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IT Bites > Services >
Project Management > Planning
Defined by the Project Managers Institute as:
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"devising and maintaining a workable
scheme to accomplish the business need that the project was undertaken to
address" |
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The success of the project will depend on how well we planned it. There is a
massive tendency to run before we can walk in projects, and they are started
before really knowing where they are going. Time spent in the Planning process
will reap dividends later on.
The main aim is to create a detailed project plan by:
 | Designing the plan in terms of methodologies and tools to be used |
| Defining the deliverables, or products, of the project |
| Identifying activities required to create the products and any
dependencies |
| Estimating time and cost |
| Scheduling the activities |
| Assessing impact against risk register |
In addition, we must also be careful to include:
| An up to date and, if necessary, amended Business Case |
| Quality planning which will check that the progress we are making is as
desired and provide assurance to the business |
| All the controls that the project will require e.g. a communication plan |
| Project standards e.g. filing systems; document templates etc |
When all of the above is assembled, the project will have a full definition
of its aims and and how they will be achieved and this would be agreed by all
parties - Business, Users and Suppliers. However, as a process Planning does not
stop there. No project will ever start and finish with the same plan. Project
objectives may change slightly; failures may occur; delays are likely. The
initial documentation must be seen as working and will be subject to constant
scrutiny and possible change. All of this will be managed by IT Bites.
In Prince 2 terms, Planning corresponds to the Initiate Project (IP) and
Planning (PL) processes.
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