Planning & Plans

Planning & Plans

PL in Detail & Planning in Context

PL in Detail

Plans: @Start & End Ch15

Plans in Middle Ch15

PRINCE2® and plans

Syllabus: Plans

The Purpose of the Plans Component

The Necessity For, and Advantages Of, Producing a Plan

Where in the Eight Processes Plans Are Created

Responsibilities

Other Plans

Plans & Planning Summary

Applying PRINCE2TM: Plans

Plans Practitioner Question

Plans – Component Ch15

	Describes the plans that are needed to manage a PRINCE2® project
	15.5 Three levels of plan

Planning – Process Ch11

Set of steps used in all other processes that must/ may create plans

Stages – Control 16.3.3, 16.6

	Partitions the project into manageable chunks
	Minimum of 2 - Initiation & 1 (or more) to do the Specialist work

Product Based Planning – Technique Ch22

	A technique that provides a product based start to planning
	PRINCE2® defines a product as Everything created, obtained or changed Includes services, culture changes, temporary items such as checkpoints

Knowledge of Gantt charts is only the ability to identify the relevant PRINCE2® sub-processes (PL5 Scheduling for creation and CS6 Reporting Highlights plus DP4 Giving AdHoc Direction for reporting)

PL 01 describe the purpose of the Plans component (p)

PL 02 understand the necessity for, and advantages of, producing a plan (p)

PL 03 understand the Plans responsibilities and activities of the various PRINCE2® roles within each of the eight processes (p)

PL 04 understand the purpose and content of the Project Plan, Stage Plan, Team Plan and Exception Plan and where in the eight processes these plans are created (p)

PL 05 understand the interrelationship between the Project Plan, Stage Plans, Team Plans and an Exception Plan (p)

PL 06 create, modify or discuss any level of plan for any given project scenario

PL 07 demonstrate the application of the planning responsibilities as defined by PRINCE2® for any given project scenario

PL 08 apply the Plans component to a given project scenario

PL 09 identify the relationship between Plans and other PRINCE2® components within any given project scenario

Ch15 plus A.30 & A35 set-out what a plan is, its purpose & contents

15.2 The backbone of the management information system

	The design of how products will be create over time, with resources at what cost
	A base-lined document subject to change control from relevant management levels
	Created according to corporate standards
	Predefined scheme or method
	Remains aligned to the Business Case at all times
	Checked routinely in CS5 & in SB3 after stage or exception planning
	May exist as a summary for approval purposes and in detail for day-to-day usage

15.3 Contents is more than a Gantt chart

	Products plus the activities required for their creation and their validation
	Resources, skills, timings, tolerances, tasks and interdependencies, plus external dependencies
	Monitoring & control points plus activities required to monitor & report at a frequency that balances control costs, project significance and risk and the requirements of the next level of management up

15.1 A distributed plan tells everyone the “what, how and who” of:-

Balance between resource levels and timeframes if targets are to be achieved

Activities that build quality into products

The Product Description created in PL2 and matching activities identified in PL3

Problems and risks with achieving the targets within constraints

Monitoring and control

Aids thinking ahead, avoiding muddled, ad-hoc thinking

	Provides a yardstick for measuring progress
	Helps build commitment and establish personal targets

“During the initiation stage and towards the end of every stage in the project except the last one, time should be allowed for planning the next stage in detail”

Initiation Stage Plan->SU6 (PL)->DP1->IP

Project Plan IP2 (PL1/2/3/4/5/6/7) (passed in PID via IP6->DP2)->CS1

Stage Plan

	First IP6 ->SB1/2/3/4/5->DP2 (First) End Stage Assessment [IP is a “stage”]->CS1
	Next CS5->SB1/2/3/4/5->DP3 ESA->CS1 or CP->DP5
	Exception CS8->SB6/2/3/4/5->DP3 Exception Assessment (EXA)->CS1 or CP

Team

	With Stage Plan CS5->SB1/2/3/4/5 (Project & Team Managers)->CS1+MP1
	During Delegation CS1->MP1 + PL->CS1 and MP2
	Exception MP2+PL->CS2 or 3->CS5->CS7*->CS1+MP1+PL->MP2->MP3->CCS9

*The manual specifically omits CS from the processes using PL, however CS7 modifies stage plans as required

Project board

	B1.1 “Approves all major plans and authorises any major deviation from agreed Stage Plans…
	[Including Exception and Post-Project Review Plan]
	Commits resources required
	Plans are baselined in CM as a result of Project Board approval

Executive

	Ensure a logical set of plans
	Monitor changes to plans for impact on the business case

Project manager

	Prepare Project, Stage, Exception [& contingency] Plans
	Assisted by Team Managers and Project Assurance roles
	Agree plans with the Project Board

Team manager

	Prepare team’s work package plans and agree with project manager
	Advise PM of deviations from plan

Project Assurance & Project Support & PSO

	Ensure the right people are involved
	Provide specialist advice
	Prepare plans using specialist tools

PRINCE2® uses the term “plan” in a rather haphazard manner

Communications Plan: Misleadingly named. Does describe the who, what, when and how of communications that should result in tasks in the project/ stage/ team plans

Configuration Management Plan: Misnamed strategy or procedures and practices document that gives rise to tasks in project/ stage or team plans

Exception (Project, Stage, Team) Plan: already described

Project Quality Plan: Misnamed strategy or policy document that gives rise to tasks in the stage quality plan and team quality plans

Stage (Team) Quality Plan: Merely a label distinguishing those activities in stage (team) plans that are quality related

Post Project Review Plan: A true plan treated in an unjustly different way by PRINCE2®, created by the PM for use after the project by the Executive and apparently without using the PL process %-)

PRINCE2® covers plans in 4 places

Component Ch15, Process Ch11, Stages Section of Controls 16.3.3 & 16.6, Product Based Planning Techniques Ch22

Plans:-

	Are the backbone of the controls "more than a Bar Chart"
	Contains products, resources, dependencies, tolerances & reporting
	Confirm targets can be reached

PL used to create all plans

PL1 used once in the project to design the plan:- Select planning and estimating tools Determine format for 'in-use' & presentation

Stage plan [is required] = day-to-day task focus: may be within project plan

	Project Plan [is mandatory] = focus is Products & stage boundaries (control point)
	Exception Plan in the format of and with the end result (rather than just necessarily same date as) the plan it replaces
	Project, stage, team, exception and post-project review plans are who does what when and why. SQP and TQP are subsets of above. Other things called "plans" are not the same

Board approve Project and Stage plans, PM approves Team Plans (“follow local standards”)

Knowledge of Gantt charts is only the ability to identify the relevant PRINCE2® sub-processes

PL 06 create, modify or discuss any level of plan for any given project scenario

PL 07 demonstrate the application of the planning responsibilities as defined by PRINCE2® for any given project scenario

PL 08 apply the Plans component to a given project scenario

PL 09 identify the relationship between Plans and other PRINCE2® components within any given project scenario

Turn to Section:5 Sample Practitioner questions and try question 5

Note this question has ‘Additional Information’

Answer the question using a blank answer grid from S:5.3 then mark your answer using S:5.4

Research any questions where you disagree with the marking scheme