Planning Process Group
The purpose the planning process group is to establish the total scope of the project and lay out a course of action to accomplish those objectives. The primary result of the planning process is the integrated project plan which includes the scope, schedule, budget, quality, human resource, communications, risk management and procurement plans. The project plan is assembled after the sub-plans are created. All of the PMBOK Knowledge Areas are represented in the Planning Process Group:
- Project Integration Management
- Project Scope Management
- Project Time Management
- Project Cost Management
- Project Quality Management
- Project Human Resource Management
- Project Communications Management
- Project Risk Management
- Project Procurement Management
- Project Stakeholder Management
4.0 Project Integration Management
During project planning the project manager develops an integrated project plan laying out the effort required to accomplish the entire scope of the project. Although this is the first item identified in the Planning Process Group column in the PMBOK matrix, Table 3-1, it is the last process performed in the planning process group since it pulls together all the other planning process outputs into a single integrated plan. The following Project Integration Management process is used in this process group:
4.2 Develop Project Management Plan
5.0 Project Scope Management
Planning scope management involves clearly identifying all the deliverables required to satisfy the contractual obligations. The primary output of this process area is a scope baseline, consisting of a scope statement, a list of all deliverables, called a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and a WBS dictionary with background information on each WBS item. This document then guides the development of the schedule in the Time Management Planning process. The following Project Scope Management processes are used in this process group:
5.1 Plan Scope Management
5.2 Collect Requirements
5.3 Define Scope
5.4 Create WBS
6.0 Project Time Management
Planning time management involves identifying all the activities required to satisfy the contractual obligations of the project, i.e. to deliver all the WBS items (deliverables) to the customer. In general practice the processes above are blended into a single effort of schedule development, but in reality, whether done formally or informally, all the above processes are completed by the project team whether they are documented as separate efforts or not. The following Project Time Management processes are used in this process group:
6.1 Plan Schedule Management
6.2 Define Activities
6.3 Sequence Activities
6.4 Estimate Activity Resources
6.5 Estimate Activity Durations
6.6 Develop Schedule
7.0 Project Cost Management
Planning cost management involves estimating the approximate cost of doing the individual project activities and then pulling those costs together to establish a cost baseline. These activities in turn allow the "control costs" activity to be performed. The following Project Cost Management processes are used in this process group:
7.1 Plan Cost Management
7.2 Estimate Costs
7.3 Determine Budget
8.0 Project Quality Management
The ISO 9000 definition of quality is "the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements." Planning project quality involves defining all the requirements for which quality control is necessary on a project and planning the activities required to demonstrate compliance. Outputs of the quality planning process can include the following: a quality management plan, quality metrics, quality checklists and a process improvement plan. The following Project Quality Management process is used in this process group:
8.1 Plan Quality Management
9.0 Project Human Resource Management
Planning human resource management involves developing a human resource plan that involves identifying and documenting project roles, responsibilities and required skills, reporting relationships, and creating a staffing management plan. The following Project Human Resource Management process is used in this process group:
9.1 Plan Human Resource Management
10.0 Project Communications Management
During the project initiation phase the communications management function developed a list of stakeholders and their relevant roles on the project. In the planning phase the project manager determines the information needs of each of the stakeholders and develops a communications approach to satisfy those needs. This plan then feeds into the overall project management plan. The following Project Communications Management process is used in this process group:
10.1 Plan Communications Management
11.0 Project Risk Management
Project risk management is one of the most critical, yet somehow overlooked, of the project management processes. Risk management is the process of looking forward to a point in the future of the project and imagining why the project might fail, then planning to avoid these failures. It involves analyzing the schedule, the scope, the budget and quality for potential project pitfalls, and adjusting all these items to prevent or account for those pitfalls. The following Project Risk Management processes are used in this process group:
11.1 Plan Risk Management
11.2 Identify Risks
11.3 Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
11.4 Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
11.5 Plan Risk Responses
12.0 Project Procurement Management
Procurements are often a key element of a project. Sometimes there is a critical technology which is only available from an outside supplier, or there is a manufacturing element to the project that requires use of a supply chain, which in turn can put cost and schedule at risk. Without good procurement management an otherwise well-run project can be completely derailed by a long-lead critical item that didn't get ordered properly or on time. The planning phase of procurements involves make-or-buy decisions, the development of work statements and generation of a procurement management plan. The following Project Procurement Management process is used in this process group:
12.1 Plan Procurement Management
13.0 Project Stakeholder Management
Project stakeholders all have needs that must be managed. For example, customers and sponsors are interested in making sure their requirements are being met on time, finance teams are concerned about staying within budget, and the executing team wants clear direction and feedback. Managing those diverse needs requires a diverse set of approaches, which should be laid out the the stakeholder management plan.
13.2 Plan Stakeholder Management