projectplanningandcontrol-120331060550-phpapp02

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Project Planning and Control


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What is a project plan?

A project plan is a model of the process that theproject team intends to follow to realise the project

objectives. It brings together a number of importantaspects of this process including its scope, timing,cost, and associated risks.

The project plan can be viewed as a type ofcontract between the project team members andother stakeholders. It defines the process by whichthe objectives will be achieved, and theresponsibilities in carrying out this process.

Project plans also underpin a number of other key

project management functions including estimatingand forecasting, options analysis and decision-making, and performance monitoring and control.


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Who is responsible for planning?

Everyone in the project team should be

involved in developing the plan. Itshould be a collaborative effort.

The project manager should provide

leadership in this area but may delegatesome of the administrative aspects and

detailed analysis to a project support

role. On larger projects there may be one or

more dedicated planners.


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What are the benefits of planning?

It is more likely to lead to success and

is more cost-effective than a just do itapproach.

It develops greater mutual

understanding and more commitment toachieving the objectives within theproject team.

It provides an early warning system

so that problems are identified whilethere is still time to do something aboutthem.


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Key elements of a plan

Products What products must the projectdeliver? What are the quality requirementsassociated with the products?

Activities What activities are needed todeliver the products?

Resources What resources are needed tocarry out the activities?

Schedule In what sequence should we carryout the activities? How long will the activities

take to complete? Are the required resourcesavailable? How long will the project take overall?


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Budget What are the time-phased

resource requirements and financial

costs? How much will the project costoverall?

Risks Are we taking unnecessary risks?

Is the level of risk exposurecommensurate with the risk appetite? Are

there any opportunities that could be

exploited? Assumptions What are the underlying

assumptions associated with the plan?


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The planning process:

What is the process for developing aplan?

There are four key stages in developing arobust plan:


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STAGE 1

Identify, structure and define the products

needed to achieve the project objectives.

Break down the work needed to deliver the

products into discrete work packages.

Define the responsibilities of the

individuals or teams who will deliver the

work packages.


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STAGE 2

Identify the activities and resources

needed to deliver the work packages.Construct a schedule that takes account ofthe logical dependencies betweenactivities, and the availability of resources.

STAGE 3

Estimate the quantity of resources andfinancial costs associated with each work

package, and use this information inconjunction with the schedule to developtime-phased budgets.


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STAGE 4

Identify and analyse the risks associated

with each work package and evaluate arange of options for handling them. Select

the most cost-effective combination of risk

management actions and incorporate

them into the plan.


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Stage 1 Defining scope andresponsibilities


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Objectives

To ensure that all the work and productsneeded to achieve the project objectivesare included in the plan.

To develop a hierarchical framework for

integrating the key planning and controlfunctions (scope, quality, cost, time, risk)at different levels of management.

To specify the organisation andresponsibilities for managing the work anddelivering the products.


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Fundamental principles:

Break down the project work into cohesive

work packages Define the required results (i.e., the

products) before considering how to

achieve them. Encourage collaborative planning and

commitment to achieving results by

negotiating and agreeing responsibilities atan early stage.


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Process description

Identify and structure the products needed to achieve theproject objectives using a Product Breakdown Structure

(PBS). Define the products and specify their purpose,quality requirements and acceptance criteria, usingProduct Descriptions (PD).

Break down the work needed to deliver the products intodiscrete work packages using a Work BreakdownStructure (WBS). Define the work packages and specifytheir products, quality requirements, acceptance criteria,assumptions, risks, and opportunities, using WorkPackage Descriptions (WPD).

Specify the organisation that will carry out and managethe work contained in the WBS, using an Organisational

Breakdown Structure (OBS). Define the responsibilitiesof individuals or teams in the OBS (with respect toelements of the WBS) using a Responsibility AssignmentMatrix (RAM).


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Stage 2 Scheduling and time/resourceanalysis


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Objectives

To identify the activities needed to deliver

each work package, and sequence them

according to their logical dependencies.

To estimate the time and resources

needed to carry out the activities in the

specified sequence.

To construct a schedule that takes

account of logical dependencies andresource availability.


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The time and resources needed to

complete each activity usually depend onthe sequence in which the activities arecarried out.

Since the time and resources needed tocomplete an activity are usuallyinterdependent, it makes sense toestimate both of these at the same time.

Scheduling must take account of resourceavailability.


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Process description

Identify the activities needed to deliver each workpackage. Also identify any key events (milestones)

associated with the delivery of products, importantdecisions, or external dependencies. Sequence theactivities and milestones according to their logicaldependencies, to create an activity network.

Estimate the time and resources needed to completeeach activity and record the underlying assumptions as aBasis of Estimate (BoE).

Develop an initial schedule that takes account of thelogical dependencies between activities. Calculate theTotal Float for each activity and identify the CriticalPath(s). If the initial schedule does not meet the required

timescales then investigate alternative schedules orconsider making tradeoffs. Analyse the time-phasedresource requirements and, if necessary, adjust theschedule to take account of resource availability or toimprove resource utilisation.


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Stage 3 Cost estimating andbudgeting


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Objectives

To develop a hierarchical framework for

planning and controlling resourceconsumption and financial costs.

To estimate the quantities and financial

costs of the resources needed to delivereach work package.

To develop time-phased budgets as a

basis for performance monitoring andcontrol.


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Fundamental principles

Since budgets are normally constrained,we need to monitor actual costs againstplanned costs on a regular basis to ensurethat timely corrective action can be taken if

there is a significant variance. Making good progress against the

schedule is often not enough to guaranteesuccess. It is also important to monitor the

planned and actual resource consumption(or financial costs) in relation to theprogress made.


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Stage 4 Risk analysis and response

planning


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Objectives

To identify the risks associated with each

work package.

To determine the overall risk exposure and

the contribution of individual risks.

To prioritise risks for further management.

To develop cost-effective risk

management actions (responses) and

incorporate them into the plan.


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Once the plan has been developed it

should still be considered a draft until itsrisk content has been analysed. Thisanalysis may lead to the plan being

modified to include risk managementactions.

Plans should be risk-efficient (i.e., shouldinclude no more risk than is necessary to

provide a given level of return), and therisk exposure should be commensuratewith the risk appetite.


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Monitoring and control


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Objectives - Fundamental

principles


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To inform decision-making processes at alllevels in the organisation.

Apply the principles of closed-loop control tomonitor project in the organisation, and to takeany corrective action. To review theperformance against the plan at regularintervals, and needed corrective actions to

ensure that objectives are achieved. Take anycorrective action needed to achieve the plan


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To identify problems and emergent risksearly enough objectives while there is still

time to do something about them. Monitor trends in performance over aperiod of time as the project progresses

To communicate regular progress to the

project team and other stakeholders aswell as the spot performance withrespect to an activity in order thatconfidence and baseline is maintained.

This allows us to distinguish betweencommitment and reality and the focustowards the project is maintained


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Project control cycle


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Identify the objectives and constraints, and develop aplan. Review and baseline the plan. Obtain authorisationto proceed.

Do some work. Measure performance and update the original estimatesand forecasts. Update the schedule and budget forecaststo take account of the latest information.

Investigate the causes of any significant variations with

respect to the baseline. Review the associated risks andassumptions. If necessary, develop options for takingcorrective action.

Agree on any corrective action that is required andupdate the plans (via Change Control if the baseline ischanged).

Confirm that the objectives have been achieved and thatthe required products have been delivered.

Obtain formal sign-off if appropriate.


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Performance monitoring

techniques

Schedule analysis Monitor variations in the forecast schedulewith respect to the baseline, as well as changes to the criticalpath(s) and remaining float of activities.

Budget analysis Monitor variations in the forecast budget withrespect to the baseline.

Milestone trend charts Monitor the forecast dates and actualdates of key milestones as a function of time.

Earned Value Management (EVM)Monitor earned - value andactual cost against planned value/cost

Risk analysisMonitor confidence values or probabilitydistributions associated with key elements of the schedule orbudget, as a function of time.

Buffer management fever charts Monitor the consumption ofschedule and budget contingency buffers as a function of time.


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Techniques for planning larger projects

Staged planning The project is split into a number ofdiscrete stages. An outline plan is developed for theproject as a whole, together with more detailed plans for

each stage. The plans for each stage are usuallydeveloped towards the end of the preceding stage. Thisapproach is a useful way of limiting risk exposure whenthere is uncertainty about the requirements, the work tobe performed, the available resources, or the project

environment. Hierarchical planning Planning and control is carried

out in a hierarchical fashion so that lower level plans andtheir associated control systems are nested withinelements of the higher-level plans.

Rolling Wave planning Only the near-term workpackages are planned in detail, while the far-term workpackages (sometimes called Planning Packages) areplanned in outline only.


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Principles of effective planning and control

Divide-and-conquer Manage complexity by breakingdown the various elements of the plan in a structuredway. But dont forget to keep track of the dependenciesbetween elements as you go.

Integrated approachDont plan and control thevarious project functions in isolation (e.g., scope, quality,cost, time, risk), as they are all interdependent. Instead,adopt a more integrated approach by bringing themtogether at key control points on the WBS (e.g., workpackages or control accounts).

Keep it simple, systematically Only add more detailto the plan where the cost of doing so and the increasedcomplexity it brings with it is justified by the amount of

information it provides. Team collaborationDont forget that the plan

represents the teams vision for achieving the objectives.So make sure they are involved in its development andany subsequent changes during the monitoring and

control process.


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RECAP Activity A task, operation, or process consuming time

and possibly other resources.

Baseline A snapshot of a plan (or element of a plan)that is used as a point of reference.

Budget The agreed cost or quantification of resourcesneeded to complete an activity by a set time.

Critical Path A sequence of activities through anactivity network where each activity in the sequence haszero or negative total float.

Duration The estimated or actual time required tocomplete an activity.

Milestone A key event selected for its importance inthe project.

Product The measurable output of an activity.

Resource Anything other than time that is necessaryfor carrying out an activity.

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