How to Build the Perfect Project Plan
Project planning is essentially a step in project management where the documentation or the road-map required for successful completion of a project is implemented. It is basically the process of defining the scope and objectives of a project and the steps of how to achieve them and is commonly represented in the form of a document or a Gantt chart.
Project planning isn’t difficult but it takes time to do properly. So for every project it is good to create project planning document that cover entire project scope to start and completion with all features. And it’s not a onetime thing; you create a project plan and then continuously refine that plan.
Why project planning is necessary?
Any journey requires a road map; in the same way any project requires a project plan. It makes project managers’ work easy. A project plan clarifies the process and activities that will lead to the project’s outputs and deliverables.
Project planning ensures that all the process are executed on given time, resources are used judiciously, project cost baseline is maintained, roles and responsibilities are well defined and the overall objective of the project is accomplished so that the end users’ requirements are met.
You need a project plan to show your approach — how you are going to take a project from initiation to close — and the process you’ll take to get there.
Scope and objectives
“The main reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.” –Jim Rohn
Start by determining the scope of your project as it is the foundation for the rest of your project. If a project is a movie then your team is the cast and crew and they need to know what they should be doing at all times without the director reminding them and therefore defining scope and objectives is important. Goals and objectives describe what will be the outcome of the project. The scope statement should include –
• Business needs
• Business problems
• Project justification
• Key milestones
Scope statement also decreases the chances of miscommunication.
Project Timeline
“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” –William Shakespeare
How terrified would you be if you worked hard on a project but it resulted in unsatisfying work? Every project has limited time and a tight budget. Therefore it is necessary to define a project timeline.
A project timeline is a visual roadmap that connects the dots from now until the final due date. It specifies how long each task will take and when to start the next task. Without a timeline you just have a to-do list. The timeline assigns a specific start and end date, or time span, to each task.
The project manager more or less holds the entire project together and needs to make sure that all the work happens within a time frame.
“Get the right people. Then no matter what all else you might do wrong after that, the people will save you. That’s what management is all about.” — Tom DeMarco
Assigning responsibilities to team members gives each person a sense of ownership. When the team members take care of their individual responsibilities, one can guarantee that every small and large aspect of the project gets completed.
The team member’s role is to successfully perform the tasks that have been allocated, keeping the project manager informed of progress as well as issues that may arise. Assigning roles and responsibilities ensures –
• Understanding the purpose and objectives of the project
• Ensuring a correct balance between project and non-project work
• Working on timescales
• Working within cost constraints
• Reviewing deliverable/products
• Working together as a team
Cost baseline
“A cost baseline is an approved time-phased budget that is used as a starting point to measure actual performance progress.”
Each and every project runs on a limited budget. Since always a limited fund is assigned, it is necessary to have a backup. Any undesirable situation may arise any time and you may fall short of monetary resources or the overall budget of the project may rise.
Having a properly designed cost baseline helps solve such error without affecting the overall performance and quality. It includes activities such as planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.
Creating a project plan for every project you manage will help in increasing the overall efficiency of your organization.
Having a proper project plan ensures user satisfaction which is the ultimate goal of any enterprise.
