Page 114 - Project+

Now that you have an approved project charter, it is time to talk
about project planning. In many cases, I’ve seen that once a project is approved, people
want to start working on the project activities immediately. The general consensus is,
“Who has time for planning? We need to get this project started!”

As the project manager, it’s your responsibility to write the project plan and make

certain everyone, including team members and key stakeholders, understands that
plan. The project coordinator will assist you in preparing the plan, in cross-functional
coordination with the business areas that will participate on the project, and with
preparing time and resource schedules.

The first planning topic discussed is the project scope document.

Project scope includes all the components that make up the product or service of the
project and the results the project intends to produce. Scope planning will assist you in

understanding what’s included in the project boundaries and what is excluded.

You’ll need to define and document three scope components to complete scope
planning: the scope management plan, the scope statement, and the work breakdown
structure (WBS). The scope management plan documents how the project scope will be
defined and validated and how scope will be monitored and controlled throughout the
life of the project. The scope statement provides a common understanding of the

project by documenting the project objectives and deliverables. The final component of
scope is the work breakdown structure, which breaks down the project deliverables
into smaller components from which you can estimate task durations, assign
resources, and estimate costs.

Documenting the Scope Management Plan

The scope management plan describes how the project team will define project scope,

validate the work of the project, and manage and control scope. The scope
management plan should contain the following elements:

The process you’ll use to prepare the scope statement

A process for creating, maintaining, and approving the work breakdown structure

A definition of how the deliverables will be validated for accuracy and the process
used for accepting deliverables

A description of the process for controlling scope change requests, including the

procedure for requesting changes and how to obtain a change request form

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