The Project Plan

The actual project plan that you will manage flows from the normal way an organization determines its activities, goals and objectives for the future. The strategic planning conducted by an organization's management determines which projects will be sponsored in order to achieve the organizational goals. For many companies, strategic planning is a formal process through which the top management goes in order to utilize the assets of the company in the best possible way for the shareholders. In later chapters, we will look at various tools and techniques for determining the selection of projects to be funded, but in this chapter, suffice it to say that the organizational management team determines in some fashion that certain projects will bring about better results for the organization than others. These are the projects that get chosen and funded.

Q.	The first planning that occurs when doing the organizational process of choosing projects is:
		A.	Project planning
		B.	Tactical planning
		C.	Scheduling
		D.	Strategic planning

The answer is D. The beginning of total organizational planning should be strategic planning. Only after a goal and objectives have been set can management determine which projects would be the best to execute.

After a project is selected, the project plan development process begins. The importance of a coherent clear project plan cannot be overstated. Several uses of a project plan are listed in PMBOK. The first and most important is that the project plan is the road map for the execution of the project.

Project management deals with making a plan and then managing actual results as compared to the plan. The overall project plan is the one place where all types of sub-plans are gathered and the one plan that must be followed in order for the project to be successful. The project plan is seldom created in one session. Most of the time, multiple sessions concerning the various parts of the plan and the sub-plans go into the making of the overall plan.

PMBOK suggests that the project plan is the place where all project planning assumptions are documented. This is the way it should be. Unfortunately, it is not the way that it usually is. First of all, assumptions often do not get documented. This is where the trouble begins. If you make assumptions concerning any facet of the project, you should create some sort of note saying what the assumptions are. The definition of "assumption" found on yourDictionary.com is "Something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof." PMBOK describes assumptions as "factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be true, real, or certain." The key aspect of assumptions lies in the first definition, and the key words are "without proof." As a project manager, one of the phrases you should commit to memory and use often is "Prove it." You should be constantly trying to use as few assumptions as possible and instead use proven facts.

However, it is not always possible to document and verify assumptions used in the planning process. Best practices suggest that at the very least, you should note assumptions and be aware that they are not facts. Everyone who has worked on a project knows that there are times when assumptions are made, if for no other reason than the fact that each project is unique. Because nothing quite like a given project has been done before, assumptions are made. Be sure to manage them. Assumptions can come back and bite you in the middle of a project if they are the only factors that you use in building a plan.

Q.	Assumptions are factors that, for planning purposes, are considered to be:
		A.	True, real, or certain
		B.	Certain and defensible
		C.	Easy to use
		D.	True, real, or interesting

The answer is A. This is the PMBOK definition, and you will see it on the exam.

Q.	Assumptions in the project plan should be:
		A.	Copious
		B.	Understandable
		C.	Easy to defend
		D.	Written down

The answer is D. Assumptions that are not written down are the most dangerous. In order to recognize statements in the project plan that are assumptions, document them as such and write them down. It does not mean that the assumptions will all prove to be true, real, or certain, but it does mean that you will understand which statements are assumptions and which are facts.

According to the PMBOK, the project plan will also show the decisions made regarding alternative suggestions from which the final plan was produced. This simply means that whatever is left in the project plan constitutes the final choices that will be used as guides for executing the project.

Because the finalized project plan is the document against which all progress will be measured, it is the document, according to PMBOK, that "defines how the project is executed, monitored, and controlled." The project plan shows the project scope and the breakdown of the tasks for achieving the deliverables within that scope. By sharing the project plan, you make all the project stakeholders aware of the project's goals. As such, the project plan becomes a valuable communication tool. Project managers create status reports to measure how the project is doing against the original project plan.

The project plan also determines when the status reports will be done and to whom the information will be sent. The majority of this information is developed in the communication part of the project plan, where status reports and reports of any type are discussed. Remember that you send information only to people who are included in the communication plan, not to everyone involved in the project. So the project plan, of which the communication plan is a part, is where you determine what to communicate, how much to communicate, with whom you will communicate, and when you will communicate.

Q.	The final choices about how to execute the project are found in the:
		A.	Scope Statement
		B.	Project Plan
		C.	SOW
		D.	Charter

The answer is B. The project plan is the final document to be created before the execution of the project. As such, the final choices of the planning team are shown in it.

Q.	The project plan helps to facilitate:
		A.	Camaraderie
		B.	Good will
		C.	Communication
		D.	Strict discipline

The answer is C. Because the project plan shows what should be done to execute the project, various team members can communicate about their progress on the project by referring to the project plan.

Q.	The project plan determines what you will communicate, when you will communicate, how much you will communicate, and:
		A.	Why you will communicate
		B.	With whom you will communicate
		C.	The language you will use to communicate
		D.	Correct grammar

The answer is B. Not only does the project plan say what, when, and how much you will communicate, but it also tells you with whom you will communicate during the project.

Finally, the project plan is your baseline for the project. The concept of the baseline was discussed in Chapter 3, "Planning and Execution," and the final place where you set your baseline for the project is the project plan.

It is important to remember that the project plan is not one large document that is written page after page after page. The various sub-plans are a part of the overall project plan and may be written in forms altogether different from other parts of the plan. The overall set of plans will be discussed later, but it's important to remember that the project plan is a set of plans and that you need to use all of the plans to effectively manage the project.

Q.	The ________ is a part of the project plan.
		A.	Baseline
		B.	Project Scope
		C.	Schedule
		D.	All of the above

The answer is D. The project plan contains the information you need to start to execute the project as well as to manage it.