Project Planning Process Group – Part 1

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About this lesson

The project management planning processes integrate with each other to create all components of the project plan.  There are 24 project management planning processes. Part 1.

Quick reference

Project Planning Process Group – Part 1

The project management planning processes integrate with each other to create all components of the project plan.  There are 24 project management planning processes.

When to use

Once a project has been initiated it needs to be planned.  Projects that are very large or that are adaptive at the time of initiation will often go through a significant replan at the beginning of each phase of the project life cycle. Of course whenever a project change is approved, the team must execute the appropriate planning processes to address the change.  

Instructions 

Planning Process Group

“Those processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.” PMBOK® Guide

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017 Figure Part 2, 2-1, Page 562 and Glossary definition, Page 713.  
Every project needs to be planned.  Due to the unique nature of the project goal, objective or results, projects are full of uncertainty.  The particular set of deliverables, resources, timing and business environmental factors associated with each process requires a unique project plan.  All ten project management knowledge areas contribute to the development of the overall project management plan.

There are 24 processes in the Planning group of project management processes.  Four of those processes are addressed in this lesson module and the other twenty are addressed in other modules.  The four in this module are: Develop Project Management Plan, Create WBS, Develop Schedule, and Determine Budget.

Develop Project Management Plan (4.2)

“The process of defining, preparing, and coordinating all plan components and consolidating them into an integrated project management plan.” PMBOK® Guide

Planning Process Group                                       Integration Mgmt Knowledge Area

This process is an integrating process.  It takes the input from the other planning processes and integrates those inputs into a comprehensive Project Management Plan.  This process is also normally done in an iterative fashion.  An early shell of a plan is created based upon the Project Charter and this is an input to other planning processes.  As those processes complete, their outputs are folded into the plan, inconsistencies and conflicts are resolved, then another iteration is sent to the processes until the plan is complete.  This plan will be used as in input for all of the other planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing processes. Many of the Monitoring and Controlling processes will also provide updates to the project management plan.

Inputs:

  • Project Charter
  • Outputs from other Processes
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Expert Judgement
  • Data Gathering
  • Interpersonal and Team Skills
  • Meetings

Outputs:

  • Project Management Plan

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 4-5, Page 82 and Glossary definition, Page 705.
 

Create WBS (5.4)

“The process of subdividing project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.” PMBOK® Guide

Planning Process Group                                       Scope Mgmt Knowledge Area

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the tool normally used to document and present the scope baseline for the project.  It breaks the deliverables down into bite-size chunks of work (known as work packages).  This process of breaking down deliverables and large summary tasks is called decomposition.  The WBS is depicted either in graphical form (looking like a big Org Chart) or in tabular form, which is known as WBS Dictionary.  Often when a project is planned in phases, a high-level WBS is created at the beginning of the project and the detailed WBS is created one phase at a time.

Inputs:

  • Project Management Plan
  • Scope Statement
  • Requirements Documentation
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Decomposition
  • Expert Judgment

Outputs: 

  • Scope Baseline
  • Project Documents Updates

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 5-11, Page 156 and Glossary definition, Page 703.
 

Develop Schedule (6.5)

“The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource assignments, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model for project execution and monitoring and controlling.” PMBOK® Guide

Planning Process Group                                       Time Mgmt Knowledge Area

This process is often completed in an iterative fashion.  As an initial project schedule is developed in the scheduling tool, it is checked for conflicts and accuracy of estimates.  Inevitably there will need to be some changes.  Many organizations use a project management software application to create the project schedule model.  Whether done manually or using software, the project schedule will need to be a living document because there will be changes.

Inputs:

  • Project Management Plan
  • Project Documents
  • Agreements
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Schedule Network Analysis
  • Critical Path Method
  • Data Analysis
  • Resource Optimization Techniques
  • Agile Release Planning
  • Leads and Lags
  • Schedule Compression
  • Project Management Information System

Outputs: 

  • Schedule Baseline
  • Project Schedule
  • Issue Log
  • Change Requests
  • Project Management Plan Updates
  • Project Documents Updates

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 6-15, Page 206 and Glossary definition, Page 705.

Determine Budget (7.3)

“The process of aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages to establish an authorized cost baseline.” PMBOK® Guide

Planning Process Group                                       Cost Mgmt Knowledge Area

The project budget is the approved baseline for how the project money will be spent.  It includes both a time and money component.  There is a nuance in the terminology within this process.  The process develops both a cost baseline and a project budget.  They are identical except for one item.  The cost baseline is the planned cost for doing all the identified scope in the project.  The budget includes the cost baseline and it has an additional item called management reserve.  This is unallocated budget that the project manager or senior management controls and is normally used to address risks as they arise.  The budgeting process is often closely integrated with the company’s financial accounting system.  Because the other planning processes are iterative, this process becomes iterative also.  Where possible, the budget is expressed using Earned Value Management.  This is explained in more detail in several lessons dedicated to Earned Value.

Inputs:

  • Project Management Plan
  • Project Documents
  • Agreements
  • Business Documents
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Cost Aggregation
  • Data Analysis
  • Expert Judgment
  • Historical Relationships
  • Funding Limit Reconciliation
  • Financing

Outputs: 

  • Cost Baseline
  • Project Funding Requirements
  • Project Documents Updates

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 7-7, Page 249 and Glossary definition, Page 704. PMBOK is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

 

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  • 00:04 Hello, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 I'd like to begin discussing the project management planning processes.
  • 00:10 Now this is the first of six parts, covering the planning processes.
  • 00:14 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide,
  • 00:18 defines the planning processes as those processes required to establish the scope
  • 00:23 of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action
  • 00:28 required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.
  • 00:33 These processes are often done in an iterative nature.
  • 00:36 As the plan is developed, portions that were unclear become clear and
  • 00:40 the plan must be enhanced and modified to accommodate what is now known and
  • 00:44 understood.
  • 00:45 The goal of these processes is obviously to create the project management plan.
  • 00:49 But in addition, these processes create the planning documents like schedules and
  • 00:53 budgets and they outline the strategy and tactic for
  • 00:56 completing the project with a manageable level of risk.
  • 01:01 There are a total of 24 processes in the planning area, and
  • 01:04 they span all ten of the project management knowledge areas.
  • 01:07 The unique nature and complexity of a project
  • 01:10 will determine how frequently these processes interact with each other.
  • 01:14 As we start to consider the planning processes,
  • 01:16 let's look at everything involved.
  • 01:18 Again, the numbers on the processes are the PMBOK sections that describe them
  • 01:22 in detail.
  • 01:23 There's one integrating process.
  • 01:25 There are four scope planning processes and five schedule or
  • 01:29 time management processes.
  • 01:30 Three cost planning processes.
  • 01:33 There's only one quality planning process, two resource planning processes, and
  • 01:38 one communication planning process.
  • 01:39 There are five risk planning processes, one procurement planning process, and
  • 01:44 finally, one stakeholder management planning process.
  • 01:47 Let's look first at the integration process and the three processes
  • 01:52 that delineate the process triple constraint of scope, schedule and costs.
  • 01:57 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide,
  • 02:00 defines the developed project management plan project as the process of defining,
  • 02:05 preparing and coordinating all plan components and
  • 02:09 consolidating them into an integrated project management plan.
  • 02:13 This process takes theprocure project charter and inputs from all the other planning
  • 02:17 processes along with the enterprise environmental factors and
  • 02:20 organizational process assets to create the project management plan.
  • 02:24 That is used by all of the other project manager processes in the planning,
  • 02:29 executing, controlling and closing process groups.
  • 02:32 The tools and techniques for this process are expert judgment,
  • 02:35 data gathering, interpersonal and team skills, and meetings.
  • 02:40 The culmination of skill planning is the Create WBS process.
  • 02:44 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide,
  • 02:47 defines this process as the process of subdividing project deliverables and
  • 02:52 project work into smaller, more manageable components.
  • 02:56 The inputs are the project management plan and project documents.
  • 03:00 In particular, the requirements document and the scope statement,
  • 03:04 along with the enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets.
  • 03:08 The outputs are the scope baseline,
  • 03:10 which is incorporated into the project management plan and updates the project
  • 03:14 documents that have been generated by other project management processes.
  • 03:18 The tools and techniques are decomposition and expert judgement.
  • 03:22 Decomposition is dividing the work of large tasks into smaller tasks and
  • 03:27 activities.
  • 03:28 Now, let's look at schedule planning.
  • 03:30 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines the develop
  • 03:34 schedule process as the process of analyzing activity sequences,
  • 03:39 durations, resource assignments, and schedule constraints to create
  • 03:43 the project schedule model for project execution and monitoring and controlling.
  • 03:48 The inputs to this process are the product management plan and
  • 03:51 various project documents.
  • 03:53 Agreements from the conduct procurements process,
  • 03:55 which may establish external boundaries or constraints, and
  • 03:58 of course the enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets.
  • 04:03 The outputs are the schedule baseline,
  • 04:05 which is incorporated into the project management plan.
  • 04:08 In addition, there may be other updates to the project management plan,
  • 04:11 change requests to be processed by the integrated change control.
  • 04:15 And two more of our project documents, the project schedule and issue log.
  • 04:20 And of course you can always have an additional updates to other
  • 04:22 project documents.
  • 04:24 To do all these, there are many tools and
  • 04:25 techniques at the project manager's disposal.
  • 04:28 Some of these are things like critical path method, leads of lags and
  • 04:32 resource optimization which we will talk about in later lessons.
  • 04:35 If you're not familiar with any of these,
  • 04:37 you should study this section of the PMBOK Guide to learn them.
  • 04:41 The final element of the basic plan is a project management process
  • 04:44 determine budget.
  • 04:46 The project management body of knowledge, PMBOK Guide, defines this process as
  • 04:51 the process of aggregating the estimated cause of individual activities or
  • 04:55 work packages to establish and authorize cost baseline.
  • 04:59 The inputs again, come from the project management plan and the project documents.
  • 05:04 In addition, we have agreements from conduct procurements.
  • 05:06 In this case, we also have business documents like the business case and
  • 05:10 business benefits plan.
  • 05:11 And of course, environmental factors and organizational process assets.
  • 05:16 The primary output is the cost baseline which is incorporated into the project
  • 05:20 management plan.
  • 05:21 In addition, the funding requirement are used by the control costs process and
  • 05:26 of course, we will be updating other project documents.
  • 05:29 The tools and techniques are cost aggregation, data analysis,
  • 05:33 expert judgement, historical relationships,
  • 05:36 funding limit reconciliation and financing.
  • 05:39 If you're not familiar with these, study them in the PMBOK.
  • 05:43 Those are the first four planning processes that we'll discuss, and
  • 05:47 they highlighted the triple constraint of project planning,
  • 05:50 scope, schedule, and budget or cost.

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