A Brief Introduction to Project Planning

What is Project Planning?

Project planning is the second stage of project management. In this stage, project managers create a project plan with their stakeholders and clients. This is done to set expectations for the project, create execution plans, list resources, and determine milestones to achieve throughout a project’s life cycle.

Purpose

As the second stage of project management, the project follows project initiation and builds on the agreed-upon project details of everyone involved. This sets the team up for successful project delivery. The main purposes of project planning are for project managers, their stakeholders, and clients to:

• Ensure the feasibility of the project after a further discussion based on the Project Initiation Document (PID)

• Facilitate communication for all stakeholders involved in the project

• Identify the duties and responsibilities of each stakeholder and the project management team

• Manage any possible risks that may come up during the project execution stage

• Help everyone involved understand what is expected of them

• Generate and manage feedback from the project planning process

Why is it Important?

Project planning plays an important role in overall project management. While feasibility should’ve already been established and estimated in the project initiation stage, some details still need to be discussed in length, which should happen in project planning.

With proper project planning, project managers can identify risks early on and mitigate them. No matter how small a risk may seem, it can be mitigated with a proper plan in place. This reduces the risk of it worsening or triggering a domino effect. Subsequently, proper planning that leads to reduced risk can lead to lower project failure rates.

On the other hand, with improper or insufficient planning, unrealistic project expectations and estimates may be created. According to PMI’s Pulse of the Profession 2024 report, the average project performance rate is only 73.8%. This indicates that 1 in 4 projects failed to achieve their intended goals.

In the process, impatience may also fester on the client or stakeholder’s end due to the misunderstanding. In worst-case scenarios, project execution can also go wrong, leading to failed or incomplete projects. This also results in higher costs and longer, messier timelines.

Elements

While there is no one sure way to create a project plan, all plans will be based on the same three elements. These three things to consider when creating a project plan are:

• Scope: This aspect outlines the project's end goal. It also defines exactly what the project management team will and will not do, based on the client's wishes and available resources. A project cannot proceed without having a clear goal and a scope to back it up.

• Project Budget: This pertains to the amount of money that is allocated to the project’s resources, paperwork, manpower, and the like to meet the project goals. Ideally, the project plan will work around this and ensure the project management team does not exceed it.

• Project timeline: This describes the expected duration of each project phase and when certain milestones should ideally be completed. In some cases, this is very strict, but in others, it can be very flexible depending on the situation.

As these elements will recur throughout the project planning process, it is important to store all related data in one place. For this, it would be preferable to use a cloud-based digital solution that prioritizes security. It also allows you to work anytime, from wherever you are.

Steps of project planning

According to the Project Management Institute, project planning can be part of every phase of a project. Here are the seven core steps that project managers follow for project planning:

• Define project scope and objectives: Establish the project task, deliverables and goals for the client and stakeholders.

• Identify stakeholders and assign responsibilities: Provide a list of individuals involved in the project, including their responsibilities and the decisions for which they are accountable.

• Break down the activities: Manage project tasks and responsibilities by using a Work Breakdown Structure.

• Estimate time, costs, and resources: Evaluate possible durations and costs for each project task. Determine the people, resources, and funding required to complete each task.

• Plan the project schedule: Organize tasks by urgency and importance, mark milestones, and identify critical paths to minimize the project timeline.

• Determine risks and dependencies: Pinpoint potential risks and task dependencies that could affect the project and provide mitigation or corrective actions.

• Document and communicate the project plan: Document all elements in a formal project plan for efficient, effective implementation, as noted by the UMass Boston Project Management Office. Consult relevant stakeholders before executing the project.