Introduction to project planning

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Program

Programme : BBA

Semester

Subject Code: IB 0006

Subject Name: Project Planning and Scheduling

Unit Number: 1

Unit Title : Introduction to Project Planning


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Introduction to Project Planning

Many people either intuitively convert management tasks

associated with ongoing enterprises into a project management

format management by projects. For example in the

management of a factory operation (mass production), a

certain desired outcome and an associated time period areprescribed. This is then identified as a project and the full set of

project management tools, including planning and control, are

utilized to achieve the desired outcome.

Project success, to others, is viewed in terms of beatingplanthat is, beating the planned performance, typically in terms of

time, cost and quality.


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Objectives:

Recognizing the changes in the economic trends that lead to

project ideas

Understand implication due to political, legal and technical

aspects that affect implementation of the projects

Explain steps to suggesting/choosing the right project to enhance

competitive advantage

Evaluating projectsimpact on environment

How to assess uncertainties and risk factor in organization


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Importance of Planning for Projects

A project plan starts with a project requirements document and

scope definition, both of which are prepared during the project

initiation process. Using these initial documents, a project

planner determines what tasks are necessary to execute the

project and their dependencies (also known as the projectswork breakdown structure).

The successful realization of a project will depend on careful

and continuous planning. The activities of designers,

manufacturers, suppliers and contractors, and all theirresources, must be organized and integrated to meet the

objectives set by the promoter and/or the contractor.


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PWBS chart

Gantt chart Graphically draw the project plan, including any

task dependencies, by visually adjusting task durations and

priorities and by linking tasks to each other.

RBS chart resource assignment

Import project teams and assign resources to tasks. The RBS

chart shows the resources and their task lists for resource

assignment and planning.


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Earned value report Budget and status reports Cost and

revenue reports

View real-time project earned value, project status, budget, and

cost/revenue reports. The reports can be configured to include

your specific project tracking metrics.

Integration

Project plan is integrated with Project Workforce Management.

Create a plan, assign resources, and track it with the time and

expense tracking module. View planned versus actual work atany time.


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Factors influencing a project

Projects are influenced by a multitude of factors which can be

external or internal to the organization responsible for its

management and execution.

All these influences are neatly encapsulated by theacronym PESTLE, which stands for

Political

Economic

Social

Technical

Legal

Environmental


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Here two types of politics have to be considered.

Firstly there are the internal politics which inevitably occur in all

organizations whether.

The second type are the external politics over which neither the

sponsor nor the project manager may have much, if any,control.

Economic

Here again there are two levels of influence: internal or micro-

economic, and external or Macro-economic.


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Technical

It goes without saying that unless the project is technicallysounds, it will end in failure. Whether the project involves rolling

out a new financial service product or building a power station,

the technology must be in place or be developed as the work

proceeds.

Legal

One of the fundamental requirements of a contract and by

implication a project is that it is legal. In other words if it is illegal

in a certain country to build a brewery, little protection can be

expected from the law. The relationships between thecontracting parties must be confirmed in a legally binding

contract which complies with the laws (and preferably customs)

of the participating organizations.


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Environmental

Some of the environmental aspects of a project have already

been alluded to under Social,from which it became apparent

that environmental impact assessments are highly desirable

where they are not already mandatory.

The following considerations must therefore be taken into

account when deciding to carry out a project in a particular

area of the world:

Temperature (daytime and night) at different seasons

Rainy seasons (monsoon)

Tornado or typhoon seasons

Access by road, rail, water or air

Ground conditions and earthquake zones

Possible ground contamination


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Steps for Reducing Uncertainty in Project

Whilst it is perfectly possible to evaluate a number of project

options in ones head, the ask becomes increasingly difficult as

the number of project options increase, and as more than three

major criteria need to be considered. This moves from very

difficult to Mission Impossible when working with a team of

managers, especially ones with strong egos and strong views

about most areas of strategy and strategic projects generally.


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A more formal way of prioritizing strategic options needs to be

found and this is manifest in the Strategic Option Grid whichlooks at a number of options against the following generic

criteria (including financial):

Strategic attractiveness

Financial attractiveness

Implementation difficulty

Uncertainty and risk

Acceptability to stakeholders


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The Project manager

The selection of the right project manager who has personaldrive and good leadership, people skills and communication

ability is considered important. Some technical expertise is

regarded as an advantage, as is a track record of delivering

projects on time and on budget, and an understanding of the

type of project.

The Project team

One of the roles of the project manager is to develop team

direction and a team wanting success or desiring

accomplishment. This follows from careful selection of teammembers, with the appropriate expertise, clearly defined roles

of team members, leadership, motivation, trust and mutual

respect, recognition and reward.


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Stakeholders

A certain synergy is necessary among the stakeholders (allthose influenced by the project), and in particular among the

project manager, project team members, consultants,

contractors, project owner and community. All have to work

closely together.

Objectives and scope

The end-product objectives and the project objectives are

made clear to all stakeholders, some of whom may have

contributed to their formulation. There has to be a clear

definition of the project scope, and this has to be understood byall stakeholders.


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Communication

The establishment of good communication links with project

stakeholders and within the project team is seen as essential.

This ordinarily includes the holding of regular meetings, two-

way communication, and the sharing of knowledge.

Uncertainties/risks

Attention is directed to the recognition of risks and the initiation

of practices for dealing with these risks. These include,

amongst others, risks arising from contractual, environmental(natural) and community sources, but typically anything likely to

impinge on the time, cost and quality outcomes of a project. An

inability to assess risks, or lack of knowledge of risks, may lead

to under-performance.


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Documentation

Documentation, including the design and contract documents,

needs to be clear, explicit and well understood. Directions and

changes are recommended to be in writing.

Early project phase work

Work carried out in the early project phases is believed to have

the greatest ability to influence the project cost. Small

expenses provide large returns. It is suggested that the causes

of under-performance occur primarily in the early projectphases, and to a lesser degree later on where under-

performance often occurs as a result of poor decisions made in

the early project phases.


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Important matters

According to the Pareto or 80-20 rule, 80% of the problems on

a project arise from 20% of the items. Effort accordingly needs

to be focused on the 20% of items (the so-called Pareto items).

Alternatives

There is always the potential for cost and time savings through

the consideration of alternative work practices and using

alternative suppliers.


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Planning

Recommended practice is to make use of established planning

methodologies such as the critical path method, based on a

work breakdown structure (breaking the project down into

smaller units or work). Poor planning could be expected to

contribute to under-performance.

Control

The routine of planning-implementing-monitoring-reporting-

controlling is carried out continuously throughout a project.Times, costs, resources and delays are monitored, variances

(differences between actual and planned) analyzed, and

appropriate actions are taken.


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Outsourcing

Contractors and subcontractors (or internal organizational

groups) of proven ability, and with the necessary financial and

technical resources, are used. Price should not be the sole

criterion for selection. Working with preferred contractors is one

way to go.

Documents

Introduction to project planning