Planning
Planning determines what is to be delivered, how much it will cost, how much will be delivered, how it will be delivered and who will carry it out.
Project planning involves breaking down the work into parts and assign these to project team members, anticipate problems that might arise and prepare tentative solutions to those problems.
The project plan, created at the start, is used to communicate how the work will be done to the project managers and customers, and to help assess progress on the project.
Planning is done at different stages:
- At the proposal stage, you are bidding for a contract to develop or provide a software system.
- During the project startup phase, when you have to plan out who will work on the project, how the project will be broken down into increments, how resources will be allocated.
- Periodically throughout the project, as requirements change or new things come to light, we may need to plan again.
Tasks
- List the tasks
- Involve the team
- Organise your tasks logically
- Consider granualarity
Schedules
Schedules are presented in different ways in order to suit the circumstances. The presentation will depend on:
- level of detail required
- whether time / resources are being shown
- context of the work
- dimension being scheduled
- target audience