PLANNING THE PROJECT
THE NEED FOR TWO LEVEL PLANNING
It is not possible to produce detailed product plans at the beginning of the project because of the degree of uncertainty, therefore, a two level approach to planning is used.
The First Level is the development of a Project Plan which is a long range view of all the work to be completed. This Project Plan is divided into stages (usually 6-8 weeks in duration and corresponding with the completion of an important product).
The Second Level is the development of detailed Stage Plans which will contain products and their detailed descriptions.
PREPARING THE PLANS
All the plans are prepared identically (though at different levels of detail)
Step 1Agree objectives and scope of project.
Step 2Identify all the required component products.
Step 3Define what needs to be done if products are to be developed.
Step 4Prepare estimates of what people and other resources will be needed to complete each product.
The outputs from this process are documented in:
A Product Register which details each product, its purpose and the resources, risks and associated requirements.
A Wall-Chart (Gantt) Plan which shows the time schedule for the development of the products and implementation of the project.
A Resource Plan which shows all the resources required to complete the products.
A Plan Description that describes the basis, assumptions and other constraints on which the plan was developed.
These Project and Stage Plans are included in the Project Initiation Document and reviewed at each End Stage Assessment meeting by the Project Board.
USEFUL LINKS AND REFERENCES
PRINCE2 templates
https://prince2.wiki/
https://prince2.wiki/extras/prince2-templates/
ABOUT THE BLOG
This is a series of coaching blogs that eventually will become a book. By blogging each item I hope to share each element in easy to read bite size chunks, maybe invite some people to subscribe to see the next posting and hopefully encourage some comments, feedback and suggestions which will improve the content for the blog and eventually the book. All comments and feedback are therefore welcome.
