes must be that: The technical scope is established Basic area of performance re3sponsibility are accepted by the participants Any tentative delivery dates or budgets set by the parent organization are clearly noted. A risk management group is established.

The various parts of the project plan , including the risk management plan, are then scrutinized by the group and combined into comprehensive project plan. Each subsequent hardens the project somewhat, and when senior management has indorsed it, any further changes in the project’ s scope must be made by processing a formal change order. If the project is not large or complex, informal written memoranda can substitute for the change order.

nothing is as sure to in rage functional unit mangers as to find that they have been committed by someone else to alterations in their carefully considered plans without being informed. This anger at the change without communication is always fatal for the project. The final approved result of this procedure in the project plan , also sometimes known as the master plan, baseline plan or the project charter. When the planning phase of the project is completed, it is valuable to hold an additional meeting , a post review meeting.

Outside clients When the project is to deliver a product/service to an outside client the fundamental planning process is unchanged except for the fact that the specification cannot be altered without the client’s permission. 2 objections to such early participation by engineering and manufacturing are likely to be raised by marketing. First sales arm is trained to sell. Second it is expensive. Concurrent engineering Requirement formulation

Project plan elements Overview: sort summary of objectives and scope of the project. Directed towards organization and contains statement of the project. A brief explanation of project to firm’s objectives. Managerial structure. List of milestones. Objectives : detailed statement of the general goals noted in the overview section . Statement include profits and competitive aims as well as technical goals. General Approach: describe the managerial and the technical approaches. Technical approach means the technology of the firm. And general approach means use of subcontractors.

Cont.. Contractual Aspects: complete list and description of all reporting requirements. Customer-supplied resources. Liaison arrangements. Advisory committees. Project review and cancellation procedures, proprietary requirements, any specific managerial agreements. Technical deliverables and their specifications. Delivery schedules , and a specific procedure for changing any of the above. Completeness is a necessity in this section.

Cont.. Schedules : various schedules and budget and list of milestones events. Resources : there are 2 primary aspects to this section. budget. Including capital and expense requirements. Cost monitoring and control procedures. Personnel: expected personnel requirement. Risk Management Plan: potential problems as well as potential lucky breaks that could affect the project. Evaluation Methods: evaluated against standards.

3. Project planning in action Project plan s are usually constructed by listing the sequences of activities required to carry the project from start to completion. Using a planning process oriented around the life cycle events common for software and hardware product developers, they divide the project into 9 segments: Concept Requirements identification Design Implementation Test Integration validation Customer test and evaluation Operation and maintenance

System integration System integration ( sometimes called system engineering or concurrent) is one part of integration management. And plays a crucial role in the performance aspects of the project. This phrase is used to include specialists in the science or art of the project who is capable of integrating the technical discipline to achieve the customer's objectives , and/or integrating the project into the customer’s system. System integration is concerned with 3 major objectives Performance Effectiveness cost

The Work Breakdown Structure & Linear Responsibility Chart The WBS often appears as a picture of a project subdivided into hierarchical units of tasks, subtasks, work packages etc. The WBS is the fundamental tool of planning The WBS is important document and can be tailored for use in a number of different ways. It may illustrate how each piece of the project contributes to the whole in terms of performance, responsibility , budget, and schedule. It may , if the PM wishes , list the vendors and subcontractors associated with a specific tasks.

Cont.. it may note detailed specifications for any work package, establish account numbers, specify hardware/ software to be used and identify the resource needs It may serves as the basis for making cost estimates or estimates of task duration. Its uses are limited only by the needs of the project and the imagination of the PM

The following steps explain the procedures for designing and using the WBS Using the action plan, list the task breakdown into successively finer levels of details. For each work package identify the data relevant to WBS. It is helpful to construct a linear responsibility chart to show who is responsible for what. All work packages information should be reviewed with the individuals or organizations who have responsibility for doing or supporting the work in order to verify WBS accuracy.

For the purpose of pricing, the total project budget should consist of 4 elements: direct budget for each task, an indirect budget, a project contingency reserve for unexpected emergencies and any residual which include the profit derived from the project which may occasionally be intentionally negative. Schedule information and milestones events can be aggregated into a project master schedule. As the project is carried out step by step, the PM can continually examine actual resource use by work elements, work packages , tasks and so on to full project level.

Finally the project schedule may be subjected to the same comparisons as the project budget. Actual progress is compared to schedule progress by work elements, work packages , tasks and so on to full project level to identify problems and take corrective actions.