Project planning: methods and stages. Project planning What does a project plan consist of?

Project management is a symbiosis of technology and the art of solving a unique task on time within the budget allocated for it. In order for the project to be completed successfully, it is necessary to achieve an understanding among the management of the company and the RM how it will be implemented, by whom, when and what kind of work must be performed. The project plan is considered not as one document, but as a whole set of documented solutions that answer the above questions. I present to your attention a review article examining the basics of project planning technology.

The essence of project planning

Project planning involves many interconnected iterations, the result of which is a single master plan. By project plan we will further understand the system of planned activities, documented as a result of preparation. This system consists of parameters connected in a special way, ensuring which a separate development problem is solved. These parameters are formed based on a number of functional areas of project activity:

content;
deadlines;
cost;
personnel;
supplies;
communications;
risks, etc.

The plan is a key element of the project management system. If the PM managed to draw up a detailed set of planning documents, then he has the right to expect guaranteed receipt of the required results at the end of the work. For this, timing, resources and other aspects must be well planned. Until a plan is developed, it is impossible to know how much money and time will be required to complete a unique task. Without a plan, the manager is practically deprived of guidelines for the compliance of the work with the goals of the project.

You must understand that planning does not always ultimately yield positive results, but negative conclusions can bring no less, and sometimes even greater, benefits. In any case, the efficiency of investing funds increases, and the “dissipation” of earned profits does not occur. Project planning lays the foundation for productive work and solves the following applied problems.

Clarify and detail the goals and results of the event.
Determine the composition and scope of work.
Estimate timeframes and budget costs.
Draw up a schedule and budget for the main phases or the entire project.
Make a refined estimate of resource requirements for each phase or for the entire task.
Draw up a resource plan.
Perform a risk assessment and create a risk response plan.
Explain the details of the event to the customer.
Agree on the plan with the main participants.
Distribute responsibility for work and tasks among participants.
Approve the master plan.
Clarify interaction plans and planning management procedures.

Place of the project management plan at the stage of its life cycle. Source: PMBOK 5 Guide

The place of planning processes among other processes of project implementation. Source: PMBOK 5 Guide

Project planning cannot be left in the air. It is preceded by initiation, and the output of these processes is the actual execution of the project. And we recognize a number of important points that planning:

tied to a specific time point in the life cycle of a unique task and to its significant period (see the diagrams shown above);
iterative – does not end after plans are written, requires regular updating until the active closure phase;
comprehensive - not limited to one tool and includes a number of tools and relevant output documents.

Enlarged composition of planning processes

The project plan is different from the project management plan and related planning processes. As we have already defined, in a broad sense, by plan we mean a pre-planned system of activities for which the order of execution, sequence and timing of work are established. In a narrow sense, a plan is a document that reflects the order of planned actions and deadlines for implementation. A project management plan is the result of regulated planning procedures (processes), in which the control principle is taken over by regular, regulated procedures for creating plans as documents.

Definitions of basic planning concepts from PMI. Source: PMBOK 5 Guide

Event planning includes two groups of processes: processes for the direct development of plans and auxiliary procedures. The output of a development block is a document called a master project plan. It includes a calendar plan, an event budget and a number of other documents. The composition and content of the work, the required resources for their implementation determine the sequence, duration and amount of costs for their production.

Potential risk planning (identification, identification and assessment) and their management influence not only the development of the schedule, but also budgetary needs. Clarifying the goals, defining the boundaries of the unique task, and structuring the team and responsibilities lays the foundation for a meaningful project planning effort. Next, we present to your attention a model of connections between the main procedures of the processes under consideration.

Model of planning processes in project management

It is known that according to the PMI standard, almost every section of the PMBOK Guide allocates an entire block to planning. Based on the diagram presented above, this is quite natural. The PMBOK section “Project Integration Management” demonstrates the most holistic picture of planning management and creating a single master plan. Below is a local block of the event management plan development data flow diagram.

Local project management plan development data flow diagram block

The visual block presented above is notable for a number of reasons. The knowledge base on project management, all the experience gained in this area, and regulations are essential for the success of planning. This also applies to standards, software, organizational structure and culture, management methods, infrastructure, etc. The charter is a key guide for planning. These processes are the basis for integration into the master plan and offer the following as inputs for the development of its final version:

project parameters management plans;
basic plans for content, cost, and schedule;
plan updates.

Stages of developing a calendar plan

As we remember, project management is built on “three pillars”: the content of work, restrictions and risks. If a manager knows how to work well with these three parameters, then there are no unsolvable tasks for him. Let's consider the development of a calendar plan from the perspective of these three positions and divide this process into stages. We will refer to the first and second stages as the content of the work.

The stage of determining and writing the list of works. Quite often mistakes are made due to the fact that it is not possible to present all the work at once. To qualitatively determine the composition of operations, it is useful to use the basics of the sequential work decomposition method.
The stage of determining the execution of the project in terms of the sequence and duration of work, which depend on the technology for their implementation. To create a high-quality result of this stage, the already mentioned method of sequential decomposition of tasks and expert assessment of the duration of work using methods such as, for example, brainstorming are well suited.
Determining resource availability. The event uses a variety of resources: financial, material, labor, information, etc. From the perspective of financial resources, it is necessary to link the work schedule with the financing schedule. The concept of scarce resources is introduced: unique specialists and capacities. This leaves an imprint on the sequence and duration of work.
Definition of external restrictions. These restrictions include seasonality, technological processes for equipment supply, and various external events. If we take into account the example of special wishes of the customer (for specific partners) or external events (for example, the timing of the completion of a stage to coincide with a national holiday), then such events are included in the event in the form of milestones.
The stage of creating a risk response plan. We analyze project risks and develop a response plan for the main threats. Taking this plan into account, we then finalize the schedule.

The third and fourth stages relate to the positions of restrictions, the fifth stage - to risks. Two bases of response (active and passive) determine the moment of decision and its inclusion in the project plan. Active response means that we include additional work in the schedule aimed at minimizing risks. This may affect the timing of other work.

As an example, we can consider a project to introduce a new service to the market. Let’s say the risk of its lack of demand in the market has been identified. Then, to minimize this risk, it is necessary to conduct additional research, and this work must be included in the schedule. Passive response implies the formation of additional financial reserves for identified risks. The stages of developing a schedule can also be presented in the logical sequence presented below.

Logical sequence for developing a schedule

Basic Project Planning Activities

To create a master plan, the project manager implements a series of planning iterations. During the execution of planning processes, important instrumental and final documents are generated, which together make up the master plan. Among them:

hierarchical work structure (WBS);
network diagram;
quality management plan;
project schedule;
budget;
organizational chart;
risk register;
communication plan;
master project plan.

Visual model of project planning processes

Above is a model of the planning processes for a project task. You can see the full composition of the processes in the diagram. Pool lane planning processes are linked to almost all areas of project management. Many of the processes specified in the model will have the opportunity to be presented in separate articles on our website. In this material we briefly focus on key planning procedures.

The scope definition process is performed to clarify the scope of the project, boundaries with a description of its product. The process begins with clarifying the goals of the event, its connection with the company’s strategy, and consideration of variable approaches to implementation. The PM must be clear about what work is outside the scope of the project and what the product requirements are.
The process of determining the scope of work. The foundations laid in the previous process are developed into the full range of necessary operations to achieve success. Their structure and composition are related to the main objective of the project. The WBS is the main tool used by the PM to solve the problem of the present process.
Determination of work relationships. The logical sequence of work is the subject and purpose of this process. The best tool and result of the process implementation is a network model (diagram, graph), built and optimized using the PERT and CPM method.
The process of estimating the duration of work. Forecasting the duration of each activity included in the WBS and network model is performed based on a variety of approaches. The main methods are assessment methods based on analogues, “bottom-up”, from performers, expert and parametric assessment.
The process of assessing resource needs. The purpose of the process is to determine the required amount of human resources, machine resources and mechanisms. Resources are divided into groups: renewable, consumable and financial.
Procedure for developing a calendar plan. The process is carried out to determine the estimated timing of individual works and the project as a whole. The issue of detailing the plan is important. The depth of its elaboration should be sufficient for the project manager to control the progress of work and the completion of assigned tasks.
Development of a master project plan. It combines all the results of the event planning work into a single integration document of the project.

In this article, we got acquainted with the “maximum set” of procedures and documents that create a project plan. In actual practice, especially when the project is medium or small in scale and is of a regular nature, excessive planning efforts are often not required. In such cases, you can limit yourself to standard planning solutions and an incomplete set of documents. At the same time, it is hardly possible to do without a basic documentary set in a consolidated plan, and the efforts spent on its development pay off handsomely.

Project planning is one of the main processes in project management. Let's look at why the planning process is so important and what depends on it. Why is it important to invest time and resources into this phase?

First, the planning stage is firmly linked to the other main stages of project management.
At the planning stage, it is necessary to take into account the results of the stage - the project charter, the register of project participants, the strategy for managing project participants.

At the planning stage, it is developed, at first it may be a sequence of main activities, later details will be added.

Secondly, the project management plan is a monitoring and control tool and should be updated regularly as new information or changes (for example, timelines) become available. Thanks to monitoring and control, it is clear how much the project activities correspond to those established in the plan to achieve a certain result.

Thus, it is obvious that the planning process influences all key .
In this regard, we will consider some aspects of planning in more detail.

It is difficult to imagine the process of managing anything without a planned sequence of actions.
If this is a car that you are going to drive to the office, then first you need to open the driver's door, then get behind the wheel, then insert the key into the ignition and start the engine.
Monitoring and control allows you to clearly understand that by following the planned sequence of actions, you will achieve the expected result (the car will move and you will go to the office).
That is, if something went wrong (for example, you slammed the hem of your jacket with a car door), you need to adjust the sequence of actions - instead of inserting the key into the ignition and starting the engine, it is better to first release the jacket.

The planning process is very active at the initial stage of the project life cycle. This is generally understandable - it is difficult to begin execution processes if we have not yet decided (in terms of) what we want to achieve (or in what ways).

So, this is an officially approved document for the execution of the project (basic plan).

The working (current) project plan is a document or set of documents that can be changed as the project progresses, taking into account the emergence of additional information. The work plan usually differs from the baseline and is updated by the project manager.

The baseline is changed only in extreme cases and cannot be changed by the project manager. It is changed by the Committee or its substitute (Sponsor, Customer). Only if the change is approved.

Creating a project plan is an iterative and integrative process. That is, when developing a project plan, the results of other planning processes (for example, strategic) are used.

The scope and composition of the plan must correspond to the scale of the project. Don’t forget that proper planning is the key to project success.

When developing a project management plan, you can use the “rolling wave” method, the essence of which is that it is impossible and unreasonable to draw up a detailed plan for the entire project at the start of the project.
This method allows you to plan activities more effectively when information is received already during the project, that is, the wave of detail moves through the project.
The figure below shows a schematic representation of detailing using the incident wave method.

Supply Management Plan

Basic schedule

Basic plan by cost

Basic content plan

Project planning is a responsible management procedure, the quality of which determines further work on the project. Even after the completion of the project and its delivery to the customer, a plan will be needed to summarize the project, find its weak points and ways to reduce costs and time.

The project plan serves important functions. It gives a general, holistic picture of the project and the sequence of work. It allows you to determine for each moment in time to what extent the project is moving toward completion and what obstacles exist or may arise along this path. The plan also presents the general economic model of the project, it indicates the main activities and work schedules.

General project planning

The process of drawing up a plan is called planning. Planning performs the following functions:

determining the duration and completion date of the project;
structuring the project and dividing it into specific tasks and work packages;
determination of the necessary project resources - personnel, materials, technologies;
determining the progress of project work and ensuring coordination of the implementation of individual project work;
determining the priority and directions of use of project resources (labor and materials);
securing project financing. Planning begins with the decomposition of project goals (dividing them into integral parts) and reducing them to individual works. For example, a project for the construction of a residential building can be divided into work on the construction of the foundation, installation of communications, construction of walls and roofs, installation of plumbing and heating equipment, electrical wiring, interior decoration, and landscaping.

Each of these works, in turn, must be further divided into separate specific tasks, for example, such as digging a pit of a given size, installing concrete formwork, etc. Thus, a system of interrelated works and tasks generates a system of interconnected plans of different levels of generality (Fig. 10.1).

Rice. 10.1.

Project decomposition performs important functions; without it, the project becomes extremely ineffective or even unfeasible. It allows the project manager to transform the plan developed by the project team (or organization) into a set of specific actions necessary to achieve the project's goals.

The selection of individual project works performs the following functions:

details the project goals, indicating the activities necessary to achieve them and allows project stakeholders to be confident that the project will be implemented in full;
presents an organizational chart of the project, which indicates which internal divisions of the company, its contractors and other stakeholders are responsible for performing specific work, which is especially important when the project extends beyond the scope of a single organization;
provides better control over the implementation of the project budget as a whole and the budgets of individual works, the project work schedule, provides the basis for generating project reporting and organizing a control system;
ensures the optimal choice of the project communications system, dissemination of information, analysis of data from the departments performing the design work;
optimizes the work of the project team, giving its members a holistic view of the progress of the project towards completion and the contribution of individual areas of activity, as well as the lag behind the project schedule;
creates the basis for ensuring control of the project and determines the directions of control both from the point of view of achieving the goals of the project, the final product, and the performance of its individual functions.

When structuring a project plan, it should be taken into account that the principles for constructing structural plans may be different. In practice, four types are used:

1) object-oriented plans are results- or product-oriented plans; the plan will reflect objects, components, structural elements, etc.;
2) function-oriented plans are plans drawn up on the basis of technological operations - decision-making, planning, design, production, control, etc.;
3) phase-oriented plans - these are plans focused on the model of project phases that describe the content of actions taken at each phase;
4) mixed-oriented plans combine several structural principles, for example, phase-oriented and function-oriented.

Work packages contain more detailed information and are usually clearly structurally or functionally separated from each other. For example, in our example with the construction of a house, the package of work associated with the “zero cycle” (work on digging a pit, making formwork, installing reinforcement, pouring concrete, laying communications, etc.) is performed by one contractor (or team), and the package of work , associated with the construction of walls and roof construction, is another, using different equipment, excellent technology, personnel with special skills, etc.

The work package must contain the following information:

1) expected results after completion of the work;
2) those responsible for performing individual works of the package;
3) points of intersection with other work packages or projects;
4) specific actions, tasks and deadlines;
5) time spent (in hours or days) to complete individual works of the package and tasks;
6) expenses for personnel, equipment, materials necessary to perform the work;
7) code number to identify the work package;
8) signature and data of the manager responsible for the execution of the package work and the signature of the project manager.

The volume of the general project plan, depending on the size and execution time of the latter, is on average several tens of pages. Familiarization with such a fairly detailed plan will take a lot of time from the interested party (investor, shareholder, top manager, etc.), so it is useful to make a brief (1-2 pages) summary of the plan, which will highlight the main milestones of the project development and its three main aspects:

project deadlines or time frames;
volume of work performed;
quality of work agreed upon with the project customer.

Most project stakeholders pay attention to the timing of the project and the scope of work. These parameters are interrelated: it is difficult to establish a time frame for completing a project if the required scope of work is not known exactly; and vice versa: without knowing the volume it is impossible to even approximately determine the timing. To resolve this contradiction, the project manager must focus on one thing. Usually, on a time frame, since stakeholders ask this question most often.

If the manager chooses the strategy of winning as much time as possible from the customer for the project, he will undermine his reputation as a skillful and experienced project manager, and at the first opportunity, such a manager will be replaced.

The opposite behavior will also be incorrect - when the project manager, in order to demonstrate his loyalty, agrees to any, even unrealistic, deadlines for completing the project, hoping to subsequently somehow adjust the deadlines for completing the project. These problems can be avoided if you present a well-developed, detailed plan and then adhere to the planned time frames.

To determine the main time frame of the project, it is first necessary to find out the time frame determined by its customer and the top management of the organization on the basis of which the project is being implemented. In other words, the project manager must be sure that he accurately and adequately understands what the higher authorities want to receive and in what time frame. The easiest way to do this is to invite customers and project stakeholders to fill out a free-form questionnaire containing approximately the following questions.

What result will you evaluate as successful for yourself?
What outcome would you rate as successful for the organization?
What outcome will be successful for the project team?
Which results are important from your point of view?
What additional deliverables do you think the organization might need?
When would you like to see these results?
How would you rate the success of achieving the results?
In your opinion, what intermediate steps are needed to achieve these results?
What resources do you think are needed to achieve these results?

Of course, these questions can be varied, new ones can be added, etc., the main thing is that they motivate the respondent to express his point of view and understand the point of view of the project manager.

After reading the answers, you should make a list of items that should be reflected in the plan. Such a plan, when reviewed by senior managers, has a much better chance of being approved without significant adjustments. Now you can add key and intermediate tasks to the plan, highlight the stages of achieving project goals, and coordinate with the project budget.

Based on the plan, several documents for different purposes are drawn up. For senior managers of the organization and external stakeholders - investors, creditors, customers, suppliers, etc., it is necessary to make excerpts from the plan on one or two pages - a summary that should be tied to the key processes of the project life cycle. If there is too much information to fit on one or two pages, you should come up with ways to group it. For example, determine that “work group No. 1” is the initial technical specification for the development of the project; "work group No. 2" - construction of a new building; "work group No. 4" - installation and adjustment of production equipment; "work group No. 5" - personnel training; "work group No. 6" - commissioning of the facility.

Many line managers will need a short one-page extract from the plan. But such an extract will contain that part of the plan that concerns the work for which they are responsible.

Planning is the process of developing and adopting quantitative and qualitative targets and determining ways to most effectively achieve them. These settings, most often developed in the form of a tree of goals, characterize the desired future and, if possible, are expressed numerically by a set of indicators that are key for a given level of management.

The need to draw up plans is determined by many reasons. The most significant of them: uncertainty of the future, the coordinating role of the plan, optimization of economic consequences.

Indeed, if the future of the project were absolutely predetermined, there would be no need to constantly develop plans or improve the methods of their preparation and structuring. From this it is clear that the main goal of drawing up any plan is not to determine exact numbers and guidelines, since this is impossible to do in principle, but to identify for each of the most important directions a certain “corridor”, within the boundaries of which one or another indicator can vary.

The meaning of the coordinating role of the plan is that the presence of well-structured targets disciplines both future and current activities, brings them into a certain system, and allows the company to operate without significant disruptions.

The last reason for the need to draw up plans is that any discrepancy in the system’s activities requires financial costs (direct or indirect) to overcome it. The likelihood of such a mismatch occurring is much lower if the work is carried out according to plan; in addition, the negative financial consequences are less significant.

Planning allows you to ensure a high degree and high probability of achieving goals based on the systematic preparation of decisions. Thus, it represents a prerequisite for the effective implementation of the project. The project plan is the main tool for integrating project participants. Developing and agreeing on a project plan ensures that everyone involved has a better understanding of their tasks and responsibilities.

The project plan examines in detail how to balance project costs, delivery time, schedule, and quality.

At the project planning stage, the following tasks are solved:

clarification and detailing of the goals and results of the project;
clarification of the composition and scope of work of the project;
development of a realistic schedule and budget for the project (or its individual phases);
clarification of the project's resource needs, resource plan for the project (or individual phases of the project);
risk assessment and development of a risk response plan;
clarification of the order of interaction in the project team, as well as between the project team and the external environment;
development and refinement of project management procedures;
approval of the plan by the main project participants;
approval of the project plan.

Enlarged structure of the project management plan

Main stages of planning

Formation of goals

As part of planning, two groups of goals are set.

Formal goals represent a criterion for assessing the usefulness of activities and the state of the project, which is derived from the motivation of the activities of decision makers.

Realistic goals represent ways to achieve formal goals (products to be produced, their quality and quantity, necessary resources, their quality and quantity).

Problem Analysis

Problem analysis includes the following steps:

determination of the actual state (position analysis);
position forecast;
identification of problems by contrasting the system of goals and results of analysis and forecast of the situation;
structuring problems.

When structuring problems, they must first be divided into two groups:

Problems of an external nature, the solution of which cannot be influenced by the project team throughout the entire planning period.
Internal problems, the solution of which depends on effective project management.

Then it is necessary to divide the problems classified into the second category into two classes:

Problems whose solution does not require significant financial and time expenditures. This class of problems is solved during routine or operational planning.
Problems that require a long time and a significant amount of funding to solve.

These issues are addressed through the forward planning and forecasting process.

Search for alternatives

Alternatives are understood as mutually exclusive solutions.

When implementing long-term projects, forecasting plays an important role. In this case, two types of forecasts should be distinguished.

Impact Projections give an idea of what results the adoption of each of the available decisions will lead to, i.e. how this decision will affect the project performance.
Development forecasts situations extend to indicators of the external environment that decision makers cannot influence in the period under review.

Evaluation of alternatives

The evaluation of alternatives in terms of their acceptability, effectiveness and risk is the basis for decision making. A legal and practically feasible alternative is considered optimal, one that allows one to get as close as possible to achieving the set real goals under existing restrictions - resource, time, labor, etc.

During the implementation of the project, the plan must be updated taking into account the current state and changes made. The project plan thus becomes the basis for assessing the progress made during the project.

To ensure the feasibility and accuracy of the project plan, the project manager must complete the following tasks.

Involving the main project participants in the planning process, ensuring responsibility for the planned parameters.
Achieving an agreed understanding of the structure and scope of the project and resource requirements with the customer and key project participants.
Planning the organizational structure of the project implementation and ensuring the attraction of the necessary resources for the project.
Agreeing on key stakeholders to be accountable for results.

Project planning is a part of project management that involves the use of schedules, such as a Gantt chart, to plan work and then report progress in a project environment.

Initially, the scope of the project is defined, but the appropriate methods for completing the project are not defined. After this step, the work units needed to complete the job should be listed and grouped into a work breakdown structure (WBS), taking into account the duration of the various tasks. Project planning is often used to organize various areas of a project, including project plans, workloads, and managing teams and people. Logical dependencies between tasks are determined using a network active diagram, which allows the critical path to be determined.

Project planning is uncertain; it must be done before the project actually begins. Therefore, task durations are often estimated using a weighted average of optimistic, normal, and pessimistic estimates. This adds “buffers” in planning to be able to anticipate delays (such as lengthy approvals) in project implementation. Time in a schedule can be calculated using project management software. The required resources and costs for each activity can be estimated, giving the total cost of the project. At this stage, the project schedule can be optimized to achieve the proper balance between resource use and project duration, consistent with the project's objectives. Once a project schedule is created and approved, it becomes the baseline (or target) schedule. Integrated project progress will be measured against a baseline schedule throughout the duration of the project. Analyzing progress against a baseline schedule is called the earned value method.

Inputs to the project planning phase are the project charter and concept proposals. The outputs of the project planning stage include the project requirements, the project schedule, and the project management plan.

Project planning can be done manually, but project management software packages are often used. Such complexes include the professional Oracle Primavera and the more everyday MS Project.

In the field of project management, a project schedule is a list of project milestones, tasks, and deliverables, usually with an expected start and end date. These elements are often estimated against other information included in the project schedule, such as resource allocation, budget, task durations, relationships, dependencies, and scheduled events. A project schedule is commonly used in planning and managing a portfolio of projects. Schedule elements can be closely linked to the work breakdown structure (WBS) by key events, statement of work or contract data.

Characteristics of Project Schedules

In many industries, such as engineering and construction, developing and maintaining a project schedule is the responsibility of an in-house planner or team of planners, depending on the size of the project. Planning methods are well developed and consistently applied in all industries.

It should be noted that project management is not limited to industry; an ordinary person can use this method to organize their own life. Some project management programs, templates, charts and examples, will help users create their schedule.

Methods for developing project schedules

Before creating a schedule, you need to develop a work breakdown structure (WBS), estimate the costs for each task, and determine a list of resources. If these schedule components are not available, they can be created using consensus-based estimation methods such as the Delphi method. The reason for this is that the schedule itself is an estimate: each day on the schedule is estimated, and unless those dates are based on the actual experience of the people who are going to do the work, then the schedule will not be accurate.

In order for a project schedule to be realistic, the following criteria must be met:

The schedule must be constantly (preferably weekly) updated (updated).
The EAS value (score at completion) must be equal to the base value.
The workload must be correctly distributed among team members (taking into account weekends).