PLANNING THE PROJECT

Key Activities

Project Management Plan

The planning phase is the most important phase of the project as it is the foundation and guideline of the entire project. The main goals of the project management team are to create the communication plan, risk management plan, and the procurement plan. Scope- Based on the preliminary project scope statement and is a full description of the project. Requirement Identification- The process of identifying and documenting audience and technical constraints for the development and use of the e-learning course. The use of surveys of prospective attendees, results from end of course feedback forms, unmet organizational business needs or requirements are some methods for gathering initial requirements for the projects. Project management plan- A living document that describes the necessary steps or actions required to complete the project on time, within budget, and to the requirements specified in the project charter. Schedule- Lists the planned date of the project start and finish as well as the start and finish dates of each of the deliverables of the Work Breakdown Structure. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)- Deliverable-based decomposition of the project. Describes each deliverable (report, system, prototype) that is created or updated as a result of the project. This document is the foundation for creating cost estimates, budget, time estimates, project schedule, and resources required to complete the project. Budget- Lists costs of the project. The budget may also list the cost of each deliverable of the Work Breakdown Structure, cost of new equipment that is purchased to complete the project, prorated cost of personnel allocated to the project, and cost of internal equipment used to develop the project. Staffing Plan- Identifies the number and skills of people necessary to complete the project. The staffing plan describes these people by skill (e.g., instructional design, developer, or graphic design). This plan should also identify the dates the resource is needed and the amount of that resource required (e.g., instructional design June 12 through June 26 for 6.5 hours per day). Communication Management Plan- Defines the type of and need for information by the stakeholders, when they need that information, and how the information will be given to them. Communication types could be the project status report, project performance report, work performance, forecasted completions, approved requests for change, and completed deliverables. Risk Management Plan- Result of the project team identifying potential risks, analyzing those risks quantitatively and qualitatively, and planning responses to those potential risks. Procurement Plan- Defines the resources planned to be purchased, the planned purchase date, and the process used to request and evaluate potential suppliers.

Input to and Output from the Planning Process