Without a proper PMP (Project Management Plan) in place, the clients will be exposed to chaotic management, facing unclear objectives, lacking proper resources and depending on unrealistic planning which involves high risks that yields in poor quality deliverables that are derived from high expenditures.
The Project Management Plan is a document formally approved and which is used to manage project execution. The Project Management Plan documents the actions required to define, prepare, integrate and coordinate the various planning activities. The PMP clearly defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled, and closed.
The main criteria of such a document are to provide a comprehensive framework of what has to be achieved through the execution of the project, procedures to solve it, steps to measure and report the project and also as to how the information will be communicated and importantly who will be involved in it. The PMP should be used as a reference for any decision that is made on the project and for clarification of unclear areas.
The steps to develop a full-fledged project management plan are as follows.
It’s the process of setting out detailed project goals, roles, and responsibilities, identifying the primary stakeholders, and the level of authority of a project manager.
Other planning processes include outputs from all subsidiary plans that encompass the details of various factors involved in the formal management plan. (Eg. Scope Management, Cost Management, HR Management, Quality Management)
Internal and external factors will be a familiar aspect while developing a Project Charter and in the case of producing a Project Management Plan.
| Internal Factors | External Factors |
|---|---|
| Organizational Structure | Government Regulations |
| Organization’s Culture | Market Conditions |
| Working Style | Political Situations |
| Organization Policies | Weather Conditions |
| Reviews and training records | Infrastructure |
As mentioned earlier in the Project Charter section, OPA will look into policies, procedures, financial database, project management database, previous project databases, etc.
| Knowledge Base | Procedures / Processes / Policies |
|---|---|
| Lessons Learned | Project lifestyle |
| Project Files | Organization Process Documents |
| Financial Database | Communication Management |
| Project Management Database | Guidelines |
| Previous Projects Database | Policies |
To bring out a precise and tailored process that meets the project’s needs, the project manager will analyze technical and management information to implement them into the plan.
Brainstorming – The Brainstorming technique is used for developing the project management plan to gather ideas and solutions as to how the project is to be approached. Participants include the project team members, subject matter experts (SMEs), and stakeholders.
Checklists – Most of the organizations have standard checklists readily available based on their experience or use checklists from the existing industry. A checklist will help the project manager to develop a plan and also to verify whether all the required information is included in the project management plan.
Focus groups – The Focus group technique brings together the project stakeholders to discuss the project management approach and the integration of the different components of the project management plan.
Interviews – The Interview technique is used to obtain relevant information from stakeholders to develop the project management or component plan or the project document.
Conflict management – The main benefit of Conflict management technique is that it’s used to bring diverse stakeholders into a collective agreement or decision based on all the aspects of the project management plan.
Facilitation – Effective participation is the key to the success of a project, and this facilitation technique will enable and ensure that all the individuals associated with the project are on the same page. The project manager, the team members, and the stakeholders should have a mutual understanding and contribute equally towards the success of the project.
Meeting management – This meeting management technique is necessary to ensure that the project is progressing according to the project management plan and the concerned reports are submitted and verified by the stakeholders and other higher authorities associated with the project.
Meetings are mostly used to discuss the project approach, determine how the project work will be carried out to accomplish the project objectives and establish a way to monitor and control the project. Usually, project managers conduct a project kick-off meeting at the end of the project planning and before the start of project execution. Its meeting will communicate the project objectives, the team commitments, explains the roles and responsibility of the stakeholders.
Eventually, Project Management Plan is the final output that will be derived from the developed project management process. The plan will also teach all subsidiary plans of the project.
To further extend some insights on the outputs of the Project Management Plan, below mentioned outcomes are to be noted.
Scope Baseline: It is a baseline that judges the performance of the Project Manager and the rest of the team during a project. It includes aspects of project scope statement, the Work breakdown structure (WBS) and WBS dictionary.
Schedule Baseline: Schedule baseline is the approved version of a schedule model that can be altered only through formal change control procedures, and the schedule baseline is used as a basis for comparison to actual results.
Cost Baseline: It’s the authorized time-phased expenditure plan for the project on which the project cost performance is to be measured against.
Scope Management Plan: It refers to the set of processes that ensure a project’s scope is accurately defined and mapped. The techniques will enable the project managers and supervisors to allocate the right amount of work primarily controlling what part of the project has an essential scope.
Requirements Management Plan: The method used in documenting the necessary information required to efficiently manage project requirements from the definition, through traceability, to delivery.
Cost Management Plan: It’s considered as one of the primary functions of the Project manager. It functions as a significant component of the entire lifecycle of a project, as it defines the success and progress of any project.
Quality Management Plan: A feature that explains the approval level of quality, which is primarily defined by the customer, and showcases how the project will ensure this level of quality in its deliverables and work processes.
HR Management Plan: Human Resource management is a tool that will assist in the monitoring of a project’s human resource activities throughout the project until closure. It also decides the roles and responsibilities of team members throughout the project.
Communication Management Plan: This method plays a crucial role as it acts as a mode of communication across all the levels of a project and also addresses all stakeholders involved with the project.
Stakeholder Management Plan: The process of developing precise management strategies to effectively engage stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of the project, based on the analysis of their needs, interests and potential impact on project success.
Risk Management Plan: It is a document that a project manager prepares to foresee risks, estimate impacts, and define responses to issues.
Procurement Management Plan: The process of documenting project procurement decisions, specifying the approach, and identifying potential sellers. This process determines whether to acquire support externally, and if so, what is to be obtained, how is it to be received, how much of it is needed, and when is to be gained.
Process Improvement Plan: This tool is a subsidiary plan of the project management plan. This process instead of only concentrating on single issues will encourage the team to examine how different circumstances are affecting the current conditions in a project.
The project management plan is considered as a meta-plan of the project plan. It is the actual plan which is followed by the project management team at all levels to accomplish the given project. The PMP is also regarded as crucial as it precisely describes every possible detail in a boarder manner. The sole agenda of a project management plan is to execute and achieve the vision of the undertaken project
