PROJECT PLANNING

Determine the exact conditions for the project to be completed or to be terminated. Before it is absolutely clear what the objectives of the project are, it makes little sense to start estimating how long it will take and how much it will cost. Unfortunately, many project managers fail to take this first, crucial step. Each project should have a clear connection to one or more real of organization's business issues.
Make an inventory of all the work that needs to be done with an estimate of the time it will take to complete by a single team member. This can be done in a planning session with all the team members. Tasks that will take over three weeks to complete need to be broken down further to get good granularity. To avoid getting swamped with details, the tasks at the lowest level should take approximately 1 week. The result is a work breakdown structure. Make sure that having the project's deliverables injected into the organization or its environment will actually cause the expected benefits (project objectives) to materialize.
Identify the resources needed to complete each terminal element of the WBS. At this point you can usually estimate the cost to deliver each terminal element and, consequently, the project (bottom-up approach). Sometimes a top-down approach to estimating costs is also possible by means of using coefficients (e.g. it costs between $X and $Y to build a square meter of a house of such-and-such a standard).
Make a decision whether this initial plan makes sense, i.e. whether the costs justify the benefits. Modify the objectives and the supporting work as necessary.
Define dependencies among tasks. Some tasks need to be completed before other tasks can begin. By putting tasks into their relative completion order, a project manager constructs a project network.
Calculate the minimum time the project will take: it is the longest path through the project network from the start of the project until its end. This path is called the critical path (or critical chain, if resource dependencies are taken into account). Other tasks can be done in parallel to the critical path but any delay in the tasks on the critical path will automatically result in a delay in the overall deadline of the project.
Create a project schedule (e.g. in the form of a Gantt chart).
Plan for risk management and modify the project plan accordingly.
Commit the organization to starting the project implementation.

Project planning is not something that is done only once at the beginning of the project. It should be an ongoing task of the project manager to keep an eye on the progress of his team and update the project plan accordingly. Project management software can be helpful if used properly. There are several project management standards that describe in detail how to plan and manage a project.

Not planning at all

Failing to account for all project activities

Failure to plan for risk

Using the same plan for every project

Applying prepackaged plans indiscriminately

Allowing a plan to diverge from project reality

Planning in too much detail too soon

Planning to catch up later

Not learning from past planning sins

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Commercial Usage: PROJECT PLANNING

Domain	Title
Books	E-Business and ERP: Rapid Implementation and Project Planning (reference) Needs Assessment and Project Planning (reference) Precedence Networks for Project Planning and Control (reference) Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, 3rd Edition (reference) Salmon spawning habitat rehabilitation in the Merced, Tuolumne, and Stanislaus Rivers, California : an evaluation of project planning and performance (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Non-Fiction Usage: PROJECT PLANNING

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		Financing and pricing are also key considerations in project planning. (references)
		U.S. firms have remarked that it is important to build up good relationships with the key buyers and the telecom regulator, MII. It is equally important to establish good contacts with the State Development and Planning Commission in charge of long-term project planning, and local governments (provincial and county levels) to uncover potential end-users and operate smoothly in China. (references)
Economic History	South Africa	In Africa, TDA assists U.S. firms by identifying major development projects that offer large export potential and by funding U.S. private sector involvement in project planning. (references)
	South Africa	The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) promotes economic development in developing countries by funding feasibility studies, consultancies, training programs, and other project planning services. (references)
	Vietnam	Interaction should begin during the project planning stage. (references)
Trade	Thailand	USTDA is an independent commercially-oriented foreign assistance agency of the United States Government . TDA promotes economic development and trade in developing and middle-income countries by funding feasibility studies, consultancies, training programs and other project planning services . In Asia, TDA creates export opportunities for U.S. firms by identifying major development projects which offer large export potential . Last year, TDA provided assistance in 67 nations around the world . In 2001, TDA has signed grants worth nearly US$ 2 million with Thailand, which, historically, has been the largest recipient of TDA grants in Asia. (references)
	India	The primary activity of TDA is grant funding of feasibility studies, consulting studies, and other project planning services for major projects in developing countries. (references)
	Bulgaria	U.S. involvement in project planning helps position potential U.S. suppliers at the project implementation stage. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expression: PROJECT PLANNING

Frequency of Internet Keywords: PROJECT PLANNING

Modern Translation: PROJECT PLANNING

Language		Translations for "PROJECT PLANNING"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
French		SPP (Project Planning Matrix), schéma de planification du projet (Project Planning Matrix). (various references)

German		Projektplanung (system engineering). (various references)

Pig Latin		ojectpray anningplay

Spanish		MPP (Project Planning Matrix), matriz de planificación del proyecto (Project Planning Matrix). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Anagrams: PROJECT PLANNING

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-c-e-g-i-j-l-n-n-n-o-p-p-r-t"
	-4 letters: nonintegral, percolating, preplanning, preplanting.
	-5 letters: congenital, corelating, entrancing, entrapping, noncentral, nongenital, pratincole, preplacing, projecting, relocating, replanning, replanting, trepanning.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Domain	Definition
Computing	Project planning project management. Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day
project planning	189
project planning software	122
project planning tool	11
project planning template	10
project planning system	8
free project planning software	6
project planning and control	4
project planning and implementation	3
strategic project planning	2
project planning form	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

PROJECT PLANNING

Specialty Definition: PROJECT PLANNING

Computing

Specialty Definition: Project planning

How to plan a project

See also

Read further

Crosswords: PROJECT PLANNING

Commercial Usage: PROJECT PLANNING

Books

Non-Fiction Usage: PROJECT PLANNING

Business

Economic History

South Africa

South Africa

Vietnam

Trade

Thailand

India

Bulgaria

Expression: PROJECT PLANNING

Frequency of Internet Keywords: PROJECT PLANNING

project planning

project planning software

project planning tool

project planning template

project planning system

free project planning software

project planning and control

project planning and implementation

strategic project planning

project planning form

Modern Translation: PROJECT PLANNING

French

German

Pig Latin

Spanish

Anagrams: PROJECT PLANNING

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

INDEX

Expression using "PROJECT PLANNING": Project Planning Matrix. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.