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Planning Stage
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Project Life Cycle - Planning Stage
Conceptualisation Planning Implementation Completion
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Planning Stage 1 of 39 Project Life Cycle - Planning Stage - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Planning Stage 1 of 39 Project Life Cycle - Planning Stage - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Planning Stage 1 of 39 Project Life Cycle - Planning Stage Conceptualisation Planning Implementation Completion 2 Planning Stage Inputs Why plan? The planning process Objectives Work Breakdown Structure
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Planning Stage
Inputs Why plan? The planning process Objectives Work Breakdown Structure Estimating Scheduling Outputs
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Inputs
Feasibility report
Project objectives & scope Stakeholders & requirements Constraints Success criteria Feasibility analysis & risk level Initial plans Scope of the planning stage
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Inputs
Authorisation to proceed to next stage
based on feasibility report
Signatures from senior management in project and
client organisations
Project manager also signs to confirm acceptance of
the next stage
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Why plan?
Proactive rather than reactive Who does what, when and how? What resources are required and when? Identify problems/risks early Help identify costs Help communication Allows progress to be measured
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Why plan?
Planning has its own costs Benefits must outweigh costs
Good planning will benefit the project Bad planning can add to cost of failure
Don’t over-plan - allow flexibility
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Why plan?
If we fail to plan…
…we plan to fail!
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Planning process versus planning stage
Planning
an on-going process, not a stage iterative
Project plans are working documents Planning must be combined with
monitoring and controlling
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Planning process at each stage
Conceptualisation stage:
Plans demonstrate feasibility Identify general risks & constraints
Planning stage:
Baseline plan
what, when and how things should be done what resources are required
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Planning process at each stage
Implementation stage:
Progress monitored against plans
(constantly updated)
Plans contain detail for future work
Completion stage:
Plans provide a basis for final evaluation
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Objectives
Clear project objectives are vital to planning Allow success of the project to be evaluated Enable priorities to be set Enable conflicts to be resolved Provide direction and motivation Published so key stakeholders are aware of them Must be SMART
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Objectives
= Specific and written down = Time-framed = Agreed, Aligned, Achievable = Measurable = Realistic, Relevant
S M A R T
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Objectives
Increase UK sales volume of ring binders by 5% by 30 June 2013
Some examples:
the objective is: specific and written down measurable “increase UK sales volume of ring binders by 5%” achievable by the staff concerned, agreed by those involved, aligned to the requirements of the organisation relevant to organisation’s sales targets, realistic in terms of outlets time-framed “by 30 June 2013”
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Objectives
- Reduce staff absenteeism in SE department by 30% by 31 Dec 2013
Some examples:
the objective is: specific and written down measurable “reduce staff absenteeism in SE dept by 30%” achievable by the staff concerned, with health awareness courses, agreed by those involved, aligned to the requirements of the organisation relevant to the work of the organisation, realistic in terms of health care provision time-framed “by 31 December 2013”
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Objectives
- Hand in CC2005 assignment to UG Office by 10 May 2013
Some examples:
the objective is: specific and written down measurable “hand in CC2005 assignment to UG Office” achievable by students concerned, with lectures and seminars, agreed by academic & admin staff, aligned to the requirements of the module relevant to the work of the module, realistic in terms of lecture schedule time-framed “by 10 May 2013”
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SMART Objectives
- We do NOT have separate objectives for each element
- …there is not a measurable objective, a realistic objective, etc.
- Each objective must satisfy SMART criteria
Caution:
ALL
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Work Breakdown Structure
Systematic way of breaking down a project into
manageable and well-defined “chunks” of work (work packages)
Each work package broken down into a detailed list of
activities
Each activity broken down into individual tasks
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Work Breakdown Structure
Project Breakdown: top level WP 1 WP 2 WP 3 WP 4 Complete Project
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Work Breakdown Structure
Work Package 1 Breakdown Activity 1.1 Activity 1.2 Activity 1.3 WP 1
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Work Breakdown Structure
Activity 1.1 Breakdown Task 1.1.1 Task 1.1.2 Task 1.1.3 Task 1.1.4 Activity 1.1
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Work Breakdown Structure
Project Breakdown: complete structure
Task 1.1.1 Task 1.1.2 Task 1.1.3 Task 1.1.4 Activity 1.1 Task 1.2.1 Task 1.2.2 Task 1.2.3 Activity 1.2 Task 1.3.1 Task 1.3.2 Activity 1.3 WP 1 WP 2 WP 3 Task 4.1.1 Task 4.1.2 Task 4.1.3 Activity 4.1 Task 4.2.1 Task 4.2.2 Task 4.2.3 Task 4.2.4 Task 4.2.5 Activity 4.2 WP 4 Complete Project
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Work Breakdown Structure
Work package breakdown decided on:
Functional grounds Responsibility Project phase Geographic location
There is not an implied order in the
work packages / activities / tasks
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Work Breakdown Structure
Deciding between breakdown structures:
Budget control Team management Skills 3rd party organisations
(suppliers / contractors)
Reporting requirements
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Work Breakdown Structure
Example: project to build a house
One option - split into 3 work packages based on different contractors:
Civil
Plumbing Electrical
(Example from Burke, 1999, p.106)
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Work Breakdown Structure
Another option - split into 4 work packages based on the phase of the project:
Design Preparation of site and foundations Building Finishing and decorating
- Example: project to build a house
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Work Breakdown Structure
Each work package, activity and task must:
Be well defined Have a specification including:
- Clear deliverables
- Processes and procedures to be used
- Quality requirements
- Acceptance criteria
Be agreed
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Product Breakdown Structure
An alternative starting point to WBS Identifies project products (deliverables) Details what must be produced
(rather than what must be done)
Products include:
technical management quality
Philosophy behind PRINCE
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Estimating
- Accurate & timely estimates crucial to
success of a project
- Accuracy of estimate linked to uncertainty
- Level of uncertainty must be documented
- Estimates must be constantly updated as
new information becomes available
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Estimating
Level of uncertainty depends on:
Quality of information available How far into the future... How well-defined is the work Experience of the estimator Time available to produce estimates Other (project specific) ‘risk’ factors
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Estimating
Factors in project estimate uncertainty:
Requirements change over time
needs managing estimate revisions must follow immediately
Complete tasks/activities left out of plan
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Estimating
- Estimates can be broken down into:
- Cost
- Effort
- Time (duration)
- Resources
- Often these are highly inter-dependent
(not a linear relationship)
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Estimating
- If it takes 10 days for 1 person to dig a hole:
- two people may complete the task in
half the time needed by one person…
- ...but 100 people trying to dig the hole may take
longer than 10 days
- getting in each other’s way
- not enough tools for everyone
- not enough room
- arguing about who does what...
Important factors: communication and divisibility of work
(see Brooks, 1995)
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Estimating
Planning meals: people/resources/time
if there is enough food for 12 lunches
this would last one person every day for 12 days
(providing the food doesn’t go off!)
or two people every day for 6 days or four people every day for 3 days or 12 people for one day (a party!) but there is not enough for 14 people on one day,
and there is not enough for one person for 14 days this hasn’t included costs for storage, preparation, time for
preparation, freezing/thawing/cooking, effort in preparation (does it take 12 times longer to cook 12 meals than 1?), washing up, etc...
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Estimating
- Labour intensive projects: start with effort
- Cost, duration & resources then estimated
- Converting from effort to cost consider:
- Labour costs (hourly rate, etc.)
- Capital costs (e.g. equipment, products)
- Training costs (e.g. staff development)
- Travel costs (e.g. train, petrol, hotels)
- Overheads (e.g. management costs)
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Estimating
- WBS is a useful tool in estimating
- Each task estimated separately
- All task estimates give overall project estimate
- Widely used estimating method
- Metrics from previous projects allow similar
tasks to be identified & easily estimated
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Planning
- Check suggestions for further reading
- Try out tasks (including past exam questions)
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Further reading
Burke, R (2003) Project Management: Planning and Control
Techniques, Wiley
Bentley C.(1997) PRINCE 2: A Practical Handbook, Butterworth-
Heinemann
Central Computer & Telecommunications Agency (1997) PRINCE 2:
An Outline, London: The Stationery Office
Field M & Keller L (1998) Project Management, International
Thomson Business Press
Brooks F. (1995) The Mythical Man-Month (Anniversary Edition),
Addison-Wesley
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