Mapping the Road Ahead: Effective Strategies for Project Planning

A project plan

A project plan is termed as a written overview of individual workplace project which generally includes information related to deadlines, staffing, goals, timelines, goals, budgets, as well as measurements. Generally, planning is critical when undertaking a project since it provides the project team with not only objectives but also instruction on how various aspects of the project are to be carried out (Serrador, 2012). Hence, planning aids in setting a clear path is mapped out; thus from the beginning of the project to the end consequently, ensuring that the project outcomes align with project goals. Another reason why a project requires planning is due to the fact that plans establish a schedule and maximize resource allocation and use consequently, reducing the probability of delays and cost overruns (Serrador, 2012).

Project Scheduling

One of the most important parts of project management is schedule planning. Generally, schedule planning is termed as the process of defining activities that require to be carried out, sequencing them in the appropriate order, estimating the required resources to finish the project as well as the time required to complete all the individual tasks (Bpayne & Watt, n.d.). Furthermore, schedule planning can also be termed as the process of listing a project’s milestone, activities, as well as deliverables usually along the intended start and finish dates.

Why Is Estimation Difficult

Estimating is considered to be one of the difficult tasks in project planning, this is due to the fact that there are a considerable things which can undermine the overall validity as well the accuracy of one’s estimates. Some of the common challenges associated with project estimation include poor design or rather “poorly defined scope of work, omissions, rampant optimism, inclusive of time and external pressures (Egeland, 2016). In relation to this, some of the good estimating practices include, breaking the entire project into smaller parts prior to estimation, including all the risks, clarifying assumptions, applying more than a single method to arrive at the estimates, avoiding high levels of optimism, understanding all the details of the project design, using expert judgment, planning for the unexpected, conducting analogous/comparative estimation with regard to similar past projects.

Definition of Terms

A Scope of Statement is generally defined as a tool used for the purpose of describing all the key derivatives or rather objectives of a project inclusive of key milestones, as well as identified constraints, success factors and a measurable success criteria; thus for evaluating project success.

The work breakdown structure is considered as one of the key project variables which generally organizes a project team’s work into a number of manageable section. In accordance to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), WBS refers to a ”deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of work“ that is to be executed by a project team (Egeland, 2016).

Expert judgment is termed as a technique in which all judgment is primarily based on a specific set of criteria or rather expertise which has been acquired in a given specific or rather particular knowledge area, discipline or even an industry. In project management, this such knowledge base is usually provided either by a member (s) of a project team or a hired expert.

Resource planning Fundamentals

Conclusively, one of the resource planning fundamentals include the preparation of inventory of the resources available which involves the surveying, mapping, as well as measurement of the characteristics as well as properties of resources. Another fundamental of resource planning is evaluation of the resources in terms of availability as well as development and lastly, planning for the exploitation off different resources which generally involves action-oriented planning generally emphasis on the use and reuse of resources.

References

Bpayne & Watt A. (n.d.). Project Management. Retrieved from; https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-10-project-schedule-planning-project-management/

Brotherton, S. A., Fried, R. T., & Norman, E. S. (2008). Applying the work breakdown structure to the project management lifecycle. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2008—North America, Denver, CO. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute

Egeland, B. (2016). Avoid these 5 Common Issues when Estimating Project Work. Project Smart. Retrieved from; http://www.projectsmart.com/articles/avoid-these-5-common-issues-when-estimating-project-work.php

Serrador, P. (2012). The importance of the planning phase to project success. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2012—North America, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

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