57086 Contract and Project Management

David Sowden, The University of Hull

12

57086 Contract and Project Management

Plans

David Sowden, The University of Hull

12

Overview• Plans

– Benefit of planning– What is a Plan?– What are the elements of a plan?– Different approaches– Levels of a Plan

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Benefits of planning (1)

• Effective planning identifies:– Whether the targets are achievable

– The resources needed to achieve the targets within the time frame

– The activities needed to ensure that quality can be built into the ‘product’

– The problems and risk associated with trying to achieve the targets and stay within constraints.

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Benefits of planning (2)

• Other benefits:– Avoiding muddle and ad hoc decisions

– Helping the ‘management’ team to think ahead

– Providing a ‘yardstick’ against which progress can be measured– Communication, though the distribution of a plan to all

concerned, of:• What is to be done• How it is to be done• Who is responsible• How progress is monitored and controlled.

– Gain commitment from all– Create personal targets.

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What is a plan?

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• A plan is not just a some sort of bar chart showing timescales it is a document describing:– How– When– Who

• It should also identify targets for:• ‘Products’• Timescales• Costs• Quality

What are the elements of a plan?

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• It should contain the following elements: (making maximum use of charts tables and diagrams for clarity)

• The ‘product(s)’ to be produced

• The activities needed to create the ‘product(s)’

• The activities needed to validate the quality of ‘product(s)’

• The resources and time needed for all relevant activities

• The dependencies between activities

• External dependencies for the delivery of information, products or services

• When activities will occur

• The points at which progress will be monitored, controlled and evaluated

• Agreed tolerances.

THE BASICS

What are the elements of a plan?

Products

Prerequisites Quality requirements

Assumptions

Activities

Resources

Risks Control points

Revised activities and resources

Time & cost

Schedule- Gantt chart- milestones- .....

Possible risks

What are the elements of a project plan?

• Plan Summary

• Project prerequisites

• External dependencies

• Planning assumptions

• Project Plan, covering:• project level Gantt or bar chart• project level ‘product’ breakdown structure• project level ‘product’ Flow Diagrams• project level ‘product; descriptions• project level activity network• project financial budget• project change budget• project level table of resource requirements• requested/assigned specific tolerances• project level tolerances (example, time & budget)

• Contingency plans

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‘Tailoring the methodologies to suit’

Different approaches

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Levels of Plan

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Programme Plan

Project Plan

Stage Plan

Team Plan Team Plan

Exception PlanStage Plan (min2)

(optional)

TASK

Review your Project plan