Planning for project team2 composition begins with identifying the skill sets required to accomplish the project work. This entails evaluating not only the skills, but also the level of proficiency and years of experience in similar projects.
There are different cost structures associated with using internal project team members versus securing them from outside the organization. The benefit that outside skills bring to the project are weighed against the costs that will be incurred.
When planning for the project team, the project manager considers the ability and necessity for the project team to work in the same location. Small project teams that can work in the same room are able to take advantage of osmotic communication and can solve problems as they arise. Some project teams are physically dispersed. Project team members may be in different cities, time zones, or countries. On projects where project team members work virtually, more time is spent connecting people through technology.
2.4.4 COMMUNICATION
Communication planning overlaps with stakeholder identification, analysis, prioritization, and engagement as described in the Stakeholder Performance Domain (Section 2.1). Communication is the most important factor in engaging with stakeholders effectively. Planning communication for the project entails considering the following:
- Who needs information?
- What information does each stakeholder need?
- Why should information be shared with stakeholders?
- What is the best way to provide information?
- When and how often is information needed?
- Who has the information needed?
There may be different categories of information, such as internal and external, sensitive and public, or general and detailed. Analyzing the stakeholders, information needs, and categories of information provides the foundation for establishing the communications processes and plans for the project.
2.4.5 PHYSICAL RESOURCES
Physical resources apply to any resource that is not a person. It can include materials, equipment, software, testing environments, licenses, and so forth. Planning for physical resources entails estimating, as described in Section 2.4.2.2, as well as supply chain, logistics, and management. Projects with significant physical resources, such as engineering and construction projects, will need to plan for procurement activities to acquire the resources. This may be as simple as utilizing a basic ordering agreement or as complicated as managing, coordinating, and integrating several large procurement activities.
Planning for physical resources includes taking into account lead time for delivery, movement, storage, and disposition of materials, as well as a means to track material inventory from arrival on site to delivery of an integrated product. Project teams whose projects require significant physical materials think and plan strategically about the timing from order, to delivery, to usage. This can include evaluation of bulk ordering versus cost of storage, global logistics, sustainability, and integrating management of physical assets with the rest of the project.
2.4.6 PROCUREMENT
Procurements can happen at any time during a project. However, up-front planning helps to set expectations that ensure the procurement process is performed smoothly. Once the high-level scope is known, project teams conduct a make-or-buy analysis. This includes identifying those deliverables and services that will be developed in-house, and those that will be purchased from external sources. This information impacts the project team and the schedule. Contracting professionals need advance information on the type of goods needed, when they will be needed, and any technical specifications required for the procured goods or services.
2.4.7 CHANGES
There will be changes throughout the project. Some changes are a result of a risk event occurring or a project environment change, some are based on developing a deeper understanding of requirements, and others are due to customer requests or other reasons. Therefore, project teams should prepare a process for adapting plans throughout the project. This may take the form of a change control process, reprioritizing the backlog, or rebaselining the project. Projects that have a contractual element may need to follow a defined process for contract changes.
2.4.8 METRICS
There is a natural linkage between planning, delivering, and measuring work. That linkage is metrics. Establishing metrics includes setting the thresholds that indicate whether work performance is as expected, trending positively or negatively away from expected performance, or unacceptable. Deciding what to measure and how often is best informed by the phrase “only measure what matters.”
Metrics associated with the product are specific to the deliverables being developed. Metrics associated with schedule and budget performance are often driven by organizational standards and are related to a baseline or an approved version of the schedule or budget against which actual results are compared.
As part of planning, the metrics, baselines, and thresholds for performance are established, as well as any test and evaluation processes and procedures that will be used to measure performance to the specification of the project deliverable. The metrics, baselines, and tests are used as the basis to evaluate variance of actual performance as part of the Measurement Performance Domain.
2.4.9 ALIGNMENT
Planning activities and artifacts need to remain integrated throughout the project. This means that planning for the performance in terms of scope and quality requirements aligns with delivery commitments, allocated funds, type and availability of resources, the uncertainty inherent in the project, and stakeholder needs. Project teams can require additional planning artifacts depending on the type of project. For example, logistics plans will need to integrate with material and delivery needs, testing plans will need to align with quality and delivery needs, and so forth.
Work on one project often occurs in parallel with other projects in a program or a release. The timing of the work of a single project should align with the needs of the work on related projects and the operations work of the organization.
Large projects may combine the planning artifacts into an integrated project management plan. For smaller projects, a detailed project management plan will be inefficient. Regardless of the timing, frequency, and degree of planning, the various aspects of the project need to remain aligned and integrated.
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