Planning Support Function Model

Project planning activities are fairly straightforward for project teams that have worked together over extended periods of time. The same activities can be confusing at times for project team members who do not routinely work together or for those who do not have a solid frame of reference in concepts of modern project management. Furthermore, a group planning effort is ideally one of collaboration — an exchange of ideas, pros and cons, and preferred approaches that ultimately represents a consensus of the project team regarding the direction to be taken to achieve project objectives. An effective project planning capability can minimize the conditions of reduced team cohesion and maximize the benefits of team collaboration.

The PMO can influence project planning capability and fulfill its role as a support provider by attending to the planning needs of project teams in the relevant organization. This simply means establishing the processes, tools, and practices for project planning and, as needed, taking an active role in facilitating their implementation in the project management environment. It can accomplish these objectives through development of the PMO "planning support" function.

The prominent activities of the PMO's "planning support" function model are depicted in Figure 14.1. Each activity is described in the following subsections.

Figure 14.1: "Planning Support" Function Model

Establish Project Planning Support

The PMO should assume responsibility for establishing the foundation and essential approach to planning support within the relevant organization. It can examine and consider the three actions described in the following subsections to establish a project planning capability that best fits within the project management environment it serves.

Introduce Planning Process and Tools

The PMO should construct a common approach to project planning that can be used across all projects within the relevant organization. This "standard" can provide planning-activity familiarity for project team members over time, make cross-functional teams more effective as everyone learns and responds to the same preferred activity steps, and even enables nonproject stakeholders to benefit from the use of project plans that have a recurring, consistent content and format.

The five following subsections present some fundamental steps prescribed for PMO consideration and inclusion in its project planning process. The PMO should add sufficient additional detail and identify particular tools that it will introduce or otherwise use to help accomplish the preferred project planning steps.

Review Project Guidance Materials

Every project planning effort should begin by establishing a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the project, identifying its purpose (what it will achieve) and examining the needs and expectations of the primary customer as well as other project stakeholders. This knowledge and awareness is conveyed to all participants in project planning through a review of the materials that have been created or acquired to guide the project effort. A few of the more prominent materials that normally will be available to project teams engaged in planning preparation activities are listed below. The PMO can add or remove recommended guidance items as the project planning needs of the relevant organization warrant.

• Customer's statement of work

• Requirements document

• Technical specifications document

• Preliminary survey documents

• Technical solution description

• Project definition worksheet

  • Project manager, sponsor, and other key stakeholders

  • Project scope statement

  • Project objectives

  • Project deliverables

  • Initial (order of magnitude) project budget

  • Major project activities and rough schedule

  • Key and critical project team resources

  • Assumptions and constraints

  • Preliminary evaluation of project and business risk

• Project charter (statement of authority and funding)

Tools for Reviewing Guidance Materials. It would appear that many of the project guidance materials require text document management. To that end, the PMO can examine its requirements, particularly for internally generated materials (e.g., project definition worksheet, etc.), and devise standard forms, templates, and checklists that facilitate the collection and handling of information needed for this preplanning review. The PMO also can consider using commercial or internally developed automated tools that capture the needed information either in a database, or in a document management system, as a means to provide planners with ready access to the project guidance materials. There are commercially available systems available to accomplish these purposes.

Construct Project Work Plan

The project work plan is an essential instrument of project management that specifies all project work activities and aligns factors of cost, schedule, and resource utilization with each specified work element. The PMO can prescribe in its process that a project team construct a project work plan for every project undertaken. The following items are generally accepted as critical or key components of the project work plan:

• Work breakdown structure (WBS): A specification and breakdown of project work activities, normally to the work-package level, i.e., the lowest level of work breakdown, where work-element cost, work duration, and resources required to accomplish the work are assigned.

• Cost: A specification of the estimated cost to be incurred as a result of completing the work element to which it is aligned.

• Schedule: A specification of the estimated time required to satisfactorily complete the work element to which it is aligned.

• Resource utilization: A specification of resources, usually by name or type, that are needed to accomplish the work described for the work element to which it is aligned.

Tools for Work Plan Construction. The PMO again can consider developing any paper-based forms that can be used to facilitate work plan construction. However, there is a plethora of automated tools available in the marketplace to make this process step very efficient. In particular, the PMO can examine automated project schedule managers, and there are other "enterprise" systems that also can accommodate preparing the components of the project work plan.

Refine Project Estimates

The purpose of this process step is to provide estimates of cost, schedule, and resource utilization for each work element in the WBS. This enables the project team to specify the initial project budget at a reasonable level of accuracy, develop a project schedule with confidence in the work duration indicated for each work element, and prepare a reliable project staffing plan allocating appropriate resource skill and knowledge so that the specified project can be completed within cost and schedule constraints.

The required levels of accuracy for these estimates are metrics that the PMO must determine. In some project management environments, professional estimators who are skilled in the product or service deliverable being offered are used to provide the desired level of project estimation accuracy. In many cases, however, the responsibility for accurate project estimation falls upon the project manager and project team members.

Tools for Project Estimation. Nearly all tools used for project work plan development inherently enable associated project estimates to be specified. Automated tools, in particular, will likely have database power to collect work estimates and possibly even produce reports that represent the project budget, project schedule, and project staffing plan. The PMO may want to consider some specialized tools for use in the project estimating step. These are tools that actually help planners to formulate the estimates needed. One example is the creation or acquisition of a database application that specifies standards for time and cost, usually industry-specific, for various types of project work efforts. There are also automated tools for calculating work efforts based on the skill and experience of assigned resources. Finally, and in conjunction with the PMO "knowledge management" function (see Chapter 4), the PMO can develop access to and use of prior projects' "lessons learned" that have been captured from previous project close out activities and, presumably, are in an automated lessons-learned knowledge space.

Conduct Project Risk Assessment

The project work plan is usually not considered ready for implementation until it undergoes a risk assessment and a subsequent risk-response strategy has been developed for each identified risk. The PMO should ensure that this step is included in the project planning process. The results of this step can then be incorporated into the subsequent preparation of a risk management plan, as specified in the next section dealing with primary project support plans.

The risk assessment step involves looking at a variety of variable factors that could hinder or otherwise adversely impact project performance or successful project completion. It is recognized that some industries and organizations also align "project opportunity" assessments with the project risk management effort. That is not specifically prescribed by this process step, where the focus is on discovery of potential adverse impacts. Project opportunities certainly can be addressed in subsequent preparation of adjunct plans for each project if that is an activity desired by the relevant organization.

The PMO should define the preferred approach and scope of project risk assessments. The suggestions below represent a few areas for risk examination using the project work plan and any other pertinent information available to the project team during the planning effort. ^[1] Upon completion of the risk assessment, risk-response strategies that have prescribed actions should be integrated as work elements in the project work plan.

• Internal risks: Those risks that the project manager or project team can control through response strategies dealing with resource assignments, schedule development, and cost management:

  • Technology

    • New or untested technology

    • Availability of technical expertise

    • Customization (design risk)

    • Availability of material

    • Manufacturing (production) capabilities

    • Subcontractor or vendor performance

    • Transition from design to production

  • Schedule

    • Resource availability

    • Schedule constraints

    • Dependencies

    • Inadequate planning

    • Insufficient information

  • Financial issues

    • Funding or customer budget

    • Estimate accuracy

    • Contract labor rate

    • Material cost change

  • Legal issues

    • Patent rights or infringement

    • Data rights

    • Government policies

    • Contract ambiguities

• External risks: Those risks that are generally beyond the control or influence of the project manager or project team. They include risk events dealing with market shifts, customer decisions, or government or regulatory actions:

  • Unpredictable external events

    • Regulatory changes

    • Natural hazards

    • Environmental impact

    • Public interest

  • Predictable but uncertain external events

    • Market changes

    • Inflation

    • Taxation

    • Exchange rates

Tools for risk assessment: The nature and impact of risks normally encountered in a particular industry or technical environment will influence the types of tools that can be used in conjunction with the risk assessments performed. A common tool for PMO consideration is the manual or automated checklist that project planners can use to evaluate risks, similar to the preceding lists, but generally with considerable more detail. These checklists are usually based on established risk assessment models, which can be created by the PMO or acquired from commercial sources. It is not unusual for acquired risk models to be customized for use within the relevant organization. As well, there are also a number of "enterprise" applications that will help the PMO address specification and management of project risks, and there are add-on applications that can be used in association with several commercially available project scheduler software applications.

Develop Project Support Plans

A project support plan, sometimes referred to as an adjunct project plan, is a formal or informal document that adds definition and direction to the project effort. The combination of the project work plan and all project support plans constitutes the project plan.

The PMO will need to examine requirements within the project management environment to determine which support or adjunct project plans are needed. It can evaluate its needs relative to primary support plans and secondary support plans, as presented in the final section of this chapter.

All project support plans should include a brief description of the means by which the plan can be modified, who can authorize changes to the plan, and a listing of project stakeholders who will receive the original plan and any subsequent plan updates and revisions.

A note of particular importance is offered with regard to preparation of both primary and secondary project support plans, as well as the project work plan. The planning effort takes time that must be accounted for in the course of project management. Therefore, it is important that all plan development efforts required by a specific project be included in the project WBS and work plan. Each plan development effort will have cost, schedule, and resource utilization components that need to be specified as a part of the total project effort.

Manage Planning Facilitation Support

The PMO can offer enhanced support to project team planning efforts when it achieves the capability to provide, or otherwise arrange for, project planning facilitation. This means having one or more qualified professionals work directly with the project manager and project team members in their development of the project work plan and any other primary and secondary project support plans that may be needed. The delivery of support for project planning facilitation can be characterized by the three activities described in the following subsections.

Identify the Nature of Planning Support

The PMO should determine its own capability as well as that available from external professional sources to specify a menu of project planning support services that will be made available within the project management environment. This can include such services as:

• Project planning workshop facilitation: A facilitator-led program that takes the project team through the iterative steps for developing a project work plan. Ideally, this workshop is presented as a rigorous planning effort that can be accomplished in a matter of days, rather than a drawn-out period of weeks or months that can result in disjointed and inconsistent planning. The shorter period allows key project team members to assemble for a one-time planning session that establishes the fundamental work plan. The essence of workshop content is described later in this chapter in the "conduct project planning support" activity. As PMO capability and resources become available, the PMO can extend this type of workshop into support for primary and secondary project support-plan development.

• Project mentoring: The use of qualified project management mentors is a natural follow-on to the project planning workshop. This allows the facilitator or participating mentors in workshop activities to remain with the project manager and project team to help refine the project work plan, develop other project support plans, and facilitate project work plan implementation. This effort includes (a) monitoring and encouraging the project team in its finalization of required plan content and (b) facilitating individuals and small groups in their deliberation and validation of planning elements. It also could involve demonstrating the use of project planning tools that are currently available within the project management environment or creating new tools that reduce the project team's planning burden. See the PMO "mentoring" function (Chapter 13) to learn how to establish a full-scope project management mentoring program within the relevant organization.

• Project plan review and validation: The PMO can provide a valuable service by offering to review and validate project plans that have been constructed by project teams. This type of review would be used to examine plan content, clarity, and comprehensive coverage of intended guidance. This effort could include meetings with individual planners to obtain an understanding of concepts and calculations used in plan development. It should distinctly provide recommendations for plan improvement, if needed.

These planning support services can be provided either by qualified PMO staff resources or through arrangements with external providers of professional project management services. The availability of these and any other planning support services provided by the PMO should be communicated widely within the project management environment.

Establish Capability to Provide Project Planning Support

The PMO's ability to fulfill project planning support requests will be influenced by the PMO's identification of qualified resources to conduct each planning support effort and by resource availability. The PMO should either establish a program to qualify and prepare internal resources to conduct project planning support, or it should identify prequalified external resources that can bring the requisite professional capability and project planning experience into the PMO's project management environment. See the PMO "mentoring" function (Chapter 13) for further consideration of these two resource options.

Establish Procedures for Introducing Project Planning Support

The size of the relevant organization, the nature of project work, and the number of projects will influence the need for project planning support and the procedures for requesting and providing such support. A checklist item in the project management methodology can prompt the project manager to review needs for project planning support and provide instructions for requesting support from the PMO. As well, the PMO may want to develop a means to monitor upcoming new project initiation activities as a means of anticipating planning support requirements. This includes possible PMO deliberation to offer project planning support to more-needy project efforts. In some cases, per policy and governance procedures in the project management environment, the PMO may independently determine that a facilitated planning session is mandated for certain projects. Similarly, the PMO may want to influence project recovery efforts by requiring the use of a facilitated program for the project recovery planning effort.

Otherwise, under routine conditions, the PMO will simply develop a process to accommodate and fulfill project planning support requests. The following are some sample steps the PMO can consider for such a process:

• Review and specify required project planning activities — project manager

• Determine associated need for project planning support — project manager

• Submit a project planning support request — project manager

• Review and prioritize the project planning support requests — PMO

• Coordinate arrangements for planning support — PMO and project manager

• Conduct project planning support activities — PMO

• Evaluate project planning support results — PMO and project manager

Again, these steps can be incorporated into project management methodology guidance.

Evaluate Project Planning

There is a significant amount of evaluation associated with the PMO's ongoing role in project and project management oversight, and the need is no more evident than in the realm of project planning. While evaluation of project planning can be formal or informal, per the PMO's capability and functional mandate, it should be conducted to ascertain what parts of the planning process work and what parts can be improved to provide greater project planning effectiveness.

To that end, the PMO will need to examine project planning processes, content and format, the effectiveness and efficiency of facilitated project planning sessions, and the availability and use of project support plans. This examination can be an ongoing and progressive collection and analysis of process use information that is evaluated at three or four intervals during the year. It may also be a distinct examination that is conducted one or more times a year, possibly in association with an annual review or following a recent process revision.

The PMO can develop and conduct project planning evaluation in three areas, as described in the following subsections.

Evaluate Project Planning Process

The project planning process warrants separate examination even though it will likely be an integrated piece of the project management methodology. The impact of project planning on project performance warrants such exclusivity.

The PMO should first ascertain the extent of process use. A few simple evaluation points will provide a preliminary indication of process use, and the PMO can expand this checklist if more-precise information is needed:

• Determine who uses the established project planning process.

  • Identify how many project managers know the process exists and how many use it.

  • Determine how many project team members know the process exists and how many have used it.

  • Evaluate the percentage of the project management environment population that has used the established project planning process.

  • Deliberate the influence or impact of process utilization across project managers.

• Determine the frequency of project planning process use.

  • Identify the total number of new projects initiated in a specified recent period.

  • Identify how many of those projects applied the established project planning process.

  • Deliberate the influence or impact of process utilization frequency across projects.

The results of this evaluation can be represented, in general, by high, medium, and low process use. In turn, the PMO can identify and rectify causes of low process use.

Another PMO perspective on process evaluation in this area can be obtained by determining how well the process is serving the needs of users, which is often characterized by an examination of the depth of use. In this area of examination, the information being sought is represented in one more fundamental checklist. This checklist can be used in conjunction with a review of selected project work plans, PMO observations, and user feedback regarding benefits perceived as a result of using the established project planning process:

• Identify any particular project planning process elements that are routinely not used.

• Identify any particular project planning process elements that are almost always used.

• Determine any reduction in planning times as a result of using the established project planning process.

• Determine whether the project planning process facilitated full project team participation in planning.

• Evaluate individual users' perspectives on added value achieved through use of the established project planning process.

These two checklists suggest a review of process utilization for project work plan development, but a similar examination can be conducted for any project support plan guidance that has been implemented.

The results of this first evaluation activity are intended to provide the PMO with rough indicators of the efficiency of the established project planning process.

Evaluate Project Performance Contributions

The PMO should evaluate how well the established project planning process contributes to successful project performance on a regular basis, perhaps annually. This aspect of process evaluation considers what project performance improvements have been achieved as a result of planning process implementation. The PMO should devise an examination and analysis approach that suits the needs of the relevant organization. For a simple evaluation, the PMO can obtain some general indicators by referencing the following points of inquiry:

• Identify whether cost, schedule, and resource-utilization variance has been reduced at one or more points in the project management life cycle as a result of process implementation.

• Identify whether enhancements in project team performance are evident, e.g., reduction in planning time, reduction in rework, timely task completion, improved project team communication and collaboration, etc.

• Identify whether customer and executive stakeholder satisfaction has improved.

• Identify whether project team members and other planning participants are better prepared for subsequent project planning sessions after first using the process.

• Identify whether there is a reduction (from normal) in the number of scope changes encountered during the project effort. Determine whether any required changes are handled more efficiently.

• Identify whether short-term project team members are more productive during their abbreviated project participation periods as a result of having adequate project plan guidance.

The results of this evaluation activity are intended to provide indicators of the effectiveness of the project planning process.

Evaluate Project Planning Support

If the PMO offers project planning facilitation support by internal or external resources, it should also examine the results of such services. If facilitation is a recurring practice used to assist project team planning efforts, then the contributions to project performance can be included in the general evaluation of performance described in the previous section. If facilitation is an infrequent event, then the PMO simply weighs the contribution relative to the level of effort expended by facilitation.

However, the PMO also should examine how well project planning facilitation support activities are being accomplished. This evaluation relies a great deal on feedback from planning session participants. With that information in hand, the PMO can consider the following basic evaluation points and add others as needed:

• Demonstrated technical competency and capability of the project planning facilitator(s)

• Demonstrated workshop and facilitation skills and experience of the facilitator(s)

• Appropriateness of the duration of the project planning session

• Appropriateness of the participants selected for attendance; notable absentees

• Appropriateness of participant contributions to the planning effort

• Completion of planning session objectives, e.g., a preliminary project work plan

The results of this evaluation will provide insight to the effectiveness of facilitated project planning sessions and to the capabilities of the assigned facilitators. In general, most facilitated sessions will normally expedite and enhance the project planning process and improve the plan content through participant information and skill contributions. Therefore, the occasion of a poor outcome for a planning session tends to be associated with facilitator performance. This evaluation will be valuable in developing the full capability of individual facilitators and in improving the overall approach to the delivery of effective facilitation.

Conduct Project Planning Support

The PMO reaches a mature stage when it can offer project planning facilitation and support within the project management environment. This is because facilitation represents a more or less consistent and repeatable approach to project planning, which is an important characteristic for this component of the project management methodology. Likewise, to the extent that the PMO has created the planning process and integrated it within the established methodology, it should be able to effectively demonstrate its application under live project planning conditions.

This section of the model highlights the primary activities that are accomplished in facilitating project work plan development. This represents implementation of the project planning process and associated content described in the previous activity.

The PMO can examine the following steps as a means for accomplishing project planning support and then develop the preferred approach it will use to assist project teams in preparing their project work plans.

Conduct Initial Project Collaboration

The first step in project planning support involves accomplishment of several requisite planning workshop preparation activities. This includes:

• Ascertain workshop need: The PMO coordinates with the project manager to obtain preliminary information about the technical nature and business objectives of the project and about the skill and experience of the project team. This provides a basis for determining the scope of the planning workshop and the number of facilitators needed. As well, the PMO will request and arrange for receipt of any available project materials that will be used to help facilitators prepare for the planning session, e.g., project charter, any completed project planning documents, requirements documents, business case, etc.

• Arrange planning session: The PMO coordinates with the project manager to specify the dates for workshop presentation, usually a three- to five-day period, and identify the project team members who will participate in the planning session. Project team participation should be sufficiently broad, if not the entire team, in order to properly address and obtain knowledgeable input on all planning requirements. The project manager will normally be responsible for notifying team members of their participation requirements and ensuring their full-time attendance.

• Arrange session logistics: The PMO coordinates with the project manager to determine the facility and location to be used for the planning session. The PMO will normally be responsible for coordinating arrangements for facility use. This includes reserving meeting rooms, specifying preferred meeting room setup, arranging access for all participants, identifying points of contact for on-site support, and anticipating any advance arrival of workshop and participant materials.

• Identify and assign workshop facilitator(s): The PMO will identify qualified resources and arrange for facilitators who are experienced in conducting project planning sessions to be assigned to lead the workshop activities. This includes any lead time required to request and arrange for either internal or external project planning workshop facilitation services.

• Prepare workshop materials: If the PMO maintains the materials used for delivery of project planning workshops, it should begin efforts to publish sufficient copies for the anticipated level of participation. It will then make materials available at the workshop location in advance of the workshop start date. This might require shipping for workshops conducted at locations away from the PMO's home facilities. If the internal or external facilitators maintain their own materials, the PMO should monitor their handling of this workshop-materials preparation step.

• Conduct facilitator preparation for workshop: The PMO will transfer project materials received from the project manager to the assigned facilitator(s) for review. The facilitator(s) will use the project materials to develop a preliminary understanding of project scope and objectives. This facilitator preparation effort usually takes one to three days.

• Conduct preworkshop conference: The planning workshop facilitator(s) and the project manager will convene to discuss the planned workshop activities, thus allowing the project manager to convey (a) personal perspectives on the project and project team and (b) expectations for workshop outcomes. This meeting can be planned for a one- to three-hour period and can be done in-person or by telephone. It is recommended that this meeting be scheduled and conducted not more than one week nor less than one day in advance of the workshop start date. Consistent with established responsibilities, the PMO can be a participant in this advance collaboration meeting with the project manager and workshop facilitator(s).

The PMO can prepare and use a planning workshop checklist to manage and monitor the timely accomplishment of all prescribed project planning, workshop planning, and collaboration activities.

Facilitate Project Work Plan Development

The PMO will already have established the preferred content for the project planning workshop. This activity now focuses on the delivery of that content by the assigned facilitator(s), with participation by all or part of the project team.

This aspect of PMO project planning support includes the accomplishment of activities needed to develop a viable project work plan. The following are suggested project planning workshop activities:

• Workshop introductions: The facilitator(s) should be introduced and become acquainted with project team participants at the beginning of the workshop. This is an opportune time to allow individual participants to introduce themselves, their project role, and their expectations for the workshop. The latter must be tracked and addressed by the facilitator(s) over the course of the workshop. The facilitator(s) will then introduce the workshop objectives and provide an overview of workshop activities. It is also usually appropriate to provide an overview of the concepts of modern project management that will be used over the course of the workshop as a means of developing a common frame of reference for all workshop participants.

• Project definition preparation: The project definition process begins by specifying the roles of the project sponsor and project manager and then conducting an abbreviated review of project requirements. This is followed by facilitated activities that establish project scope and objectives, identify key resources, and examine project assumptions and constraints. This effort will necessitate that workshop participants bring current knowledge and information about the project and that they be active contributors to preparation of the project definition. In addition to the items already listed, a group perspective on the overall project work effort is achieved through participant deliberation and specification of the major phases of the technical work to be performed, which in turn serves as a basis for conducting subsequent project planning activities.

• Project planning : The facilitator(s)' first activity in project planning will be to lead development of a project work breakdown structure (WBS). Using the project definition as guidance, the process of deliberating and deciding on the project work identifies the elements to be included. This activity normally leads participants through a rigorous and iterative planning process in which they are guided from the phase level perspective of the project to the creation of work packages. The next step of project planning is the preparation of the project work plan. In this activity, participants estimate and incorporate cost, schedule, and resource utilization information for each work element in the WBS. It is recognized that often there is limited or no information currently available to accurately complete each work plan element. However, that should not preclude the planning effort, and this planning session still will be of value simply because it enables participants to identify what they do not know and must find out. The facilitation then usually proceeds through successive plan development stages to refine the WBS and each work plan element. The result of this effort is a preliminary project work plan that can be used to begin the project work effort.

• Project risk assessment: The prescribed process for assessing and responding to project risks should be an inherent part of any project planning effort. To that end, facilitator(s) should lead participants in identifying prominent project risks and formulating initial risk-response strategies. As project risk-response strategies are created, any proactive strategies should be incorporated into the project WBS and work plan for assignment to a responsible individual. Workshop participants can then include a preliminary project risk management plan as an item resulting from the planning effort.

The PMO should develop the means to evaluate the project planning workshop facilitator(s) and the planning process, and that will likely include soliciting feedback from workshop participants. Participant assessments are best accomplished immediately following completion of the workshop. However, in some environments, the PMO may want to defer individual evaluations of the planning session until attendees return to their work locations, where they can apply the results of their planning efforts and recognize the significance of their workshop accomplishments.

Perform Follow-Up Planning Support

There is a potential need for follow-up planning support for most major projects. The PMO should consider the need for such services within the relevant organization. Follow-up support essentially equates to providing project management mentoring services, as outlined in the PMO "mentoring" function (see Chapter 13). However, there are distinct objectives to be pursued when mentoring is associated with project planning activities. As well, when mentoring is conducted following a project planning workshop, it is not unusual for other mentoring service needs to emerge.

The PMO will have to determine whether this follow-up support activity can be offered in the relevant organization and then develop the methods and means for delivering follow-up planning support. Typical postplanning support activities include:

• Project plan refinement: The facilitator(s) can continue working with the project manager and project team members to refine the preliminary project work plan created during the project planning workshop. This activity concentrates on inserting any deliberated results or decisions coming from the planning workshop that were not accomplished due to time constraints or participant availability. It is also an excellent means of conducting a postplanning session review of the overall plan, i.e., a walk-through to validate plan content.

• Subteam facilitation: This is an extension of project refinement, but it focuses on work with subteams of the project team to facilitate new inputs to the project WBS and work plan to fill in technical performance details, add project management and business activities, or integrate vendor and subcontractor project plans.

• Project plan tool use: Project team members can receive guidance in the entry of project data and in the management of the WBS and project work plan elements using the prescribed automated tool.

• Project support plan development: The timeliness and effectiveness of the project work plan preparation effort can be carried forward to allow facilitation of other support plans needed to accomplish the project. This effort will rely on the PMO's capability to provide both facilitation and the requisite technical expertise relative to the specific nature of the support plans needed.

• Project support plan reviews: In contrast to facilitating their development, the PMO can provide expertise in reviewing and validating project support-plan documents as they evolve from the efforts of the project team.

• Project plan presentation: The facilitator(s) can collaborate with the project manager to assist in the preparation, and sometimes delivery, of presentations of the project work plan or simply presentations of the overall project management approach. These are presentations that could have a variety of project stakeholder audiences, including senior management within the relevant organization, customer project managers and senior management, and vendor and contractor project managers and senior management.

The PMO must take care in establishing provisions for follow-up support to project planning efforts. It is imperative that the assigned facilitator or mentor not be perceived or otherwise commandeered as a member of the project team. First, that would impact the PMO's capability to provide ongoing support to multiple projects underway in the project management environment (presuming the PMO does not have a limitless supply of qualified and skilled facilitators and mentors). Second, the underlying purpose of such support is to transfer project management skill and knowledge to the project manager and project team members so that they become increasingly self-reliant over time and therefore no longer need PMO facilitator/mentor support.

Conduct Adjunct Planning Support

The project work plan is the central planning document in the arsenal of project management plans. It guides the accomplishment of tasks needed to fulfill project deliverable requirements. However, projects often also need additional direction regarding the accomplishment of project management activities, technical performance activities, and communication and relationship management activities. This additional guidance can be accommodated through the preparation and use of adjunct project plans.

The PMO's role warrants taking a lead role in identifying and implementing the adjunct planning capability within the project management environment. The three activities described in the following subsections will assist the PMO in deliberating and deciding its approach to adjunct planning support.

Recommend Essential Adjunct Plans

The PMO can consider such factors as organizational policy and practices, customer requirements, industry practices, project complexity and risk factors, and the experience level of the project team when recommending the need for adjunct project plans. The fundamental purpose of these plans is to provide sufficient additional guidance and direction to enable project goals to be achieved.

The PMO will need to examine requirements within the project management environment to determine which adjunct project plans are needed. It can evaluate its needs relative to primary support plans and secondary support plans, as described in the following two subsections.

Primary Support Plans

Primary support plans are those adjunct project plans that need to be prepared for every project conducted within the relevant organization. Their content may vary according to project size, value, and duration, but their purpose is generally applicable to all projects. The following list presents six adjunct project plans that are recommended for PMO consideration:

• Risk management plan: Specifies the activities for managing risk throughout the project management life cycle. It identifies the project team members and other stakeholders responsible for managing various types of project risk, and it compiles the identified project risk events and response strategies established through a project risk assessment and through other ongoing efforts to identify and manage risks.

• Communications management plan: Describes the methods for gathering, distributing, and storing various types of project information. In particular, it specifies the content, format, and frequency of required and optional project reports. It also identifies and possibly presents a schedule for project meetings. If not created as a separate plan, it can specify project document requirements and control procedures. This plan also identifies all project stakeholders and, to the extent possible, specifies their roles and responsibilities as well as their physical locations and various means of contact. As well, this plan indicates the protocol for project communication, specifying the preferred and authorized interactions and communications among project team members, senior management, the customer, vendors and contractors, and other project stakeholders. Finally, this plan can include instructions for identifying problems and escalating project issues to the project manager, the PMO, and senior management.

• Scope management plan: Describes the management and control of project scope. It particularly includes specification of the preferred change-management process as an integral component of scope management. It also specifies individual responsibility for managing scope, and it specifies "dos and don'ts" for project team members as guidance for avoiding unintentional modifications to the work effort that represent scope changes. This plan can contain a checklist for evaluating indicators of drifting scope.

• Quality management plan: Describes how the project team will implement its quality policy and practices on the current project. It includes the identification of quality requirements for direct and indirect project deliverables, specifies the technical reviews and threshold values of quality control, and identifies the quality assurance activities to be accomplished as a matter of ensuring successful technical performance. It also can identify scheduled and ad hoc technical and project management audits that may be conducted as a part of the project oversight effort. It can reference applicable technical standards and specification documents as well as adjunct plans having greater quality-process and procedural details. Where possible, individuals and organizations responsible for quality management should be identified. Finally, this plan should specify the procedures for customer acceptance of project deliverables.

• Vendor/contractor management plan: Describes how external resources will be integrated into the project effort, including specification of their primary point of contact and key roles and responsibilities that will be fulfilled. If not otherwise provided in a separate support plan, the procurement process for vendor and contractor acquisition can be incorporated in this plan. This plan also can reference and highlight key information elements for each vendor/contractor agreement or contract. In particular, this plan will specify the deliverables to be accomplished by the vendor/contractor, the methods that will be used to accept vendor and contractor deliverables, and the process for receiving and approving invoices associated with vendor/contractor deliverables. Finally, this plan should prescribe the management activities that will be accomplished to ensure effective and timely vendor and contractor performance on the project.

• Staffing management plan: Describes the project resources needed, allocated, and assigned to the project effort. The plan is constructed to help the project manager and technical team leaders to identify the number and type of resources needed to accomplish the project effort; when, how, and from where they will be sourced; and what steps will be taken to manage their timely acquisition and assignment. It frequently contains a project resource responsibility matrix to show alignment of individuals with project work responsibilities. This plan may reiterate the location and methods of contact for each project team member. As well, a portion of the plan should specify how the project team and individual team members would be dispersed following completion of their assigned project duties.

Secondary Support Plans

Secondary support plans can also be prepared, and they tend to be those adjunct project plans associated with technical or functional organization requirements, such as a manufacturing plan or software testing plan. The term "secondary" is used relative to the practice of project management and does not signify importance relative to the technical effort of the project. However, there also are a fair number of secondary project support plans that constitute guidance for project management activities.

The following list presents a wide variety of secondary project support plans that can be considered by the PMO for use within the relevant organization:

• Auditing plan: Specifies the scheduled and unscheduled technical and project management reviews to be conducted. This plan can be an extension of or included in the quality management plan.

• Budget plan: Presents the annual budget for the company, division, or relevant organizational unit for consideration in this project planning effort.

• Business case plan: Specifies the analysis and presentation of business assessments providing the justification to pursue the project opportunity.

• Configuration management plan: Describes the procedures used to apply technical and administrative direction and oversight to identify, document, and control application of the functional and physical characteristics of any item or system.

• Cost management plan: Presents the procedures for tracking and managing cost variance and provides guidance for general oversight of the project budget, including management of cost changes.

• Construction plan: Provides information for coordinating, communicating, and directing the construction of a capital facility in terms of scope, quality, time, and cost.

• Contingency plan: Identifies alternative strategies to be used if specific risk events occur. This plan can be an extension of or included in the risk management plan.

• Customer relationship management plan: Specifies the steps to be taken to manage customer expectations and involvement in the project effort.

• Customer support plan: Describes the activities designed to assist the customer with a product or service after acceptance.

• Cost estimating plan: Specifies the information and steps necessary for conducting an effective estimate of the related elements of cost, schedule, and resource utilization. This can be an extension of or included with the project work plan.

• Documentation plan: Specifies the design, storage, and disposal of reports, information, records, references, and other project data.

• Engineering design plan: Describes the project deliverable in the form of specifications, drawings, data flow diagrams, or any other methods that can be used to provide detailed information on how to build the product.

• Equipment disposal plan: Tells how equipment and material used on a project will be disposed of at the conclusion the project.

• Facilities management plan: Designates the facilities required to support execution of the project and the actions and responsibilities associated with acquiring, managing, and maintaining project facilities.

• Financial performance plan: Stipulates business unit performance goals for a given financial period (or a given project).

• Health and safety plan: Outlines the performance standards and requirements designed to protect project team members.

• Inspection plan: Presents the design for the examination or measurement of work to verify whether an item or activity conforms to specific requirements.

• Inventory management plan: Presents the design for the use and control of materials required to execute the project.

• Logistics support plan: Presents the design for the acquisition and movement of materials and personnel required to conduct the project.

• Make-or-buy plan: Explains the procedures for analyzing whether a particular product or service can be produced or performed cost-effectively by the performing organization or should be contracted out to another organization.

• Manufacturing plan: Provides the scheme for building the product or deliverable resulting from the project effort.

• Materials procurement plan: Describes sourcing of raw or prefabricated materials to support execution of the project.

• Operations plan: Defines interface roles and responsibilities between the project team and the relevant organization's business units.

• Peer-review plan: Structures the content and method of peer technical reviews of the deliverable product.

• Portfolio management plan : Identifies pending and approved products of the relevant organization; defines the prioritization of approved products and projects, including the current project.

• Procurement management plan: Describes management of the procurement processes, from solicitation planning through contract close out.

• Product life cycle plan: Defines how the technical product will evolve into a new offering.

• Project organization plan: Defines the management structure for the project and how it interfaces with the relevant organization. This plan can be an extension of or included in either the project charter or the project definition statement.

• Regulatory compliance plan: Explains how the work of the project will be managed to conform to applicable government regulations or industry standards.

• Resource utilization management plan: Presents the procedures for tracking and managing resource utilization variance, and provides guidance for how to measure and manage project team member assignments and performance.

• Schedule management plan: Presents the procedures for tracking and managing schedule variance, and provides guidance for general oversight of the project schedule, including management of schedule changes.

• Staff training plan: Specifies training to be undertaken by designated or potential project team members so that they can achieve qualification of project skill, knowledge, and competency requirements.

• Staff transition plan: Addresses staff replacement issues and migration from the project to other assignments within the organization. This plan can be a part of or an extension to the project staffing plan.

• Strategic business plan: Sets the organizational business direction and context for decision making in the development and execution of the project.

• Systems integration test plan: Defines operating requirements and standards for combined elements of a system or the system as a whole.

• Technical plan: Describes how the scope and deliverables of the project will be achieved from the perspective of the technical or professional work to be performed.

• Testing plan: Defines the method and criteria for checking the conformance to requirements of the deliverable product or its components.

• Tooling plan: Provides the design for manufacturing equipment used to produce product components.

• Transportation plan: Defines how the product will be transported through distribution channels to reach the customer's points of product acceptance.

• Verification plan: Provides for the evaluation of the correctness of the output (deliverable) of various stages of product development based on the criteria for that stage.

• Warranty and field support plan: Provides for replacement and repair of parts and extended services associated with product delivery.

The generic titles in the preceding list are proffered to give the PMO some perspective on what can be accomplished relative to project planning. Undoubtedly there are numerous technical and business planning components that are unique to industries and organizations that are not listed here. The PMO should define those and create the preferred format and content guidance for their preparation in the planning process.

Prepare Adjunct Plan Content Guidance

The PMO's collaboration of needs for adjunct project plans in the project management environment and subsequent selection of required plans would influence the planning workload of each project team. To that end, the PMO will want to ensure that only essential adjunct planning requirements are specified and that adequate guidance is provided for preparing and using adjunct project plans. Not every project manager will recognize the need for a particular adjunct plan, and more likely, individuals will have a different perspective on its content and purpose even when fundamental concepts are known. Therefore, the PMO should determine several guidance features in association with specifying the need to prepare each adjunct project plan:

• Purpose: Specify the reason for constructing the adjunct plan and how it will be used in the course of the project and in the life cycle of project management. Indicate its alignment as a project management plan, technical plan, administrative plan, or any other categories that provide perspective to users on the project team and other project stakeholders.

• Preparation requirement: Determine and specify whether the adjunct plan is a primary support plan that is required for every project or a secondary support plan that is prepared only for certain types of projects. Identify the criteria or conditions that will determine when the adjunct plan must be prepared.

• Responsibility: Identify who, in terms of a project team or project stakeholder role, is responsible for developing the adjunct plan, reviewing and approving the adjunct plan, and managing adjunct plan implementation.

• Content specification: Identify what information will be contained in the adjunct plan and provide format requirements or recommendations, as necessary. This includes specifying the major sections of the plan and describing the prescribed content for each section in sufficient detail so as to preclude misunderstanding or incorrect interpretation.

• Template or sample plan: Provide a template or form that can be used to construct or otherwise guide construction of the adjunct plan. As well, consider available automated applications and associated databases and features that can be used to provide content and fulfill adjunct plan preparation requirements.

• Plan distribution: Identify the project team members and other project stakeholders who will routinely receive copies of the adjunct plan; indicate who has authority to issue copies to individuals not on the distribution list.

• Plan modification: Identify who is authorized to make changes to the plan and what types of modifications require initiating a formal change-management process.

To repeat a reminder found throughout this book, the introduction of requirements and processes for preparing adjunct project plans should be incorporated into the project management methodology (see Chapter 1). The methodology will be the primary repository for the feature descriptions resulting from this PMO activity.

Provide Adjunct Plan Facilitation

This activity represents a special capability of the PMO to provide facilitation support to project managers and project team members for the preparation of adjunct project plans. It is an activity similar to that described earlier to facilitate project work plan development. It should be distinguished from the general follow-on type of facilitator/mentor planning support for adjunct plan development by the nature of the preparation required and the formality of the facilitation process used. In essence, formal adjunct plan facilitation requires the development of a structured program or workshop and associated workshop materials.

An adjunct plan facilitation workshop involves coordination and preparation time for both the project manager and the facilitator, and possibly some project team members. It also involves development of workshop materials that can be used to expedite the planning effort, a primary reason for having a facilitated planning session.

The decision to proceed with this service offering is as much a business decision as a project support decision because of the expense and the effort that will be consumed. Therefore, it is particularly important that only adjunct plans that are frequently required be included for consideration in a facilitated workshop. More precisely, the PMO should examine primary project support plans for workshop consideration, because they are required for every project.

As well, the use of external professional services may be a more appropriate means of fulfillment. If development costs and time are a factor, professional project management consultants, already well-versed in the technical or project management aspects of the adjunct plan, is a viable solution for PMO consideration. Use of external consultants is also a means of introducing new concepts of planning and prescribed industry content into the scheme of adjunct plans.

Once the PMO establishes the capability to deliver adjunct project planning facilitation, it should ensure that availability of that support is widely publicized within the project management environment. That ensures that the cost of development and delivery, or the expense for an external service provider, is optimized through maximum use of the workshop. Likewise, it will have to develop procedures for requesting and fulfilling adjunct plan workshop requirements.

^[1]The risk-assessment categories were obtained from ProjectFOCUS : A Project Management Methodology, ESI International, Arlington, VA, January 1999.