13.1 Developing the Project Management Plan
3 min read•august 9, 2024
Project Integration Management is all about bringing everything together. In this section, we'll look at how to develop the , which is like the blueprint for your entire project. It's the big-picture document that guides everything from start to finish.
The Project Management Plan combines all the smaller plans for things like schedule, budget, and quality. It's a living document that changes as the project evolves, helping you stay on track and make smart decisions along the way. Think of it as your project's roadmap and rulebook rolled into one.
Project Baselines
Core Project Baselines
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- Scope Baseline forms the foundation for project execution and control
- Includes approved project , (WBS), and WBS dictionary
- Defines project boundaries and deliverables
- Used to measure project progress and manage change requests
- establishes the approved project timeline
- Consists of start and finish dates for project activities and milestones
- Serves as a reference point for tracking project progress
- Helps identify schedule variances and potential delays ()
- represents the approved budget over time
- Displays planned project expenditures and expected liabilities
- Used to measure cost performance and forecast final project costs
- Enables for tracking project financial health
Baseline Integration and Management
- Baselines work together to provide a comprehensive project performance measurement system
- Changes to one baseline often impact others, requiring integrated change control
- Baseline revisions must go through formal change control processes
- Regular baseline updates ensure alignment with current project realities ()
- Baselines serve as key inputs for project status reports and stakeholder communications
Project Management Plan Components
Core Plan Elements
- Project Management Plan serves as the central document guiding project execution
- Integrates and consolidates all subsidiary management plans
- Defines how the project is executed, monitored, controlled, and closed
- Evolves progressively through iterative updates throughout the project lifecycle
- Subsidiary Management Plans address specific knowledge areas
- outlines how project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled
- describes methods for developing and controlling the project schedule
- details how project costs will be estimated, budgeted, and controlled
- defines quality policies, procedures, and metrics for the project
- addresses how project resources will be acquired and managed
Change and Communication Management
- outlines processes for handling project changes
- Defines roles and responsibilities in the change control process
- Establishes procedures for submitting, evaluating, and approving change requests
- Describes how changes will be tracked and communicated to stakeholders
- details how project information will be distributed
- Identifies stakeholder communication needs and preferences
- Outlines communication methods, frequency, and responsible parties
- Includes templates for project reports and presentations
Project Inputs
Foundational Project Documents
- formally authorizes the project and outlines high-level project information
- Defines project purpose, objectives, and success criteria
- Identifies key stakeholders and their roles
- Assigns the project manager and outlines their authority level
- Provides a preliminary budget and timeline ()
- captures stakeholder needs and expectations
- Includes both business and technical requirements
- Serves as a basis for scope definition and project planning
- May be presented in various formats (use cases, user stories, functional specifications)
Stakeholder Information and Analysis
- identifies and classifies project stakeholders
- Contains stakeholder contact information and roles
- Assesses stakeholder influence, interest, and potential impact on the project
- Helps in developing stakeholder engagement strategies
- techniques used to gather additional input
- for stakeholder prioritization
- to assess stakeholder legitimacy, urgency, and power
- Interviews and surveys to collect stakeholder requirements and expectations
Key Terms to Review (22)
Change Management Plan: A change management plan is a structured approach that outlines how changes will be managed and communicated throughout a project. It serves to minimize disruptions and ensures that all stakeholders understand the implications of changes, including their benefits and impacts on project objectives. By defining roles, processes, and communication strategies, it helps to facilitate smooth transitions and support the overall success of the project.
Communication Management Plan: A communication management plan is a strategic document that outlines how project information will be communicated to stakeholders. It details what information will be shared, the timing and methods of communication, and who is responsible for delivering it. This plan is crucial for ensuring that all parties involved in a project stay informed and engaged throughout the project's lifecycle.
Cost baseline: The cost baseline is the approved version of the project budget, which includes all planned costs and serves as a standard for measuring performance throughout the project lifecycle. It is a critical component for managing project finances as it allows for comparison against actual expenditures to determine variances and guide decision-making. A well-defined cost baseline is essential for effective budgeting, tracking progress, and ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently.
Cost management plan: A cost management plan is a formal document that outlines how project costs will be planned, structured, and controlled. It serves as a roadmap for managing project finances and ensures that budgetary constraints are adhered to throughout the project lifecycle. This plan is critical as it helps establish a baseline for performance measurement and guides decision-making regarding budgeting and spending.
Critical Path Analysis: Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is a project management technique used to determine the longest sequence of dependent tasks that must be completed on time for a project to finish by its deadline. This method helps identify crucial tasks that directly impact the project's duration, allowing project managers to prioritize resources effectively and manage potential delays.
Earned value analysis: Earned value analysis (EVA) is a project management technique used to assess a project's performance by comparing the planned progress to the actual progress in terms of cost and schedule. This method helps project managers identify variances and trends, enabling better forecasting and decision-making. By integrating scope, schedule, and cost data, EVA provides a comprehensive view of project health, allowing teams to make informed adjustments as needed.
Milestone schedule: A milestone schedule is a key project management tool that outlines significant points or events in a project timeline, indicating when major tasks or phases will be completed. These milestones serve as reference points for measuring progress and ensuring that the project stays on track, helping to manage stakeholder expectations and resource allocation effectively.
Power/interest grid: The power/interest grid is a strategic tool used to categorize stakeholders based on their level of authority (power) and their degree of interest in a project. By plotting stakeholders on this grid, project managers can prioritize communication and engagement strategies, ensuring that those with high power and high interest receive appropriate attention and involvement throughout the project lifecycle.
Project charter: A project charter is a formal document that authorizes the existence of a project and provides a high-level overview of its objectives, scope, and stakeholders. This document serves as a foundational reference throughout the project management lifecycle, ensuring that all parties understand the project's purpose and alignment with organizational goals.
Project management plan: A project management plan is a comprehensive document that outlines how a project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. It serves as a roadmap for the project team, detailing objectives, scope, resources, timelines, and stakeholder engagement. This plan is crucial as it integrates various project management processes to ensure alignment with the project's goals and allows for effective coordination and communication among team members.
Quality Management Plan: A quality management plan is a formal document that defines the quality standards, procedures, and responsibilities for ensuring that a project's deliverables meet the specified requirements. It serves as a roadmap for maintaining the quality of both project processes and outcomes, outlining how quality will be measured, monitored, and controlled throughout the project lifecycle. This plan is crucial for ensuring stakeholder satisfaction and aligning the project's objectives with the organization's overall goals.
Requirements Documentation: Requirements documentation is a detailed and formal description of the project requirements that outlines the necessary features, functions, and constraints for a project. This documentation serves as a reference point throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned on expectations and project goals. It helps in developing the project management plan by providing clarity on what needs to be achieved and is essential for monitoring progress and controlling project work by verifying that deliverables meet the outlined requirements.
Resource Management Plan: A resource management plan is a document that outlines how project resources will be estimated, acquired, managed, and controlled throughout the project lifecycle. It plays a crucial role in ensuring that the necessary resources are available when needed and that they are used efficiently and effectively to achieve project goals. This plan integrates various aspects of resource allocation, including human resources, equipment, and materials, establishing clear guidelines for managing these assets.
Rolling Wave Planning: Rolling wave planning is a project management technique where detailed planning is conducted for the immediate phases of a project, while future phases are planned at a higher level and are elaborated as the project progresses. This approach allows teams to adapt to changes and uncertainties by focusing on near-term tasks while keeping longer-term goals in mind. It facilitates flexibility and responsiveness in managing project timelines and resources.
Salience Model: The salience model is a framework used to prioritize stakeholders based on their importance and influence in a project. This model helps project managers identify which stakeholders require more attention, engagement, and communication based on their level of interest, power, and influence. By categorizing stakeholders into different groups, the salience model enables effective management and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
Schedule baseline: The schedule baseline is a fixed schedule that serves as a reference point throughout the project lifecycle, providing a comparison for actual project performance. It encompasses the planned start and finish dates for project activities, and it allows project managers to measure progress, analyze variances, and assess any impacts of changes or delays. A well-defined schedule baseline is critical for effective schedule management and helps in ensuring that the project stays on track with its timeline.
Schedule management plan: A schedule management plan outlines how the project schedule will be planned, developed, managed, executed, and controlled. It serves as a guideline for maintaining the timeline of the project and includes processes for schedule development, monitoring progress, and implementing changes when necessary. This plan is essential to ensure that project milestones are achieved on time and that any deviations are addressed promptly.
Scope management plan: A scope management plan is a formal document that defines how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled. It outlines the processes and procedures that will be followed to ensure that all project work is included and that any changes to the scope are managed effectively. This plan is essential for guiding project execution and monitoring progress.
Scope statement: A scope statement is a document that outlines the specific goals, deliverables, tasks, costs, and deadlines of a project, providing a clear understanding of what is included and excluded from the project. It serves as a foundation for planning, execution, and control throughout the project's lifecycle, helping to manage stakeholder expectations and project boundaries effectively.
Stakeholder Analysis: Stakeholder analysis is a process used to identify and assess the influence and interests of individuals or groups that may affect or be affected by a project. This analysis helps project managers understand stakeholder needs and expectations, which is crucial for ensuring project success and alignment with organizational goals.
Stakeholder Register: A stakeholder register is a document that lists all project stakeholders along with relevant details such as their interests, involvement, influence, and expectations related to the project. This tool is essential for managing stakeholder relationships and ensuring effective communication throughout the project lifecycle.
Work Breakdown Structure: A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical decomposition of a project into smaller, more manageable components or work packages. It serves as a foundation for defining and organizing project tasks, facilitating better planning, execution, and monitoring of the project. By breaking down the scope into bite-sized pieces, it helps in establishing clear project deliverables and supports the development of the overall project management plan.