Chapter Four: Project Planning with Software

The Chapter will focus on:

• Project Planning: concepts and questions
• Logical framework Analysis
• Project Cycle
• Project process Groups
• Project phases
• Work breakdown structure (WBS) and work package
• Define activities
• Tasks, summary Tasks, and milestone Tasks
• Sequence Activities
• Task Dependencies
• Precedence diagramming method and Arrow diagramming method
• Project Schedule network diagram
 Planning Project

• Planning is looking into how, why and when scarce resources are
going to be properly allocated and utilized to get the desired
outputs.
• Not all projects are derived from a formal planning process but
many are. Where projects are derived from the planning process
they are usually derived from medium-term plans.
Three satages of Planning:

National Planning- GTP

Sectoral Planning- ESDP, HSDP

Project Planning- Suger project, Dams, Roads, ..etc

 The Importance of Project Planning
• Project planning is a key to the development of any economy and
it is very vital to ignite the spark of development.
• It also helps to use the scarce resources in efficient and effective
manner.
Generally, there are four major reasons to project planning.
i) To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the operation;
ii). To identify and work towards a common goal;
iii) To establish a means of project monitoring and control;
iV) Besides, project planning helps us to obtain answers to the
questions what, when, how, by whom in order to attain the
specified aims and objectives.
 Common Steps in Project Planning
Steps involved in proper project planning:
1. Aims and objectives: The actual aims / quotas / milestones to be
reached within a specified time, according to client requirements
2. Path (Strategy) to be followed and actions to be taken to reach
the aims and objectives.
3. Schedule showing when individual / group activities will start
and end.
4. Budget (expenses) involved in order to reach the specified
objectives.
5. Organizing and assigning specific people to a specific objective,
as well as the specific responsibilities for each task.
6. Policy and general guidance for decision making and individual
actions.
7. Detail strategy and plan to execute the actions.
8. Standards and determining quality for each action.
Limitations of a project

• The first problem is measurement problem. Identifying and

measuring the costs and benefits of a capital expenditure
proposal tends to be difficult.

• Another problem is the uncertainty issue. It is impossible to

predict exactly what will happen in future.

• The last issue relates to the temporal spread. The costs and
benefits of a capital expenditure decision are spread out over a
long period of time, usually 10 - 20 years for industrial projects
and 20-50 years for infrastructural projects.

• Such temporal spread creates some problems in estimating

discount rates and establishing equivalences.
Types of Projects
• New, updating and expansion

• Market based, resource based

• Private, NGOs, and/or government

• Industrial, agricultural and service

Approaches to Project Appraisal

• Traditional approach: Growth objectives

• New approach: Considers the distributional aspects of cost and
benefits of a project i.e., between rich and poor and regional
equality.
 Approaches to Project Planning

• Top-bottom – Centralized
• Bottom- up – Grass root
• Participatory – Blended
Logical Framework Analysis
 What is a logical Framework ?
The Logical Framework Matrix provides a summary of :
• Why a project is carried out
• What the project is expected to achieve
• How the project is going to achieve it
• Which external factors are crucial for its success
• Where to find the information required to assess the success of the project
• Which means are required
• How much the project will cost
Advantages of the logical framework
• Problems are analysed systematically
• The objectives are clearly formulated, logical and
measurable
• The risks and conditions for success of a project are
taken into account
• There is an objective basis for monitoring and
evaluation

Your project proposal will be coherent

 The Logical Framework Approach
Analysis phase
1. Problem analysis:
identifying stakeholders, their
key problems, constraints and
opportunities, determining cause
and effect relationships.
2. Analysis of objectives:
developing objectives from the
identified problems, identifying
the relationships between the
means and the ends.
3. Analysis of the strategy:
identifying the different
strategies to achieve objectives,
determining the major objectives
(overall objectives and project
purpose or specific objective).
Planning phase
4. Logframe: defining the project
structure, testing its internal logic
and formulating objectives in
measurable terms, determining
means and cost.
5. Activity planning:
determining the sequence and
the relation between the
activities, estimating their
duration , setting the main stages
in the process, assigning
responsibility.
6. Resources planning: from
the activity schedule, developing
the input schedule and the
budget.
 Project Cycle

• Project Cycle is the different stages, phases, levels, steps, events

or sequences that a project follows.
• There are several models of project cycle but the most important
ones are:
• Traditional approach
• Process approach
• The European Union project cycle
• The Asian development bank project cycle
• The Integrated planning & magm’t project cycle
• The UNIDO project cycle model
• The first two are the models of the World Bank.
• The most popular model is the traditional version
of the WB developed in 1970 with four stages and
in 1978 transformed to 5 levels and known as
Baum Project Cycle Model
 Project Cycle (Warren Baum)

Identification

Evaluation
Preparation
Interaction

Implementation
Appraisal
 Project Cycle…
•   Identification

• Post-evaluation Pre-feasibility

Implementation Feasibility

• Appraisal
 Project Identification
 1st stage to find potential projects. It starts from idea
production
 Sources could be:
• Technical specialists
• Local, regional or national government organizations (eg.
investment authority)
• Review or post-evaluation of past projects
• Plans of different parties (state, corporate
• Development banks
• Entrepreneurs and
• Bright idea or beyond the tenth, imagination or IQ
 Bases for Identification
 Felt or pressing need
 Demand and supply (domestic & over seas)
 Resource availability
 Technology availability
 Natural calamity
 Political consideration – eg. to attract FDI
 Project Preparation

•Projects that survive the early stage of successful identification need to be

prepared and analyzed before money is allocated to them.

Critical element of project preparation is: Identifying and comparing

technical and institutional alternatives for achieving the project’s objectives.

 Preparation requires feasibility study until satisfactory project is selected.

It involves generally two steps:
•Pre-feasibility studies
•Feasibility studies
 Pre-feasibility study
• It is a preliminary assessment that formulate the way for
launching the full assessment of feasibility study.

 This phase intended to assess:

• Whether the project is prima-face worthwhile to undertake.

 To identify which aspect requires detail investigation.

• We need to assess all aspects of projects (technical, social.)

 We estimate the financial and economic costs and benefits.

 If it is found worth or viable we have to go to the next step.
Pre-feasibility study…cont
Some of the main components examined during the pre-
feasibility study include:
• Availability of adequate market
• Project growth potential.
• Investment costs, operational cost and distribution
costs.
• Demand and supply factors; and
• Social and environmental considerations
 Feasibility Study
• The major difference between the pre-feasibility and
feasibility studies is the amount of depth.

• If the preliminary screening suggests that the project is

prima facie worthwhile, a detailed analysis of the marketing,
technical, financial, economic, and ecological aspects is
undertaken.

• Feasibility study provides a comprehensive review of all

aspects of the project (appraisal) and lays the foundation for
implementing the project and evaluating it when completed.

• At this stage a team of specialists (scientists, engineers,

economists, sociologists) will need to work together.
• Feasibility - Detail study and report of the project contains:
√ Background of the project
√ Technical Study
√ Market Study
√ Organisation & Management
√ Financial Analysis
√ Economic Analysis
√ Environmental Analysis
√ Cross-cutting Analysis
√ Sensitivity Analysis
√ Risk Analysis
Project Appraisal
• Appraisal is a critical review of all aspects of a project.

• Select the most likely project out of several alternative

projects.
• Review the feasibility study critically
• Strictly apply sensitivity and risk analysis
• Compare with standards or establish standards.
• Apply appraisal criteria like target rate, and/or industrial
average.
• Don’t overlook appraising designs, manpower &
marketing procedures (like 4Ps).
 Project Appraisal…
• If the appraisal team concludes that the project plan is
sound, the investment may proceed.
• But if the appraisal team finds serious flaws, it may be
necessary for the analyst to alter the project plan or to
develop a new plan altogether.

 There are two methods of measuring the project

worthiness.

1. Un-discounted measures

2. Discounted measures
 Implementation
• Project implementation is a phenomenon by which project
studies are translated into reality within their specified time
and budget.
• It covers the period starting from the time decision is made to
invest on the project up to the start of normal production.

• This stage could be divided into, among others, scheduling,

financing, negotiation and contracting, discussing,
constructor training, erection, installation and
commissioning.
Follow-up, Monitoring & Evaluation

a) Follow-up:
• Follow-up is a method by which a project promoter keeps a
watch on the progress of project implementation.
• In follow-up of project implementation, there is no need to
hurry.
• What is required is diligence and caution, as well as to
know and analyze the sequential relationship of activities
and to identify the important and critical ones.
Monitoring and Evaluation
• The essential first steps of feedback are the processes
of monitoring and evaluation.
• Monitoring provides project management with
information about current and emerging project
problems and data to assess if the project objectives
remain valid.
• It is an ongoing activity used to reassess components
necessary to meet project objectives in the light of
experience as implementation proceeds.
 Primary questions of monitoring
• Are the right inputs being supplied/delivered at the right
time?
• Are the planned inputs producing the planned outputs?
• Are the outputs leading to the achievement of the planned
objectives?
• Is the policy environment consistent with the design
assumptions?
• Are the project objectives still valid?
 Evaluation

 Final phase of project cycle.

 It is an Assessment of project impact.

 Evaluate the success or failure of project whether it finish its

service or not.

 Give lesson for revising of a project.

 Compare actual performance with projected performance.

 It examine the project plan and what is really happened.

 PM Process Groups

• Project management can be viewed as a number of interlinked

processes
• A process is a series of actions directed toward a particular result
• The project management process groups include:
• Initiating processes
• Planning processes
• Executing processes
• Monitoring and controlling processes
• Closing processes
• Process groups can be applied to each phase of the project or to
the entire project
Process Groups and Project Phases

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 Initiating Processes
• Defining and authorizing the project
• Prepare project charter
• Register stakeholder
• Determine if the project is worth continuing, should be
redirected, or canceled
• May take place at the beginning of each phase
• Reexamine the business need for the project during every
phase of the project life cycle
 Planning Processes
• Scope management plan
• Define the work that needs to be done
• Schedule management plan
• Schedule activities related to the work
• Cost management plan
• Estimate cost for performing the work
• Quality management plan
• Product meets written specifications and intended use
• Procurement management plan
• Decide what resource to procure to accomplish the work
• Revise plan during each phase for changes
• Ensure that the project addresses organization needs
 Execution Processes
• Acquiring project team and resources to carry out various plans
and various tasks
• Conduct procurement
• Manage stakeholder expectations
• Produce product, services, or results of the project or phase
• Perform quality assurance
 Monitoring and Controlling Processes
• Measure progress against all plans
• Take corrective actions when there is deviation
• Ensure that progress meet project objectives
• Ensure that the project meets stakeholders’ needs and quality
standards
• Reporting performance to stakeholders
• Stakeholder can identify any necessary changes to keep project on
track

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Planning, Execution & Control
 Closing Processes

• End the project efficiently

• Archiving project files
• Closing out contracts
• Document lessons learned
• Receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work from
customers
Process Output (outcomes)
Group

initiation Complete project charter, complete a business case (the need for the project)

planning Complete project scope, schedule, cost, quality, procurement plans

Work breakdown structure (WBS)
Revise plans, Ensure the plans address organization needs

Execution Take the actions necessary to complete the work described in planning (e.g.
purchase HW and SW, develop and install SW), deliver the actual work of the
project, perform quality assurance

Monitoring & Monitor deviations from the plans, take corrective actions to mach progress
controlling with the plans, measure progress toward project objectives, ensure that
deliverable are being completed and objectives are being met in terms of
scope, cost, time, and quality, complete performance report
Closing Close contracts, Archive files, Gain acceptance for project results,
Report lessons learned

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 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• The WBS represents a logical decomposition of the

work to be performed and focuses on how the
product, service, or result is naturally subdivided. It is
an outline of what work is to be performed.

LEVEL ELEMENT DESCRIPTION

1 Project
2 Category
3 Subcategory
4 Sub-Subcategory
5 Work Package
Work Package
 Deliverables and Milestones
• Deliverables
• Tangible, verifiable work products
• Reports, presentations, prototypes, etc.
• Milestones
• Significant events or achievements
• Acceptance of deliverables or phase completion
• Cruxes (proof of concepts)
• Quality control
• Keeps team focused
Example of WBS: “Holiday”

Holiday

travel
documents booking household

passport tickets choose confirm

resort cat!

insurance
brochures

Chapter 5 Planning 43
Developing the WBS
45