Introduction
In his book “The Project Management Tool Kit”, Tom Kendrick tells about 100 tips and techniques to get the job done. Chronologically he covers the aspects of efficient project planning from activity definition to work breakdown structure. Eventually, he points out the project’s difficulty due to its complexity, lack of resources, and time pressures.
Whereas, Harvey A. Levine in his book: Practical Project Management segregates the tips and tactics of project planning into phases. According to him, a structured and determined effort leads to a successful project management plan. It is necessary to develop skills to support the project work within the organization.
Efficient project management comes with a set of similar practices. Along with developing these practices, regular communication and implementation of circumstances must occur throughout the operation. The objectives of a project are achieved because of a skilled team that can define them. In this blog, we will learn about some of the most important tips for efficient project planning.
15 Steps to Plan a Project
1. Activity definition, duration, and resource estimating
Activity is a small portion used in planning, tracking, and control. It is a key step in efficient project planning whereas duration covers the central part. Some useful sources such as the historical database, expert information, and team analysis are considered for activity duration. This is followed by resource analysis which determines the needs of a project required to complete each task.
2. Brainstorming
It depends on teamwork and interaction for good results. Welcome silent ideas from people, gather the ideas, and encourage positive criticism. Organize a list of ideas and consolidate the similar ones. Weighted ideas and relative evaluations must be used to generate more information on costs & benefits. Lastly, prioritize a consensus decision that is under everyone’s support.
3. Cause & Effect Analysis and Communication
Cause and effect analysis determines the sources of a problem situation throughout the project to identify the root causes for the potential project trouble. Periodic one-on-one communication without a specific project also results in good team relationships and warning of potential problems. Informal communication also benefits team activities and project celebrations. Â
4. Decision-making
Decision-making is critical as it affects the outcome of a project. The process involves evaluation, risk assessment, and productivity. The project manager should be responsible for combining analytical thinking with strategy. In a study by Laufer & Tucker (1987,1988), they have included the multiplicity principles where effective construction planning addresses numerous purposes, and requires numerous plan formats, time horizons, and preparation modes.
5. Earned value management
A study estimates that the construction industry is responsible for 40% of solid production waste globally. Therefore, the sector contributes to the world’s aspirations of sustainable development, providing a greater uptake of sustainable policies. To tackle the challenge of initial costs in sustainability, a structured methodology of value planning is applied to improve value and optimize life cycle costs.
6. Forecasting project completion
Deficient planning techniques are blamed for the failure of construction planning to achieve its goals. Forecasting forms the groundwork that inspires the sponsors, management, and stakeholders. It also ensures the accuracy of the cost-benefit analysis of a particular project.
7. Global teams
Collaborative support is crucial to facilitate collaboration from various disciplines. One such approach is building information modeling (BIM). This method helps in formalizing learning about collaboration with global teams.
8. Human Resource Planning
The “guide to management action” dimension of human resources is that of a business need. In construction companies, the role of HRM strategy is to capitalize the opportunities and mitigate threats. Along with that, all organizational personnel must be considered since workforce diversity is a strength that needs to be planned effectively to harness its potential.
9. Integrated change control and issue management
Changes constitute a major cause of delay and destruction and therefore, change control is an integral part of project planning. For both owners and constructors, the effects are difficult to quantify. Change management systems consider elements that address all internal and external factors.
10. Leadership
Leadership is essential in both small businesses and industrial projects. Leadership and management are two entirely distinct business concepts. Leadership is commonly defined as establishing a clear vision, communicating that vision to others, and resolving conflicts among various individuals who are responsible for carrying out the company’s vision. Management is the organization and coordination of a company’s various economic resources. Leadership can have a significant impact on an organization’s overall performance as well as the performance of individual projects.
11. Market research and dependent/independent projects
Rapidly changing environments are a newly recognized and growing project management challenge. Traditional prescriptive approaches based on process control are deemed inadequate in meeting this challenge. It is much easier to plan a work-back towards achieving a goal once you have a goal and its subset of milestones. Teams that have this information know what they’re working towards and how close they are to achieving it.
12. Negotiating contracts and project changes
Contracts negotiated in project businesses with independent companies are typically ‘arm’s length,’ short-term agreements. Each is regarded as a transaction in which the standard strategy is to drive the hardest bargain possible in the immediate exchange.
Contract negotiations require members of different organizations to work together to solve a specific problem of mutual concern. These people can expect significant communication difficulties. The fundamental challenges confronting the participating organizations are found in the development of a shared understanding of the task at hand, which frequently does not exist at the outset but evolves incrementally and collaboratively during long-term and complex negotiations. Participants must learn to communicate with and learn from others who have different points of view and possibly a different vocabulary for expressing their ideas. They must find common ground and a shared understanding.
13. Qualitative risk analysis and quality planning
Construction is a unique type of facility that carries an elevated level of risk. Much depends on the geographical features of the construction region, the level of social development, the population mentality, and a variety of other factors identified as project risks.
Construction costs vary by country and are heavily influenced by project risks. The climatic conditions are an important factor in determining the cost of building construction. Ground movements, water influence, and wind load complicate the project and cause a significant price increase not only during the design stage but also during construction.
14. ROI analysis
Over time, the issues surrounding training and its effectiveness within organizations have become more complex. Today’s challenge is even greater for learning and development professionals. Return on Investment (ROI) as a tool for evaluating project management training is becoming a standard expectation among senior executives. In today’s tight economy, with fewer resources and smaller budgets, learning and development professionals are increasingly required to demonstrate the monetary value of the project management plan programs they bring to the organization.
Today, the success of project management training programs is determined by the program’s financial contribution to the organization. It’s no surprise that ROI metrics for project management training programs are frequently requested.
With such a strong emphasis on project management plans in all types of organizations, there is a growing desire to demonstrate the financial benefit of investing in project management training programs, which frequently reach a diverse range of employees and represent a significant investment for organizations.
15. Schedule Planning
Project planning and scheduling are regarded as critical and difficult tools for controlling and monitoring project performance; however, many global construction projects appear to pay insufficient attention to effective project management and definition, including pre-planning stages.
A schedule is a representation of the project activities identified by the work breakdown structure (WBS) as part of the project scope definition. Furthermore, the concept of project scheduling is concerned with the logical sequencing of activities as well as the addition of activity durations. It covers topics like resource loading and tracking progress during project execution.
Let’s divide the steps into Phases…
A structured and determined effort to develop practices and skills within an organization that has been purposefully designed to support project work and management of that work results in a successful project management plan. There are nearly limitless ways to accomplish this. One option that does not exist is to engage in project work without first establishing some sort of project operation.
The planning phase, setting the baseline, and tracking phase encompass the entire process of defining the work and developing and tracking schedules, resources, and costs.
1. The Planning Phase
- As previously stated, the work scope definition serves as the foundation of a project plan. You can’t schedule it, assign and evaluate resources, or define a valid project budget if you can’t define the work. Use the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) technique to divide the project into smaller, outlined segments until you reach work packages and tasks that define the work to be done.
- You can work on the schedule now that you have a list of defined project tasks. Estimate task durations and define task relationships (precedence relationships). Allow your Critical Path Method (CPM) software to generate a rough schedule based on estimated task durations and precedence data.
- You can now create a cost baseline or Task Budget if you have established cost rates for your resources. Some tasks may necessitate the addition of fixed costs. The computer will compute the estimated cost for each task and roll it up to various levels of your work breakdown structure. You will also have a time-phased budget, known as a Cash Flow Plan or Project Expenditure Plan because the work is now scheduled.
2. Setting the baseline
- Now is the time to think about alternatives. If time is an issue, consider overlapping or expediting some tasks. This is where the compliance starts to pay off. We can easily play what-if scenarios. Allow the computer to identify the critical path.
- After you’ve created an integrated plan that you can support, you’ll want to establish a baseline. This will allow you to track project schedules and cost performance as it progresses.
3. The Tracking Phase
- Changes in scope are common in projects. It is critical to establish a method of change management. When introducing changes into the workshop, you must define the specific tasks that will be added, changed, or deleted, as well as the impact on time, resources, and costs. One important rule to remember is that the working budget is always a task budget. The total cost of the project is the sum of the budgets for each task.
- If you follow the steps outlined up to this point, you should see significant returns on your planning investment. To continue the payoff, the process requires extreme diligence from this point forward. There will be those who will refuse to commit to tracking the work in detail or to tracking all of the project elements.
FAQs
1. How is project planning done?
The basic outline of any project plan can be summarized in these three phases: the planning phase, the settling phase, and the tracking phase.
2. Can project management costs be capitalized?
All expenses incurred to plan, manage, and oversee projects are included in project management costs. Capitalization enables businesses to spread these costs over the useful life of a project, reducing the impact on current profits and improving project cost tracking.
3. Why is project planning important?
At each stage of the project, the budget and schedule are monitored. The project plan includes a schedule that guides team members through their tasks and lets them know which tools they will need and when they will need them. It also keeps the team engaged, which leads to better project performance.
4. Project planning Vs scheduling
The planning process is primarily concerned with selecting the appropriate policies and procedures to achieve the project’s objectives. Scheduling is the process of converting project action plans for scope, time cost, and quality into an operational timetable.
5. Can project management be automated?
Basic project management tasks and functions can be completed automatically by project management software. Automation is used in software that can automatically monitor resource loads and alert you when an employee is overloaded.
