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Project Planning a Step by Step Guide
~ By Duncan Haughey
The key to a successful project is in the
planning. Creating a project plan is the
first thing you should do when
undertaking any project.
Often project planning is ignored in favour of getting on
with the work. However, many people fail to realise the
value of a project plan for saving time, money and many
problems.
This article looks at a simple, practical approach to project
planning. On completion of this guide, you should have a
sound project planning approach that you can use for
future projects.
Step 1: Project Goals
A project is successful when it has met the needs of the stakeholders. A stakeholder is anybody directly, or
indirectly impacted by the project.
As a first step, it is important to identify the stakeholders in your project. It is not always easy to determine the
stakeholders of a project, particularly those impacted indirectly. Examples of stakeholders are:
The project sponsor
The customer who receives the deliverables
The users of the project output
The project manager and project team
Once you understand who the stakeholders are, the next step is to find out their needs. The best way to do this
is by conducting stakeholder interviews. Take time during the interviews to draw out the requirements that
create real benefits. Sometimes stakeholders will talk about needs that aren't relevant and don't deliver benefits.
These can be recorded and set as a low priority.
The next step, once you have conducted all the interviews and have a comprehensive list of needs is to
prioritise them. From the prioritised list, create a set of easily measurable goals. A good technique for doing this
is to review them against the SMART principle. This way, the achievement of the goal will be easy to identify.
Once you have established a clear set of goals, they should be recorded in the project plan. It can be useful also
to include the needs and expectations of your stakeholders.
Now you have completed the most difficult part of the planning process; it's time to move on and look at the
project deliverables.
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Step 2: Project Deliverables
Using the goals you have defined in step 1, create a list of things the project needs to deliver to meet those
goals. Specify when and how to deliver each item.
Add the deliverables to the project plan with an estimated delivery date. You will establish more accurate
delivery dates during the scheduling phase, which is next.
Step 3: Project Schedule
Create a list of tasks that need to be carried out for each deliverable identified in step 2. For each task determine
the following:
The amount of effort (hours or days) required for completing the task
The resource who will carry out the task
Once you have established the amount of effort for each task, you can work out the effort required for each
deliverable, and an accurate delivery date. Update your deliverables section with the more precise delivery
dates.
At this point in the planning, you could choose to use a software package such as Microsoft Project to create
your project schedule. Alternatively, use one of the many free templates available. Input all of the deliverables,
tasks, durations and the resources who will complete each task.
A common problem discovered at this point is when you have an imposed delivery deadline from the sponsor
that is not realistic based on your estimates. If you discover this is the case, you must contact the sponsor
immediately. The options you have in this situation are:
Renegotiate the deadline (project delay)
Employ additional resources (increased cost)
Reduce the scope of the project (less delivered)
Use the project schedule to justify pursuing one of these options.
Step 4: Supporting Plans
This section deals with the plans you should create as part of the planning process. These can be included
directly in the plan.
Human Resource Plan
Identify, by name, the individuals and organisations with a leading role in the project. For each, describe their
roles and responsibilities on the project.
Next, specify the number and type of people needed to carry out the project. For each resource detail start
dates, the estimated duration and the method you will use for obtaining them.
Create a single sheet containing this information.
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Communications Plan
Create a document showing who is to be kept informed about the project and how they will receive the
information. The most common mechanism is a weekly or monthly status report, describing how the project is
performing, milestones achieved and the work you've planned for the next period.
Risk Management Plan
Risk management is an important part of project management. Although often overlooked, it is important to
identify as many risks to your project as possible and be prepared if something bad happens.
Here are some examples of common project risks:
Time and cost estimate too optimistic
Customer review and feedback cycle too slow
Unexpected budget cuts
Unclear roles and responsibilities
No stakeholder input obtained
Not clearly understanding stakeholder needs
Stakeholders changing requirements after the project has started
Stakeholders adding new requirements after the project has started
Poor communication resulting in misunderstandings, quality problems and rework
Lack of resource commitment
Risks can be tracked using a simple risk log. Add each risk you have identified to your risk log; write down
what you will do in the event it occurs, and what you will do to prevent it from happening. Review your risk
log on a regular basis, adding new risks as they occur during the life of the project. Remember, if you ignore
risks, they don't go away.
Congratulations. Having followed all the steps above, you should have a good project plan. Don't forget to
update your plan as the project makes progress, and continually measure progress against the plan.
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