Introduction

As is true with defining a project, project planning is essential for project success. In defining a project, we come to an agreement on what we will do and who will be involved. In planning a project, we focus on how the work will be done. This involves both how the deliverables will be developed and how the project will be managed. Thus, project planning involves the traditional areas of work tasks, resources, schedule, and costs, and it also sets the stage for managing project changes, project communications, project quality, project risks, project procurement activities, and the project team. Each of these factors directly impacts stakeholder expectations and our ability to successfully control and execute the project.

Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about project planning, and often it is performed incompletely or incorrectly.

With this in mind, we review the key principles of project planning, how to properly plan a project, the key planning questions that must be answered and agreed upon, the must-have elements of your project plan document, and the success criteria for the project planning process.

It is also worth noting that even if you find yourself managing an agile project, these principles still apply. The agile process anticipates change and expects the project team to refine the work plan based on the outcomes of each iteration.

 Note

A planning technique that is often used to deal with the realities of planning project work is called rolling wave planning, which plans work details only for the next project phase. The planning for the subsequent phases is kept at a high level. As part of the closing process and review of the current phase, the work details for the next phase are then planned out.

In fact, this concept is inherent in the agile project management approach, where planning is ongoing throughout the project and focuses on performing detail planning for each timebox (iteration, sprint).