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Planning the project
Having gained commitment to the project and its scope
from stakeholders, it is important that the project is planned in detail.
An accurate, well-maintained and frequently referenced project plan is
essential to managing the project
successfully.
Although taking time to plan is crucial to the success
of the project, planning is often neglected or rushed in the haste to get
onto the more interesting analysis phase of the project, especially when
stakeholders or ministers are keen for project results. However, planning
is the whole basis of project management philosophy and it is vital to do
it well. Team leaders should expect to spend as much as 30% of their time
project planning.
Taking a step back to develop a project plan before
diving into the detail has a number of benefits:
- helps forge a common vision across the team
- provides coherency between different strands of the project
- it helps to think through tasks and anticipate potential
roadblocks
- highlights trade-offs on issues of time, budget, breadth and depth
of analysis
- helps anticipate long lead-time activities
- helps manage key stakeholder expectations of what is in and out of
the scope for the project, what the team is doing, and whether the
project is on track
- provides an 'anchor' when difficulties develop
The plan should go into significant depth on the
project's rationale and approach, including how the work will be structured,
what the key milestones will be, and how the
main risks will be mitigated or minimised. In
addition the plan should set out the intended approach for managing
stakeholders and communications, and define the project
governance structure.
Finally, the extent to which the project will be in the
public domain should be agreed. The sensitive nature of some projects may
mean that it is not appropriate to announce them publicly.
Useful links:
>
developing the plan
> structuring the work
> setting milestones
> managing risks
> defining accountability
> managing stakeholders and
communications
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