CHAPTER-02

PROJECT PLANNING

MEANING(2 MARKS)

Planning is the first managerial function and it is concerned with deciding in advance what is to be done, when, where, how and by whom it is to be done.

Its involves detailed analysis of various components of the project and means to achieve them.

FIVE KEY PROJECT MANAGEMENT VARIABLES

Scope Quality Cost/Resource Schedule people

SCOPE(8MARKS) It states what will and will not be

included as part of the project. Scope provides a common

understanding of the project for all stakeholders by defining the project’s overall boundaries.

Scope is the overall definition of what the project is supposed to accomplish.

In project management, scope of a project is the sum total of all of its products and their requirements.

IMPORTANCE OF SCOPE

It establishes the boundaries of what the project will and will not accomplish.

It eliminates any confusion that might still exist after considering the project’s goal, objectives and high-level deliverables statements.

It is the foundation for defining a change management strategy

By change management process, changes to scope can be managed, rejected, or deferred in a disciplined manner.

SCOPE-KEY TASKS

1. Document the scope statemento Project outcome and success criteriao Expected services in order to achieve the project outcomeo functionality and data o Technical structureo Phases (what will be implemented first?)

2) Document the high level requirement of the proposed solution

3) Define the deliverables which will be associated with the project.

4) Determine if this project will impact any organizational units or any systems.

5) Develop a high level timeline for when major phases of the project will occur.

QUALITY

According to H. JAMES HARRINGTON“Quality is the meeting or exceeding

customer expectations at a cost that represents a value to them.”

MEANING: The project quality refers to things like

applying proper project management practices to cost, resources, communications etc. it covers managing changes within the project.

PROJECT COST/RESOURCES

The aggregate amount expended to develop the project is referred to as project cost.

Cost of doing the project is another important variable that defines the project.

Cost is major consideration throughout the project management life cycle.

SCHEDULE

A project schedule is a schedule wherein activities are assigned duration and sequenced in a logical order.

Effective project schedule management is of critical importance to business and industry.

Scheduling is an important tool for accomplishing a project where it can have a major impact on the productivity of a process.

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT

The human resources management includes the process required to coordinate the human resources on a project.

Functions Development of human resources plan Acquiring staff Measuring the performance of staff Release of staff at the end.

MILE STONES(2MARKS)

This gives us an idea about the progress of work.

Milestone represents earmarked phases representing ‘deliverables’ with dates.

The PERT suggest assessment of the project progress at milestones. The deliverables represents statistical data showing the details of work performed as against the budgeted to be performed as on the date of the review and also the forecast for the remaining work to complete the project schedule.

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE(WBS)-(8M) WBS- refers to the system of breaking a project into manageable units

so that one can identify all the work elements needed to complete the project.

Example: college fest, etc

ADVANTAGES:• Partition the major project deliverables into smaller components to

improve the accuracy of cost estimates.

• Provides a mechanism for collecting and organizing actual costs

• Provide a mechanism for performance measurements and controls

• Defines the final and intermediate products of a project and their relationships.

• Uses a tree diagrams/structure diagram to show the resolution of overall requirements into increasing levels of details.

HOW TO USE WBS

Identify the primary requirements or objectives.

Subdivide the requirements statements into major secondary categories.

Break each major heading into greater details.

Review the WBS for logic and completeness.

PROJECT PLANNING CYCLE(15-MARKS)

1. Analysis of opportunities:• SWOT Analysis• Risk Analysis

2. Identifying the aim of the plan• Vision statement• Mission statement

3. Exploring options4. Selecting the best option

• Gird Analysis• Decision Analysis

5. Detailed planning6. Evaluation of the plan and its impact

• PMI• Cost/benefit Analysis • Force Field Analysis techniques in evaluating a plan• Cash Flow Forecasts

7. Implementing changes8. Closing the plan

A GOOD PLAN WILL:(8 MARKS) State the current situation

Have a clear aim

Use the resources available

Detail the tasks to be carried out, whose responsibility they are, and their priorities and deadlines.

Detail control mechanisms that will alert you to difficulties in achieving the plan.

Identifying risks, and plan for contingencies. This allows you to make a rapid and effective response to crises, perhaps at a time when you are confused following a setback.

Consider transitional arrangement- how will you keep things going while you implement the plan?

CONTENTS OF THE MASTER PLAN:(8 MARKS)

1. Management summary

2. Management and organization section:a) Project management and organizationb) Manpower requirementc) Training and development

3. Technical section

PROJECT SCHEDULE

The project schedule refers to the listing down step by step in sequential order, the jobs involved in the implementation of the project. These steps should be well defined along with the estimated time for each step.

MANAGEMENT CONTROL

Control is the process through which standards for performance of people and processes are set, communicated, and applied. Effective control systems use mechanisms to monitor activities and take corrective action, if necessary.

Control process is a continuous flow between measuring, comparing and action.

STEPS IN CONTROL PROCESS:(15 MARKS) Establishing performance standards, Measuring actual performance, Comparing measured performance against established

standards, and Taking corrective action, Time controls, Material controls, Equipment controls, Cost controls Budget controls, TQM, Financial controls, Operational control methods, Statistical process control, Management by exception

TECHNIQUES USED TO MEASURE COMPLETION OF PROJECT

1) The Gantt Chart2) Analysis of Cost and Labour Hours3) Analysis of Time Schedules4) Analysis of Milestones achieved.

PROJECT SCHEDULING AND NETWORK PLANNING

Network planning consists of categorisation of the activities involved in the project in a sequential manner and schematic representation of all the activities necessary for the projects.

It is done in three stages:

1) Identify each activity to be done in the project and estimate how long it will take to complete each activity.

2) Determine the required sequence of activities.

3) With the help of above details, dram the diagram of network of the activities which helps in understanding the operational planning of the execution of the entire project.

LEFTOVER TOPICS

Project planning: Identifying Strategic Project Variables

“plan the work, then work the plan.”

Strategy in project management: Strategy outlines the path to be followed in order to

achieve the objectives. Strategy can be classified in terms of meaningful product differentiation. The former approach is known as “corporate strategy” and the latter “business strategy.”

Project planning: Statement of Work, Project Specification

Thank you