Developing a project management plan is essential for any business or organization. As you can assume setting up a plan before you begin to execute some, in any aspect, would make that project an easier undertaking than it would be to go in blindly. Project management planning allows an organization to have an overall perspective of everything that is going on in a project. A project management plan is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a project’s execution and control (Schwalbe 174). The effectiveness of a companies planning could be the difference in making a productive product that is released on time and a product that could potentially get scrapped because of the errors made and the extra costs it took to correct them. With that being said, many companies provide guidelines and restrictions that their project managers must abide to when planning a project. In this blog, we will talk about steps to help develop a project management plan, using guidelines to create these plans and how these plans can be functionally used within software management.
When setting up your project management plan there are two main processes that most people use: Traditional, commonly known as waterfall, and agile. With waterfall planning you and your team will go about approaching each phase of the project layer step by step. This can be beneficial in certain cases however it doesn't allow for adaptability in the middle of a project. Agile on the other hand is iterative and adapts to changes all the time throughout the project which helps to prevent you team from getting to the end of a project area before having to with any problems
Project managers should to an extent be in the loop of everything from the scope of the project to the cost all the way to the development of the project. With that being said, there are guidelines that they must adhere to when developing a project management plan. For example, when you look Department of Defense, their project managers can’t tell the development team to do whatever they want, there are guidelines as to what they are allowed to do. Every organization provides guidelines within their parameters to help to create successful project management plans. Staying within the parameters of a company’s guidelines will help to have a more efficient flow through the development. Below is a sample of what might be on a company’s project management plan’s guidelines
Just like any other plan, a project management plan does have steps that help to build the foundation of the project. When initially developing a project, almost all of the time the team will ask the questions of: what are we developing? Why are we developing it? And who is the product for? Those are good questions to ask but, for the overall of the project management plan those are just a small part of one step. In the case of software development, Project managers start their planning by talking to stakeholders of the project to find out what their requirements are for the software. The second step that should be addressed, after learning the requirements, is to decide on the scope of the project. Figuring out what needs to be produced or solved is the key to the project. Without a scope the is nothing to develop. Once the team defines the scope the next step should be to breakdown the scope to smaller deliverable. This allows the team to manage the project in an easier fashion. This breakdown would then allow the team to define and sequence project activities in order to work on parts of the projects that are deemed more necessary at that time. After defining and sequencing activities, as a project manager should look at how long a project could take, the resources needed to complete the task and the costs that go along with it. This step is pretty much a no brainer considering you can only do as much as you resources allow you. Once the resources are attained, they should be assigned throughout the project based on the needs of the activity. Another step that should be taken when going through the process of project planning is having contingency plan. Projects never go perfectly, especially larger ones, however; have a backup plan for certain scenarios can help to detoured long delays within in the development. Having a baseline measurement for the project helps to track how the team is doing and compare their performance. These last 3 steps to in my opinion are key to having a foundation within the team. First is having the project manage develop subsidiary plans. Trying to plan everything as a project manager is an extremely tall task, that’s why breaking the overall plan down into smaller plans can help to alleviate some of that stress. Breaking things down to plans such as schedule, cost, risk and scope management, just to name a few, can help to keep order during the project while also keeping the team on track. Below is an example of how a project management plan can be broken down alongside the subsidiary plans used to break things down.
The next vital piece to this trifecta is to document everything. I can’t stress this enough…. There need to be a reference point back to everything!!! Documenting everything covers all your bases because you can always look back at your notes and see any discrepancies that could be present. Finally, we have building a knowledge base. Everyone in the team should always be willing to learn and adapt. Documenting mistakes and learning from them only helps the team and organization grow. Having a knowledge base and a team who’s willing to embrace it allows for more growth and comradery within the group. Those are just some of the steps and tips that I believe help to develop a better project management plan. Below is a list of these the tips with a brief description.
As you can see developing a project management plan can delve into all parts of a project’s development. Following a company’s guidelines along with using these tips can provide a more efficient and easier project development project. That being said it takes time, communication and cooperation from the team and organization as a whole for these tips to be successful. Sure, everything won’t be 100% the whole way through and there will definitely be changes but having a sound project management plan can help to smooth over any obstacles as smoothly as possible. Have a good day, and Happy planning
Bibliography
Schwalbe, Kathy. Information Technology Project Management. Boston, MA: Course Technology, 2019. Print.