Project Management Plan

A project management plan is a formal, approved document, wherein the execution of the project is defined, monitored and controlled. It could either be a summary or a detailed version consisting of one or more secondary management plans and other planning documents. The key objective of a project management plan is to define the approach that has to be implemented by the Project team to deliver the intended project management scope of the project.

The project management plan is to be created by the project manager by discussing with the project team and key stakeholders, after which the plan must be agreed and approved by all of them. The plan must clearly state the Project Goal, while also summarising the project tasks and milestones. A typical project management plan must constitute of – enlisting the major and top priority tasks, sequence the tasks in a logical fashion, identify task assignments, define and ear-mark the required resources and project budget, clear communication of the kind of work expected from the project team members.

Once the objectives are set, the project manager needs to come up with a complete and thorough project plan. It involves – defining the tasks as independent work units; the tasks need to be ordered, assigned, scheduled and monitored by setting a scheduled time period for each of them. The tasks also need to be clearly documented and incorporated into project milestones. A Project Timeline may also be created by charting the tasks and milestones.

After a spending a considerable amount of time to gain some perspective on the project, it is imperative that the project management plan be referred back to. This will give the manager a fair idea about the project, whether it is solid or if there is a better way to organize tasks or to check if anything is missing.

Following are Project Management Steps which are designed to put the project management plan into action –

Definition: A project is made up of five different phases, wherein each phase reflects common tasks performed in that specific phase of the project. The phases include – Initiation, Planning, Execution, Control and Closure.

• Initiation – Key Stakeholders are identified and the project is defined by identifying the project goals and objectives. The project expectations are set and the Statement of Work (SOW) is developed and the Project Scope is also outlined.
• Planning – A Task List is developed, while publishing project activities which are required for the completion of the project. A project schedule may also be documented in coordination with the project budget. The project scope and SOW can also be revisited to make adjustments if any.
• Execution – The manager can then schedule for team meetings in order to regularly communicate with stakeholders. If any problems arise, appropriate remedies can be developed to clear project roadblocks.
• Control Steps – The progress of the project is to be regularly tracked before taking a step towards project changes. The schedule of the project then needs to be adjusted to account for changes, while also making appropriate adjustments to the project scope. The changes that have been made are to be communicated to project stakeholders.
• Closing – After releasing project resources, the manager needs to call for a meeting with the project team members, in order to discuss the lessons that can be learnt from the completed project. Project outcomes can then be collected from stakeholders. The project can then be closed by submitting a final project report.

While executing any project, certain key aspects need to be considered –

• Successful Scope Management – Scope Management includes the processes which are required to ensure that the project includes all the required work to successfully complete the project. Since every project has a set of deliverables, an allocated budget, and an expected closure time, the manager agrees upon certain requirements and tasks that need to be completed prior to the closure of the project. Any amount of variation in the scope of project could affect the schedule, budget and in turn the success of the project. It is therefore imperative the changes to the project are controlled and managed with a tight change management process, which will ensure that the project is delivered to the best of the client’s expectations.

• Requirements management – This involves establishing and maintaining an agreement between customer and developer on both technical and non-technical requirements, a process which requires documenting, analyzing, tracing, prioritizing and agreeing on requirements. It is hence a continuous process throughout a project, wherein the agreement forms the basis for estimating, planning, performing, and tracking project activities throughout the project. A requirement management plan is a component of the project management plan, wherein the purpose is to ensure that the customer and developer have a common understanding of what the requirements for the mission are. It also requires several subordinate goals which need to be met for this to take place. Most importantly, the requirements need to be of good quality and change must be controlled. The plan documents how these goals will be achieved. This process can therefore provide vital information, provided the development processes are stable enough to make the cost data comparable.

• Schedule Management – involves creating, analysing and executing a project schedule for maximum returns. It is said to serves as guidance for the scheduling process, while defining the roles and responsibilities for stakeholders in those processes. It is generally used by project managers and the project office in order to define how management practices will be conducted. In some companies, it may be a standardized document which is applied across multiple projects and is slightly modified so that only the individual resource and delivery requirements of the project get reflected. This process prevents the project managers from reinventing the process every time as and when they face a new project. This step generally includes descriptions of required documents in the form of network diagrams, Gantt charts, milestone charts, etc. The major milestones need to highlighted, wherein extensive detail on team processing of schedule information can be assessed.

• Quality Management – includes quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. It is focused not only on product, but also on the means to achieve it and therefore uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve a steady quality. Quality management is considered as the most powerful factor to capture, retain and enlarge customer base in the modern business scenario. With providing customer satisfaction as the main essential business criterion, quality management is the most effective strategy. It is a total package of concepts, methods and applications. In order to complete a successful project, planning and achieving a higher level of quality is vital. It is therefore necessary to manage various dynamics in an organization in order to set goals and shrewdly organize resources. The good management practices that are followed by an organization is reflected by the efficiency and effectiveness with which the resources are obtained and utilized to the maximum possible extent. It is also essential to improve system measures and improve different metrics related to the business processes. In order to balance the objectives of the partners of the enterprise and of customer requirements, a number of innovative approaches are required as many conflicting goals such as high customer service, low inventory, low unit cost etc. need to be met.