We now have a project management team and structure in place.  We’re agreed we want to move ahead with the project idea.  We need to put in place what we need to actually carry out the project.  In the previous post in the project management guide, we realised we needed to make sure we planned the project well – and the best way to do that was to plan that planning process.  Today I want to expand on the kind of things we need to make sure we do in the project planning – in other words, what we need to put into the plan for the plan, what we need to have in place so we have the best chance of beginning a successful project.

What do we want?

Earlier, we have created a business case for the project.  This is what we had our project executive agree to, and is the reason for doing the project.  When we move on to the planning of the project, we will start to have a better idea of how much this is likely to cost – which means we must revisit the business case.  In addition, we will also start to get a better idea of what we need to do to achieve the project goals, and we need to expand the business case to include this information.

Here is a Business Case template (PDF), which shows you what you need to start thinking about at this time.  The first four sections of this can be filled in now, at least in some way.  The second four sections we can start to populate once we move into project planning – and that means we need to plan to do this in the next phase of the project.

In that next phase, we also need to come to an agreement on the quality we want the end product to have.  Partly this comes down to a trade-off between time, money, and quality.  However, we also need to look at what is expected at the end.  For example, in a software project, we may only be looking for a proof of concept, or a prototype system, as opposed to a completed package which is ready to be sold as commercial software.  We need to get clear agreement on this at the beginning.  We also need to put down some ground rules on how the quality will be assessed, and by whom.

Finally, we’ll also need to come to an agreement on various project management ‘house-keeping’ issues.  Who needs to know project progress information?  How often?  What level of detail?  What form should this take (e.g. meetings, formal documents, emails, phonecalls, etc.)?  Who will make the decisions about the project?  This isn’t the day to day matters, but the bigger decisions about quality, budget, acceptance of products, and so on.  We have a project executive, but who will also be involved?

All of these issues will need to be considered and decided on in the next phase.  And on top of that, of course, we will need to start to plan the actual project work!  Make sure you realise what an important phase the next one is.  It is the foundation on which the rest of the project rests.  If you get it right, and put in place a clear plan, achievable and desireable objectives, with a strong project management structure and team around them, you will be well on the way to delivering a successful project.

I hope this second ‘Planning the Planning’ post in this project management guide has been useful to you.  What else would you include in the project planning phase?  What tips and techniques have you found useful?  Post below!

Oh, and Happy New Year!

(Image courtesy of perhapstoopink. Some rights reserved.)