Project planning is one of the foundational skills of project management and a key indicator of project success. Make sure you have these project planning fundamentals covered.
What is project planning?
Project planning is the second of five distinct phases of the project management life cycle, as outlined by PMI’s PMBOK® Guide. Where the first phase – project initiation – is about designing the project to meet stakeholder needs, the project planning phase specifies tasks, timelines and actions to address more granular requirements, laying out exactly what is needed for a successful project outcome.
Essentially, a project plan is a detailed framework that includes how the project will be executed given its stakeholders, goals and objectives, and specifies the deliverables according to scope, schedule, resources and budget. It is controlled by risk management, quality metrics and change management.
Why good project planning is critical
In PMI’s 2021 Pulse of the Profession® Report, respondents were asked to identify the primary causes of project failures in their organisations. Of the top five answers, the following three all relate to inadequate project planning:
- poor requirements gathering (affecting 40 per cent of failed projects)
- poor upfront planning (33 per cent)
- inadequate vision and goals (28 per cent),
indicating that planning is a crucial part of project success.
Planning enables the team to clearly see what the true essence of the project is and how to defend against challenges to project success. For example, an issue such as scope creep, where requirements expand beyond the initial bounds of the project risking delays and budget overruns, can be prevented with a clearly defined scope. This makes the project plan an essential reference document that sets out a comprehensive roadmap for stakeholders to follow.
The project planning process
The purpose of a project plan is to define fundamental elements of the project so that stakeholders understand how the project goals will be met. The planning phase allows the project team to explore options, test ideas, and finalise the business case, ultimately building a solid foundation for success.
Here are the key questions the project team should answer in this phase:
1. What are the goals of this project?
The goals and objectives of the project should align with the strategic objectives of the organisation. The broader goals should be outlined in the charter during the initiation phase and typically stem from a problem statement summarising the issue you are looking to solve; in the planning phase you’re looking to develop SMART goals. This means each goal should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound.
2. Who are the project stakeholders?
Stakeholders should include:
- project team members
- the project sponsor, and
- other people who will be directly or indirectly involved in or affected by the project.
The main stakeholders would have been considered and/or consulted during the initiation phase; the planning phase is your chance to profile them by capturing key details including their expectations and requirements to ensure you meet their needs as the project progresses. Have a plan for how you will communicate with them also, including what information they need, the best channel and format and how frequently.
3. What is the project scope?
Scope is about the breadth of the project and defining the areas that your project will cover – as well as what it will not. If you are building a bridge, for example, your scope may include traffic management and tolls but not the arterial road leading onto it. Your project plan should include detailed scope and deliverables, including a work breakdown structure (WBS) that divides the scope into smaller more manageable tasks that contribute to the deliverables.
4. What resources will I need?
Consider all forms of resources including staff and expertise, facilities, equipment, and materials, as well as the need for their availability throughout the project – for instance, do you need an architect on hand for the duration of the project or just the first few weeks? Also pay attention to interdependencies; if your construction crew is ready but your materials haven’t been delivered, then that represents a waste of resources.
5. What is the schedule?
Having identified activities and your required resources, develop a detailed project schedule taking into account each task or activity, their expected duration and any dependencies as mentioned above. Also include any milestones to be met. It is normal to consider contingencies in your project schedule as part of your risk management.
6. What is the budget?
Once you have defined the scope alongside the resources needed and the expected schedule it will become easier to estimate the project’s cost and therefore develop a detailed budget. The project’s duration may also play a role in the final budget; given influences such as inflation and price movement on labour and materials, the longer the project, the less certain the costs into the future. Experienced project managers build contingency into the budget taking these factors into account.
7. What are the risks?
Risks are uncertainties that affect the project. They can either be:
- positive (opportunities), or
- negative (threats).
A thorough risk plan identifies and analyses potential events and prioritises them according to their impact on the project. It should include actions to take advantage of opportunities or mitigate threats.
8. How do we manage change?
Plans change and the ability to anticipate change and build contingency into a plan makes the planning phase more valuable. Your project plan should include a change control plan that details how to manage change requests and approvals, and how to log them. This ensures that no part of the project changes without being evaluated as necessary.
9. How do we ensure quality?
By its simplest definition, quality is when the stakeholders are satisfied with the project deliverables. Your plan should establish quality criteria for project deliverables, which may include factors such as time and cost outlay. Another consideration is identifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) that contribute to quality.
10. How do we track benefits?
Finally, your project plan should detail the expected benefits of the project based on outputs and outcomes and account for risk and opportunity management. Review the validity of these expected benefits and document how they will be tracked and realised.
An essential skill and how to develop it
Former US President Dwight Eisenhower once said: “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” Though plans rarely proceed exactly as prescribed, the act of planning is a critical skill that increases the chances of project success. Not only does effective planning help to prevent known issues and address potential challenges with contingencies, but it gives the project team the flexibility, resilience and confidence to make decisions for the benefit of the project throughout its execution.
In this regard, developing your understanding of project planning and the inter-related phases of every project’s life cycle is vital. Hands-on experience plays a big part but so too does relevant, quality training. PM-Partner’s Project Management Fundamentals course, for example, provides you with the essential skills to both manage a project end-to-end, and/or be an effective and valuable member of the project team.
Aligned with the PMBOK® Guide, the course uses a real-life case study approach to follow a project from conception through to completion and final review. The focus is on immediate and direct knowledge transfer to the workplace, with learning outcomes including the ability to:
- Assimilate essential tools and disciplines for planning and controlling projects
- Scope a project effectively
- Create a work breakdown structure and translate this into a reliable schedule
- Estimate with a high degree of accuracy using proven techniques
- Assess and manage project risks.
On completion of the course, participants will walk away with proven techniques, tools and processes to deliver projects within specification, on time and on budget – skills they can draw on to improve project outcomes, while also boosting their chances of career success.
Looking to bolster your foundational project skills? Check out our Project Management Fundamentals course, or get in touch online or via 1300 70 13 14 to find out more about what we can do to help you improve project performance.
PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.