CIARRA MAE B.

PARATO
II-AIBPM

1. Definition of Project Planning

 Project planning is a procedural step in project management, where required
documentation is created to ensure successful project completion.
Documentation includes all actions required to define, prepare, integrate and
coordinate additional plans. The project plan clearly defines how the project
is executed, monitored, controlled and closed.
Project planning requires an in-depth analysis and structuring of the following
activities:

 Setting project goals

 Identifying project deliverables
 Creating project schedules
 Creating supporting plans

The project planning stage requires several inputs, including conceptual proposals,
project schedules, resource requirements/limitations and success metrics. Project
planning begins by setting the scope of a project and eventually working through
each level of dependent actions, tasks, checkpoints and deadlines.

All of this information is integrated into Gantt charts, or other types of scheduling
charts, to provide a project overview for all involved parties.

The culmination of the project planning stage identifies:

 Road blocks in the project

 Work required for project completion
 People involved in the project and their key responsibilities
 Minimum project completion time
 Major project deliverables
 Required project milestones

Project planning is never truly finished until a project is completed. The project
plan may return to the planning stage multiple times prior to project completion, or
even abandoned. Generally, project complexity determines the length of the project
planning stage.
CIARRA MAE B. PARATO
II-AIBPM

2. Importance of Project Planning

 Project planning is important because it plays an essential role in helping
guide stakeholders, sponsors, teams, and the project manager through other
project phases. Planning is needed to identify desired goals, reduce risks,
avoid missed deadlines, and ultimately deliver the agreed product, service or
result. Without careful planning, project performance is almost certainly
guaranteed to suffer.

 Project planning requires breaking down a larger project into tasks,

assembling a project team, and determining a schedule over which the work
is to be completed. During this phase, you create smaller goals within the
larger project, making sure each is achievable within the time frame.

3. Project Planning processes

 The project planning phase is often the most challenging phase for a project
manager, as you need to make an educated guess about the staff, resources,
and equipment needed to complete your project. You may also need to plan
your communications and procurement activities, as well as contract any
third-party suppliers.

The purpose of the project planning phase is to:

 Establish business requirements

 Establish cost, schedule, list of deliverables, and delivery dates
 Establish resources plans
 Obtain management approval and proceed to the next phase

The basic processes of project planning are:

 Scope planning – specifying the in-scope requirements for the project

to facilitate creating the work breakdown structure
 Preparation of the work breakdown structure – spelling out the breakdown of
the project into tasks and sub-tasks
 Project schedule development – listing the entire schedule of the activities
and detailing their sequence of implementation
 Resource planning – indicating who will do what work, at which time, and if
any special skills are needed to accomplish the project tasks
CIARRA MAE B. PARATO
II-AIBPM

 Budget planning – specifying the budgeted cost to be incurred at the

completion of the project
 Procurement planning – focusing on vendors outside your company and
subcontracting
 Risk management – planning for possible risks and considering optional
contingency plans and mitigation strategies
 Quality planning – assessing quality criteria to be used for the project
 Communication planning – designing the communication strategy with all
project stakeholders