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Managing Projects. The Project Plan. The Project Plan Document. The project plan is a mandate for action. It serves as a road-map . It spells out the nature and scope of the work and the expectations for results The Project Plan Document should contain:
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Managing Projects The Project Plan
The Project Plan Document • The project plan is a mandate for action. It serves as a road-map. It spells out the nature and scope of the work and the expectations for results The Project Plan Document should contain: 1) The goals and benefits of the project 2) The expected time frame of the work 3) A concise description of project deliverables (objectives) 4) The budget, allocations, and resources available to the project team
Clarify Objectives • Ambiguity on goals can lead to misunderstandings, disappointment, and expensive rework • Make sure objectives are: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-limited • A thoughtful charter indicates the ends but does not specify the means • The means should be left to the project manager, the team leader and the team members
Means and Ends Niccolo’ Machiavelli • A thoughtful Charter indicates the ends but does not specify the means • The means should be left to the project manager, the team leader and the team members
Time Line • All objectives should be specific and measurable. This is the only way a time frame within which objectives will be achieved can be defined. • The deadlines must be reasonable, and if necessary, should be amended as the project team learns more about what it must do.
Project Scope • Options are always more numerous that available time and resources • It is crucial to make trade-offs among the options available • A project plan serves as a road map, thus it must provides detail about tasks, milestones, deliverables, risks, and timetables
Summing Up • A project charter spells out in writing the nature and scope of the project’s work and the expectations for results • A charter should be unambiguous. Make it specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time bound • The charter should spell out the ends, but not the means • Specify what is in the scope of the project and what is not