Preparing a PRINCE2 7 plan document
Preparing a PRINCE2 plan document a crucial step that lays the foundation for the entire project
Preparing estimates
Project managers and team managers play a vital role in planning using estimates of:
People: these can be the specific skills required, the level of effort involved, and when and where they will be needed.
Resources: these can be specific materials, equipment, facilities, access, natural resources, or money, as well as the number or amount of each.
Duration of activities: preparation of the schedule requires estimating the time it is likely to take to complete tasks.
cost of people and resources: for people, these can be labour rates, fees, or salaries,
resources such as materials can be unit costs based on market rates or supplier contracts.
Benefits: these can be estimates of the value of the outcomes enabled by the project products.
Risk: these can be estimates of the proximity (how close the risk is to occurring), probability (likelihood of the risk occurring), velocity (how quickly the risk could impact the project), and impact (severity of the risk’s consequences) of risks and their associated risk responses.
It is helpful to include a level of confidence with every estimate. The higher the level of confidence in an estimate, the less likely that unexpected variations will be encountered during delivery. This enables the project manager and project board to agree on a realistic tolerance set.
Preparing a schedule
A schedule is a graphical representation of a plan (such as a Gantt chart). It typically describes a sequence of tasks together with resource allocations that collectively deliver the plan.
The sequencing, interrelationships, and duration of work packages and their associated tasks are captured in a schedule. All work packages for a stage must be included in the schedule for the stage.
A work package includes one or more delivery activities. These activities, in turn, can be decomposed into tasks. For each task, the people and resources can be identified. Then, the level of effort required and the duration of each task can be estimated.
The project manager should consider the planning horizon and the period over which the project is planned and use stage plans to elaborate the schedule as the level of effort and duration of tasks are better understood.
Preparing the budget
The people and resource requirements can be listed, and their costs and other costs can be calculated to produce the plan’s budget. The budget should include:
- costs of the activities (including people, equipment, materials, and facilities) to produce and deliver the products, and the cost of the project management activities
- risk budget
- change budget
- cost tolerances
Plan resources
These are the goods, services, equipment, materials, facilities, and funding required to complete a plan.
Subject to the type of resources required, the plan’s budget may need to be documented using several different components. For example, the time required in a test facility may be indicated in a schedule, whereas the necessary capital funding may be detailed in the project budget.
The use of distinct risk budgets and change budgets is optional. Their use will depend on the project context and whether the value of the additional control outweighs the additional project management costs and time.
Analysing risks
Plans need to be analysed for risks throughout the planning technique as they develop. As the plan’s details evolve, it should be examined for its potential risk content. All identified risks should be entered into the project log, within the risk register.
After the plan has been produced, the plan should still be considered as a draft until decisions regarding whether and how to treat the inherent risks have been made. Subject to those decisions, the plan may need to be modified.
Documenting the plan
The PRINCE2 planning technique, a structured approach to project management, creates several management products that constitute the plan.
The schedule and budget may be maintained in separate systems or files. Meanwhile, the product breakdown structure, product flow diagram, and work breakdown structure may be kept in a document, spreadsheet, or graphical planning tool.
Multiple elements may be maintained in a team collaboration tool. Even so, it is often helpful to prepare a narrative document that explains the plan at a high level and identifies:
- internal and external dependencies
- proposed tolerances
- monitoring and control requirements
- budgets
- key risks
- Assumptions underlying any of the above.
A project plan would also describe the stages and planned project board decisions. Project board decisions are the formal approvals, authorizations, or directions given by the project board, which is the project’s governance body, to guide and control the project’s execution.
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