Project Management System

Project planning is essential for establishing the mandate and guidelines prior to committing resources to the project. Many projects fail due to poor project planning and management. Project planning encompasses many facets. It includes properly defining the business case, establishing the project scope, outlining the stakeholder objectives and defining the project deliverables.

The project planning phase starts with meeting the project stakeholders. This is the conception stage which requires attention to detail to properly scope and bound the project. This can include defining the solution or working through business issues to properly articulate the concept. Tasks and resource commitments depend on the proposed solution being crystallized.

The business case forms the basis for establishing tasks and setting task durations. This will include determining task dependencies. The work breakdown structure will provide the necessary information to allocate resources. Milestones will also need to be set and worked into the overall project plan. Resource requirements are determined to develop the project solution in accordance with stakeholder objectives and established budgets.

Project resource planning is matched to the work breakdown structure. Timelines are established for the required personnel. The project scheduling makes allowance for any dependencies, internal and external contractor and work requirements. Resources are also determined within established budgets. Critical path analysis is sometimes used as a project planning tool for outlining dependencies. A Gantt chart is useful for the purposes of viewing total project work breakdown structure.

Project scheduling is part of project planning and must consider the availability of resources, deliverables and milestone commitments. Usually project planning tools such as project management software provides a module for schedule development. The scheduling of resources is planned to consider the project deliverables within the overall context of the availability of resources.

Documentation is an important part of project planning. The documentation can include information that provides details necessary for carrying out the project solution or supporting documentation that comprises part of the project management framework. Examples of supporting documentation include schedules to define the role of individual resources (human resources plan), the communications plan (information to define communication standards) and the risk management plan. The risk management plan is important for assessing overall project risk, determining potential points of vulnerability and outlining contingencies. For large scale projects that are dependent on the completion of several project stages, this can also include an implementation plan to outline the steps for project integration. Organizations that fail to undertake project planning have a higher chance of project failure. Taking the time to plan the project should be part of every project management system.

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