Planning Questions

List of questions that should be answered while planning a project. Check your documentation – do you have all answers? Print this sheet as a hint to the future.

QUESTIONS	DOCUMENTATION
What is to be done?	Scope Definition document
Why should we do it?	Business Case or rationale
How should we do it?	Strategy and WBS
In what sentence?	Network Diagram
Where should work be done?	Organizational Breakdown Structure
When should work be done?	Schedule Plan
Who should work be done?	Resource Utilization Plan
How much should it cost?	Cost Plan or Budget Plan
How do we judge progress?	Milestone Plan or Earned Value Plan

by Larry Richman, Improving your Project Management Skills.

Marina Lou: Thoughts about Project Exclusions

Project scope statement, according to PMI, describes, in detail, the project deliverables and the work required to create those deliverables (PMBOK 4th, p. 115).

В общем-то, понятное и разумное определение понятия Project Scope - описание того, что должно получиться в результате проекта, и того, что будет сделано для достижения этого результата. Однако, далее в расшифровке содержимого этого документа PMI указывает один интересный и важный пункт - Project exclusions, и рекомендует включать его в Project Scope.

What hides on way from Project Scope to Schedule by PMI

One of my favorite crazy diagram

Define Activities is the process of identifying the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.

Sequence Activities is the process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.

Estimate Activity Resources is the process of estimating the type and quantity of material, people, equipment, or supplies required to perform each activity.

Estimate Activity Durations is the process of approximating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.

Develop Schedule is the process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create a project schedule.

PERT and Three-Point Estimates by PMI

So easy to use!

Three-point estimates are based on determining three types of estimates: Optimistic, Most likely and Pessimistic.

* Most likely(M): The duration of the schedule activity, given the resources likely to be assigned, their productivity, realistic expectations of availability for the schedule activity, dependencies on other participants, and interruptions.

* Optimistic(O): The activity duration is based on a best-case scenario of what is described in the most likely estimate.

* Pessimistic(P): The activity duration is based on a worst-case scenario of what is described in the most likely estimate.

The PERT(Program Evaluation and Review Technique) analysis calculates E - Expected activity duration using a weighted average of these three estimates:

E = (O + 4M + P)/6

COST OF CHANGES diagram

I wish every client and project manager has this diagram printed.

So I made it even easier. 1. Download and set up as desktop image. 2. Enjoy!

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