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Processes in Project Management: Phase 2 — Fine-Tuning for Successful Implementation

In Phase 2, the Product Manager creates an overall Project Management Plan and prepares the way for work to begin

By Jupiter GrantPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Processes in Project Management: Phase 2 — Fine-Tuning for Successful Implementation
Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash

Following on from the Initiation Phase of Project Management there comes the Planning Phase. Having developed and had approved the Project Charter back in the Initiation Phase, the Product Manager now takes on the responsibility for creating an overall Project Management Plan and preparing the way for work to begin.

Processes in Phase 2: Project Planning

1. Collecting Requirements

The Project Manager determines and documents the necessary requirements for planning the project. This includes all the documentation and any materials needed for the project, collating the objectives, establishing the requirements to deliverables (such as materials, equipment), information on product design and specifications, and can also involve market research or focus groups.

2. Defining Project Scope and Constraints

Having established the scope of the project in the Project Charter, the Project Manager now drills down into further details, creating a Project Scope Statement. This includes information on the project deliverables and what the Product Owner has identified as their product acceptance criteria.

The Project Manager will also identify the project constraints, namely any of the restrictions that may impede the success of the project. There are three key constraints in Project Management, schedule, cost, and scope. With regard to scope constraint, the primary concern is scope creep, wherein the scope of the project as established in the Project Charter grows in complexity over time, either due to unrealistic expectations, new features and criteria being demanded by the Product Owner, or other changing agendas.

3. Create a WBS and Prepare Project Schedule

A pivotal part of the overall Project Management Plan, is the creation of the WBS, or Work Breakdown Structure. This is, quite literally, the breakdown of all the finite steps and tasks that the project will involve, all of the components that need to be completed in order to close the project, and all of its “deliverables”- the reports, data, soft/hard-ware, or other product that is to be delivered to the Project Sponsor or the Product Owner are determined, and the work and resources required to fulfil this is then broken down into smaller sub-tasks.

The Project Manager also prepares a Project Schedule, which delineates the processes involved in all aspects of the implementation of the project and their time frame for start/completion. It can be quite intricate, especially in the case of large-scale projects where there may be numerous tasks and milestones involved across multiple teams, often with timelines shifting along the path toward completion. Project Managers will often create their Project Schedules using Gantt charts, which are a handy visual means of keeping track of work-schedules, timescales and deadlines across a wide array of tasks and teams.

4. Identify Resource Requirements and Acquire Project Team

The Project Manager will identify what is needed in terms of resources in terms of staff and know-how in order to deliver the work required for the project. To that end, they will form Process Planning Groups, and meeting/s with those who hold expertise in all of the areas identified within the WBS as instrumental to the project, for example, designers, researchers, IT experts. This group then forms the project team that will help the Project Manager to develop the Project Management Plan.

5. Develop the Project Management Plan

The purpose of the Management Plan is to detail the chain of events and tasks that will form each step of the project’s execution, and to outline for all of the stakeholders and management team how each of the requirements necessary to the completion of the project will be executed, monitored and concluded. It is, essentially, the project’s methodology.

The primary components of a Project Management Plan include:

  • the Project Scope Statement
  • defining the critical success factors
  • list of deliverables
  • financial costings and project budget
  • the Work Breakdown Structure
  • the Project Schedule
  • the Risk Management Plan
  • the Quality Management Plan
  • staff resources
  • the list of project stakeholders

6. Review and Approve Project Management Plan

The Project Management Plan is subsequently reviewed and approved by the Product Owner and Product User.

7. Develop a Risk Management Plan

Once the Project Schedule and the Work Breakdown Structure have been established and incorporated into the overall Project Management Plan, the Project Manager will create a detailed Risk Management Plan. There are four types of risk identified in Project Risk Management;

  • scope creep, as discussed above;
  • scheduling risk, where unforeseen external factors throw the Project Schedule off-course;
  • resource risk, such as staffing changes
  • technology risk, wherein an error of defect in the technology systems required for the project means that new solutions have to be found at short notice, perhaps changing the way in which one or more of the project deliverables can be completed.

In the Risk Management Plan, then, the Project Manager considers these four risk factors and where they could potentially arise, establishes mitigation strategies, and develops a robust plan for how to keep the project on track should unforeseen circumstances threaten its success.

8. Review and Approve Risk Management Plan

The Risk Management Plan is subsequently reviewed and approved by the Product Owner and Product User.

9. Develop Quality Management Plan

In the implementation and at the ultimate closure of the project, it isn’t just getting finished in time or completing the work on budget that will be a crucial measure of success, but also the quality of the work competed during the project. Accordingly, another vital aspect of the overall Project Planning Phase is the Quality Management Plan. As with the Risk Management Plan, the Quality Management Plan incorporates several factors, including;

  • quality planning, which as the name suggests is the process of ensuring that suitable mechanisms for ensuring the quality of the work and the deliverables are clearly established during the Planning Phase, and that the metrics by which quality will be measured and monitored throughout the project’s duration are clearly delineated;
  • quality assurance, in other words, the ongoing processes that will be undertaken throughout the project in order to ensure correct procedures and quality standards are being applied; and,
  • quality control, involving inspection, testing and measurement

10. Review and Approve Quality Management Plan

The Quality Management Plan is subsequently reviewed and approved by the Product Owner and Product User.

Once the Planning Phase has been completed and the plans approved, the project will then move into the Third Phase, that of Project Execution.

Next in this series: "Processes in Project Management: Phase 3 — Putting Plans Into Action"

©️ Jupiter Grant 2020

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About the Creator

Jupiter Grant

Writer, Poet, Narrator, Audiobook Producer, Freelancer.

As you may have guessed, Jupiter Grant is my nom de plume. I’m a purveyor of fiction, poetry, pop culture, and whatever else takes my fancy on any given day.

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