Initiation and Planning for

Success

Sridhar Seshagiri Rao, PMP

Innova Solutions Inc.
Santa Clara, CA.
April 9th 2004.
Agenda
 Overview of Planning and Initiation
 Definitions
 Initiation
– Best Practices
 Planning
– Best Practices
 Summary
 Review and Recognition
Overview
 This seminar / discussion is aimed at
identification of specific and distinct
phases of Project Management and map it
to the practice
 Provide the Best Practice approach to
achieve measurable results
 To present the initiation and planning
phase and identify the constituents for
success
Definitions
 What is a Project
 What is Project Initiation
 Why Initiation is needed
 What is Project Planning
 Why Planning is needed
Definitions, Cont.
 What is a Project
– A Project is defined as an endeavor with a beginning and an end.
– It produces unique product, service or result.
 What is Initiation
– Initiation is the first phase of Project management process, in
which, activities are performed to assess the size, scope,
feasibility of the project and to establish procedures to support
the other phases of the project.
 Why Initiation
– To set the expectations and measurable outcomes from the
project.
– To identify the needs of the system and the stakeholders.
– To identify the feasibility and the boundaries for the system.
– To document and formalize the commitment of the project.
Definitions, Cont.
 What is a Project Planning
– Project Planning is a defined set of sequential or inter-related
activities or processes, which when executed in the order will
enable the measurement and success of the system.
Definitions, Cont.
 Why Project Planning is essential
– To identify and formalize the major components of the system.
– To identify the time, cost and scope of the project .
– To identify the activities in the execution of the project.
– To breakdown the work into manageable deliverables.
– To identify the resources, risks and quality of the system.
– To verify, reassess and provide inputs to the next phase of the
project
– To measure the outcome of the project and identify the best
practices enabling the success of the project.
– To provide the management of stakeholder, project, risk,
quality, procurement and team management
Initiation
 Components of Initiation
– Project Selection (feasibility study)
– Project Goals and Objectives
– Deliverables, Constraints and Assumptions
– Business, Stakeholders needs
– Project manager responsibilities
– Resource requirements
– Project Charter
Best Practices - Initiation
 A good project selection or feasibility includes:
– Project to have a clearly defined system boundaries for the
problem.
– The Project relates to the immediate needs and the solution
clearly defines the problem to be solved.
 Project Goals and Deliverables include:
– The Goals are identified as milestones and the effective
mechanisms to achieve it.
– The breakdown of the tasks are defined to support the
planning process.
– The high level resources requirements and risks perceived in
the project and the mitigation strategies.
Best Practices – Initiation, Cont.
 Project responsibilities and Stakeholders needs:
– There is a complete support from the stakeholders and
management for the Project effort.
– The tasks and efforts for managing the project are assigned to
the appropriate individual and make him responsible for the
well being of the project.
– The Project relates to the Organization’s Mission.

 A good project charter identifies the following:

– Problem Statement
– Principal Stakeholders
– Project leader and other resources

Note: The Project Charter should be a part of the Project Plan.

Initiation – Project Charter template
Project name / number:
Project Sponsor: Print Name:
Signature:
Sponsoring Organization:
Team Members:
Principal Stakeholders:
Date Chartered:
Revision: Number:
Date:
Sponsor Approval Signature:
Project Start Date:
Target Completion Date:
Project Charter statement:
Project mission statement:
Problem statement:
Project description:
Business need addressed by this Project:
Deliverables of this Project:
Planning needs – Effective planning
Effective Planning starts out with the critical systems thinking
and reasoning for the project success:
 Why are we doing this project?
 Why do we think the identified problem really is the
problem?
 Why do we think this is important to solve now?
 Why do we think this proposed action would solve the
 problem?
 Why do we think this action won’t make anything else
worse?
Planning – Components
 “Failing to Plan is planning to Fail”
 Components of Planning
– Scope statement and scope management plan
– Project Team and Work Breakdown structures
– Time, Cost, Schedule management plans
– Communications management plan
– Quality management plan
– Risk management and procurement management plan
– Project Control plan
– Stakeholder management plan
– Kickoff meeting
Planning – Best Practices
 Scope Management
– Constantly checking to ensure all the work is completed
– Not accepting any work that is not part of the Project charter
or the plan.
– Not doing any gold plating (delivering extra work without any
benefit to the project.
 Project Team and Work breakdown structures
– Identifying the team for execution and building the necessary
skill sets for the team
– Creating the Work Breakdown structures to define a
deliverable oriented grouping of project components that
specifies the total scope of the project.
– WBS helps prevent work slipping through the cracks.
Planning – Best Practices, Cont.
 Time, Cost and Schedule Management
– Managing the time and schedule with activity definition,
activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule
development and schedule control.
– Identifying the critical path (longest path in the project) helps
in monitoring the execution of the project.
 Communication Management
– Determine the information and the needs of the Stakeholders
– Analysis of information to be collected, the person receiving
the information, methods used to gather information, reporting
relationships, schedule for distribution and any limits for
communication.
Planning – Best Practices, Cont.
 Quality Management
– Providing Quality management plan, which defines the
processes required to ensure that the project satisfies the
needs.
– Prevention over inspection
 Risk Management
– Identification of Risks including: The probability of occurring,
the range of possible outcomes, expected timing in the
lifecycle, anticipated frequency of risk events
Planning – Best Practices, Cont.
 Project Control Plan
– Define tasks and sub tasks for the deliverable from the WBS.
– Identify tasks that take the longest time and monitor closely
for completion.
 Stake holder Management Plan
– Provide a strategic, systematic approach and maintain the
support of key influences.
– Minimize any opposition and develop ownership and buy-in
from the vast majority of uncommitted stakeholders by
appropriate communication plan.
 Kick Off Meeting
– Conduct the Project Kickoff meeting to formalize the plans, the
deliverables, the risks and provide the management and the
stakeholder the information for buy in and support.
Summary - Initiation

– Proper Project Selection by doing feasibility study

– Definition of the goals of the project and the deliverables
– Project relation to the Organization mission
– Define the appropriate Project Charter and make it part of the
Project plan
Summary - Planning

– Effective Project plan by finding the answers for the 5 WHY

questions.
– Identify the scope and provide for scope management to
avoid scope creep.
– Identify the Project team and decompose the work into
manageable pieces with the Work Breakdown structures.
– Provide plan for time, cost and schedule using the activities of
the project. Identify the critical path and provide a plan for
tracking the execution.
– Determine the communication needs of the stakeholders and
plan the same for proper support.
– Provide a quality management plan and adhere to the
prevention over inspection paradigm.
Summary - Planning

– Identify the occurrence of risks, the range of possible

outcomes and expected life time in the project duration.
– Provide a appropriate Project Control Plan
– Provide a plan for the stakeholder management
– Conduct the kickoff meeting to formalize the plans,
deliverables etc.