Product Based Planning Demystified – Part 3 

Product Based Planning Demystified – Part 3

Identifying “external products”

Just looking at the above list, suppose I now realize that the supply of the new forms do not come from within the project, but rather from a local print shop, which is quite obviously, not one of my project teams.

So by supply the shop with the designs, and it prints the forms and assembles them into a pad.

The printing shops work is not part of my project because the printers staff activities that carry out the work are not on my Gantt charts, and the print shop does not send me progress reports or time sheets all the work being carried out.

The forms are important to launch the new help desk, but they come from outside the project boundary.

Suppose also, that the product “Operating procedure for the new help desk”, already exists from a help desk in another part of our organization.  So although this is an important document in the project, the project team does not have to create it.

The “Operating procedure for the new help desk” product is therefore external as well, because it comes over the project boundary from outside (even though exists within our organization).

But let me back track for a moment.  You see, I wanted to make you familiar with the context of products rather than activities, but PRINCE2 has a logical sequence for delving into product-based planning.

Here is that sequence:

1. Create the Project Product Description
2. Create the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)
3. Write the Product Descriptions
4. Create the Product Flow Diagram (PFD)

Only then will you start planning the activities along the path to completing the plan.  And while I mention that, there are three levels of plan within a PRINCE2 project:

• Project Plan
• Stage Plan
• Team Plan

The creation of the Team Plan can sometimes be under control of a third party, so it may not always use the product-led approach, although whenever possible, the project manager would try to encourage its use by a third party involved.

Create the Project Product Description

They should not be confused with the product descriptions which I will come to later.

This is the product description for the final deliverable of the whole project and is called the project product description.

The project product description is produced during start up but can be amended during the initiation stage when the PID is written and things are being sought through in greater depth.

You may notice that some of the headings on a normal product description are not included here because they are not relevant when thinking about the project as a whole.

Creating the project product description is the first task of product based planning, and although the senior user is responsible for specifying the project product, in practice the project product description is often written by the project manager.

The project manager will want to consult with the senior user and the executive of the project board.  Here are the suggested contents of a project product description:

The purpose of the project product description is to describe the project’s major products and
intended purpose, including the user’s quality expectations, the acceptance criteria, and acceptance
methods for the project. It is created in the process of starting up a project and refined during the
process of initiating a project.

Purpose: a description of what the project products will fulfil and who will use them
Major products: a description of the major products to be delivered
Derived from: what the products are based on, such as existing products or a requirement for a
new capability
User’s quality expectations: description of the quality expected of the project products and the
standards and procedures that will need to be applied to achieve them
Acceptance criteria: a prioritized list of criteria that the project products must meet to be accepted
by the user
Acceptance methods and responsibilities: the means by which acceptance will be confirmed, and
the people responsible for the acceptance decisions will be determined
Project level quality tolerances: any tolerances that apply to the acceptance criteria

Product description should be written as soon as possible after the need for the product has been identified.  At first pass, these may have some details missing, but they will be refined and amended as the product becomes better understood and the later planning steps are done.

… to be continued …

Go To Part 4 HERE!