Project Planning, Management & Control

PROJECT PLANNING

Contents

1. The Project Cycle ................................................................................. 1

2. Project Definition - Project Objectives ................................................ 3
3. Work Breakdown Structures................................................................. 5

Copyright © 2008 University of Warwick

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Project Planning

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Project Planning, Management & Control page 1

PROJECT PLANNING
1. The Project Cycle
The project cycle gives a framework for planning the sequence of the project
activities. Each project phase thus defined can be used as a heading under which to
itemise the main activities which need to occur at that stage of the project. A "general
purpose" project cycle might be:

DEFINITION
PLANNING
SCHEDULING
CONTROL
MODIFICATION/UPDATE
FINAL REVIEW
The term "cycle" implies that there is an element of feedback, and the stages of
CONTROL and MODIFICATION/UPDATE are largely composed of feedback. But
feedback takes place at the other stages as well. In the PLANNING stage it is quite
possible that it will become apparent that there is a deficiency in the definition which
has been previously set. Care in the original establishment of the definition should
minimise these occurrences, but it is inappropriate to persist with such a flaw if it
should exist. The definition should be reviewed and revised. Similarly the
scheduling may point to a need to modify the planning, or even the definition.

Where the successive stages are firmly defined as sequential steps there may be
reluctance to backtrack, and historically there has been a view that, "Once we have
done our stage of the job and passed it on to the next department we are not going to
be criticised by them. Their difficulties are their problem and we should not have to
re-do work just to compensate for their inabilities." This is sometimes called the
"over the wall" way of thinking. Nowadays there is a far greater inclination to learn
from the downstream departments and to do as much as possible to consider their
needs and opinions.

Time pressures have increasingly often forced the strict sequencing of the stages to be
compromised and instead led to stages being overlapped. The terms "concurrent

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engineering" or "simultaneous engineering" have been given to this parallel running

of parts of the project phases. This does create problems with the reduction in clarity
of project responsibility during the period of overlap, but it also provides a valuable
opportunity and indeed a necessity for two-way communications during the period of
overlap, a window of time for feedback and adjustment.

The other potential area of feedback is at the FINAL REVIEW stage. This is usually
when the project results are compared to the original objectives and used as the basis
for promotions and firings as seen fit. The astute project manager will apply the LSE
technique at this stage - by a Last minute Shift of Emphasis he will modify the
objectives to neatly match whatever was achieved).

But a more appropriate use of this stage is to learn any lessons which the project has
provided. If any mistakes which might reasonably have been made are identified and
appropriately recorded, then it should prevent these same mistakes being
unreasonably repeated on any subsequent project. Thus the experiences from the
conclusion of one project are fed back to the planning of the next.

1.1 Alternative Project Cycles

The project cycle should provide an appropriate outline format for the project. But
the appropriate outline may be different for different industries, or for different
companies, or for different types of project within the company. So the format of the
cycle in many projects may be

DEFINITION Conceptual Design

Initial Product Definition

PLANNING Work Breakdown Structure

Organisation Breakdown Structure

Time/Cost/Resource Constraints

SCHEDULING Network

CONTROL Schedule

Cost

Resources

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But a different project situation might be better suited by:

CONCEPTION Goals

Select management / team

Formal Authority

Bidding and estimating

PLANNING Budgeting

Work breakdown

Define Targets

Make-or-buy decisions

Scheduling

IMPLEMENTATION Manage Contracts

Monitor

Identify problems

Re-plan

Adjust targets

PHASE-OUT Resolve operating problems

Reward personnel

Re-assign personnel

Review
The maxim of "Different horses for different courses" applies. If the company use
their experience to define an appropriate standard project cycle then it can save a lot
of time on each project, since the initial outline plan already exists which usefully
provides a check list of the necessary activities at each stage. Beware however the
danger of forcing an inappropriate "company standard" cycle on projects which are
different from that norm for which the company standard was developed.

2. Project Definition - Project Objectives

It is essential that a project is at all times proceeding with clear objectives. There are
three types of objectives to be considered. Firstly the technical objective, the product
or service or result to be produced. This is often called the "Quality Objective" using

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a rather broad meaning of the word "quality". The other two objectives are the time
objective and the cost objective.

The priority of each of these three objectives is rarely equal. Careful thought should
be given to deciding the comparative weight of each element. One reason for this is
to identify the appropriate reaction to any difficulties which might arise. In such a
situation there are three possible reactions; the quality objective can be relaxed, or the
timescale can be extended, or more resource can be applied to preserve the integrity
of quality and delivery date but incurring greater cost. If there is a clear
understanding of the ranking of the objectives it is likely that a correct choice of the
alternatives will be made.

In many projects it is useful not simply to identify the three objectives, but to identify
for each of the objectives a range of acceptability, from the best that it is reasonable to
aim for to the worst that would be acceptable. This then defines a three dimensional
box marking the limits for combinations of the objectives which will satisfy the needs.
Any enforced adjustment of objectives will be acceptable if it remains within the box,
unacceptable if it goes outside.

What is to be avoided is a sudden change of the priorities. It is sadly not unusual for a
project to proceed for most of its life with a ferocious zeal for controlling costs. Then
at a late stage it is realised that time has become a major issue and in an effort to meet
the deadline money is thrown at the job, negating all the previous care.

It would be ideal if the priorities set were correct at the start and could be maintained
throughout. In many cases though it must be recognised that there will be changes to
the priorities during the project's life. It will remain true however that such change
should be a planned development and not a crisis revolution.

2.1 Coping with Unclear Objectives

It is a fundamental property of projects that there will be novel features, and in some
types of project the extent of the unknowns is such that the project outcome cannot be
predicted with any real degree of certainty. Research projects are such a type of
project. If the outcome could be accurately predicted then the research itself would be
unnecessary. Does one have to dispense with the luxury of clear objectives in the

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face of such uncertainties? This dangerous temptation must be resisted. It is all too
easy in such a scenario to dissipate uncontrolled amounts of time and money with
little to show for it.

The technique to be adopted is to break such a project into two or more phases, and
while we may not be able to see clearly the outcome of the total project it is essential
that the phase which is current at any time has absolutely clear objectives. If at the
start of a project one is unable to say which of several alternatives will be chosen,
then an objective of a first phase of the project is to gather the necessary information
to make such a choice possible. If we are faced with unclear objectives initially, then
it is a clear objective for the first phase to clarify the overall objectives. Thus at any
time the current phase is proceeding with purpose and direction rather than merely
travelling hopefully.

2.2 The Rolling Wave

The use of progressive phases of a project is sometimes called the Rolling Wave. But
this term is often specifically understood to refer to successive levels of detail. For
example the initial phase of a design project may create the design outline, the next
phase may identify the major subassemblies, and the final phase deals with the details.

3. Work Breakdown Structures

How do you eat an elephant? A small piece at a time. Apologies are due for trotting
out such a well worn line but it does usefully illustrate how to cope with the needs of
project management. To try to control a major project as a single entity is impossible.
We need to track and control it at a more manageable level of detail. However, rather
than go directly from the total project down into the level of detail of the "bite-size
chunks" it is useful to create a hierarchy of levels of detail typically having three or
four tiers, with the lowest level being tasks or "work packages" of such a size that
responsibility for the task can be allocated to a single individual or department.

In deciding how to group together packages to create the intermediate levels of the
structure there are a number of alternative logical criteria. These include grouping
tasks by the technical skills required for them, grouping tasks by time phases in the
project, or grouping tasks according to the product structure. So the criterion can be
function, time, product, or some other basis, giving a work breakdown structure which

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can equate to a functional breakdown, to a time breakdown, to a product breakdown

or to none of those.

In choosing which criterion to apply in an individual project the best indicator is

usually, "Which criterion will produce sets of packages which are largely self-
contained without there being complex inter-relationships and dependencies across
different groups?" The best answer will depend on the peculiarities of each project.

In some situations there may not be a free choice. If the customer dictates a structure
to match his own reporting set-up then that will probably have to be adhered to. Thus
the American Department of Defence require adherence to their own rules for projects
being conducted for them. Only for cogent reasons could a supplier contemplate
arguing with the person who pays the bills, especially the one who was largely
responsible for insisting that the world should adopt the idea of work breakdown
structures.

3.1 Work Package Coding

It is usual to use the Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) as the basis for a system of
coding to identify individual packages, for reporting of progress and costs. A well
designed coding system will allow ready identification of the position of any package
in the structure, and allow summaries covering sets of related packages to be readily
abstracted.

3.2 WBS - Organisation Relationship Matrix

Having created a work breakdown structure it is necessary to allocate responsibility
for each task to the appropriate person or department in the company organisation.
Sometimes the company organisation is referred to as the "Organisation Breakdown
Structure" (OBS) in this context. This cross referencing of the WBS to the OBS is
shown as a two dimensional matrix. Ideally there will be a single department
responsible for each work package, but if more than one department is involved then
one of these should be nominated for prime responsibility.

Sometimes the WBS/OBS relationship takes a particularly simple form where the
WBS and OBS are identical in structure. There can be two causes for this. Firstly,
the WBS might be deliberately structured to mimic the OBS. The danger here is that

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making the project fit the organisation in this way may not be sensible, but merely
easily convenient. The second possible cause of this direct match may be if the
organisation is created specifically for the project, in which case it is more likely to be
a suitable match.

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