CHAPTER 4:

PLANNING
FUNDAMENTALS
 INTRODUCTION

Every project is somewhat unique since it is aimed toward

an end-item or result that is itself in some way unique.
Because of its uniqueness, basic questions about the project
must be addressed and satisfactorily answered before work
can begin. Answering these questions such that the project will
achieve its goals is the function of project planning.
 THERE ARE TWO ESSENTIAL PARTS TO
PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

(1) During the conception and definition phases a plan is

prepared that specifies the project requirements, work tasks,
responsibilities, schedules, and budgets;

(2) During the execution phase, the work in the plan is

performed and project progress is tracked versus the plan.
This chapter gives an overview of the first part, and covers the
topics of scope and work definition, elemental scheduling, and
procurement management.
 PLANNING STEPS

Because each project is unique, there is never an a priori, established way of how the
project should be done. Each project poses new questions regarding what, how, by
whom, in what order, for how much, and by when, and the purpose of planning is to
answer them.
The planning process answers the questions in the following steps:

What? The process defines the project objectives, scope, and system requirements.
These specify the project deliverables, end-items, and other sought results, as well as
the time, cost, and performance targets.

How? It defines the work activities, tasks, or jobs to be done to achieve the objectives
and requirements. These activities include everything necessary to create and deliver
the end-item or deliverables, including planning, control, and administration activities.
 PLANNING STEPS

Who? It specifies the project organization—the individuals or departments,

subcontractors, and managers that will perform and manage the work, and specifies

their responsibilities.

When, in what order? It creates a schedule showing the timing of work activities,

deadlines, and milestone dates.

How much and when? The process creates a budget and resource plan to fund and

support the project.

How well? It specifies a method for tracking and controlling project work, which is

necessary to keep the project conforming to the schedule, budget, and user and

system requirements. This chapter and the next seven chapters discuss these steps

in detail.
 THE PROJECT MASTER PLAN

 Project planning begins early in the project life cycle —in most cases with

preparation of the proposal. While preparing the proposal a rudimentary project team

is organized, and the team prepares a brief summary plan for inclusion in the

proposal. This plan is prepared using the same, albeit more abbreviated, procedures

as are used to develop more elaborate and detailed project master plans.

 The difference between a proposal summary plan and a project master plan is that

the former is aimed at the aimed at the project team.

 The planning effort in preparing the proposal is directed at estimating the project

duration, cost, and needed resources. The proposal summary plan includes just

enough information about the project and price to enable the customer to make a

decision.
 CONTENTS OF MASTER PLANS

I. SCOPE, CHARTER OR STATEMENT OF WORK

Overview description of the project oriented towards management, customer, and
stakeholders. Includes a brief description of the project, objectives, overall
requirements, constraints, risks, problem areas and solutions, master schedule
showing major events and milestones.
II. MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION SECTION
A. Project management and organization: key personnel and authority relationships.
B. Manpower: Workforce requirements estimates: skills, expertise, and strategies
for locating and recruiting qualified people.
C. Training and Development: Executive development and personnel training
necessary to support the project.
 CONTENTS OF MASTER PLANS

III. TECHNICAL SECTION

A. High-level user requirements and system requirements.
B. Work breakdown Structure: Work packages and detailed
description of each, including resources, costs, schedules, and risks.

C. Responsibility Assignments: List of key personnel and their

responsibilities for work packages and other areas of the project.

D. Project Schedules: Generalized project and task schedules

showing major events, milestones, and points of critical action or
decision
 CONTENTS OF MASTER PLANS

E. Budget: Control accounts and sources of financial support: Budgets

and timing of all capital and developmental expenses.
F. Quality plan: Measures for monitoring quality and accepting results
for individual work tasks, components, and end-item assemblies.

G. Areas of uncertainty, and risk plan: Risk strategies, contingency

and mitigation plans for areas posing greatest risk.

H. Work review plan: Procedures for periodic review of work, what is

to be reviewed, by whom, when, and according to what standards.
 CONTENTS OF MASTER PLANS

I. Testing plan (may be included in work review plan): Listing of items to be

tested, test procedures, timing, and persons responsible.

J. Change control plan: Procedures for review and handling of requests for
changes or defacto changes to any aspect of the project.

K. Documentation policy/plan: List of documents to be produced, format,

timing, and how they will be organized and maintained.

L. Procurement policy/plan: policy, budget, schedule, plan, and controls for

all for goods, work, and services to be procured externally.

M. Implementation plan: Procedures to guide customer conversion to or

adoption of project deliverables
 SCOPE AND STATEMENT OF WORK

Project planning starts with defining the objectives, deliverables, and

major tasks of the project; in combination, these determine the overall
size of the project and the range or extent of work it encompasses—the
concept of project scope. Determining the project scope happens during
project conception, first when the project is initiated and during
preparation of the RFP and the proposal, and again during project
definition. In each case, user needs and requirements are compared to
time, cost, resource, and technology constraints to determine what the
project should and can encompass. The process of setting the project
scope is called scope definition.
 WORK DEFINITION

Once project objectives and deliverables have been set in

the scope statement, the next step is to translate them into
specific, well-defined work activities; that is, to specify the
tasks and jobs that the project team must do. Particularly for
large, unique projects, it is easy to overlook or duplicate
activities. To insure that every necessary activity is identified
and clearly defined, and that no activities are missed, a
procedure called the “work breakdown structure” is used.
 SCHEDULING

 The next logical step after requirements definition and work definition is to

schedule the project work tasks. A schedule shows the timing for work
tasks and when specific events and project milestones should take place.
 Project plans are similar to roadmaps: they show not only how to get to
where you want to go, but also what progress you have made along the
way. Work packages are what you must do; in combination, they are the
road to project goals. Along that road are signposts called events and
milestones that show how far you have progressed. Passing the last event
signifies having reached the final destination: project completion
 KINDS OF SCHEDULES

The two most common kinds of schedules are the project schedule and the task
schedule. Project managers and upper management use the project schedule (or
project master schedule) to plan and review the entire project. This schedule shows
all the major project activities, but not much detail about each.
A task schedule shows the specific activities necessary to complete a work package.
It is created for people working on a specific task, and enables lower-level managers
and supervisors to focus on the task and not be distracted by other tasks with which
they have no interaction. Task schedules are prepared by functional managers or
subcontractors, but incorporate interface and milestone events as specified on the
project master schedule. Project and task schedules are prepared and displayed in
many ways, including with Gantt charts.
 PLANNING AND SCHEDULING CHARTS

Gantt Charts
The simplest and most commonly used scheduling technique is the Gantt
chart (or bar chart), named after the management consultant Henry L.
Gantt (1861–1919). During World War I Gantt worked with the US Army
to find a way to portray visually the status of the munitions program.
He realized that time was a common denominator to most elements of a
program plan, and that it would be easy to assess progress by viewing
each element’s status with respect to time. His approach, which came to
bear his name, became widely adopted in industry, and is used today in
a variety of ways.
 PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT

Most projects involve procurement of goods, materials, and

subcontracted work. Indeed, in some projects everything is “procured”
and virtually nothing is done or produced “internally.” Whether project
work should be done internally or procured from outsiders is the result of
a make-or-buy analysis of the project end-item, subsystems, components,
or other project deliverables, and of work packages and tasks identified
in the WBS.
 SOLICITING AND EVALUATING BIDS

 Soliciting and Evaluating Bids Once the decision is made to procure

GWS, potential vendors are solicited to offer bids or proposals. A
customer who has a long-term relationship with a supplier or contractor
will usually approach the contractor and negotiate a contract. This is
called sole sourcing, because only one contractor is considered for the
contract.
 Sometimes the RFP is accompanied by a bidder’s or contractor’s
conference to explain the background and scope of the project,
documentation required from contractors, and contractual requirements.
 LOGISTICS PLAN

 Logistics relates to the transport and storage of materials. In projects

that are materials intensive, the loading, unloading, transportation,
inspection, clearances and approvals, and storage of materials can be
major issues.
 For example, consider a large construction project and the importance
of timing the arrival of materials (steel, pipes, concrete slabs) to
coincide with when those materials will be needed for the building.
Obviously the materials cannot arrive late, because that will delay the
project. But equally serious is when the materials arrive early.
 PERFORMANCE TASK FOR CHAPTER 4

1. What questions need to be answered every time when a new

project is planned? What are the steps in the planning process
that answer these questions?

2. What is the purpose of a project master plan? At what stage

of the project should this plan be prepared?
3. Can a project be undertaken without a master plan? What
are the possible consequences?