Purpose

The project plan is the guiding document of project management and serves as the repository for all of the subsidiary plans (communications plan, procurement plan, risk plan, and so on). As the guiding document for the project, it inherently needs to reflect all of the information essential to the project manager, project team, customer, and management sponsor.

In summary form, it provides general guidance as to the cost, schedule, and requirements baselines. In its detailed form, it provides much more specific guidance on the nature of all of the components of the various supporting plans.

Application

The project plan is used by virtually all of the stakeholders in the project. The project manager’s primary application for the plan is to settle differences that may arise regarding perspectives in the project. Those differences may exist between team members, the customer and the team, management and the team, or among any of the myriad stakeholders on the project.

For team members and others, the project plan serves as the project “spokesperson” when team members or the project manager are not available to speak on behalf of the project. It gives them insight into the information they are supposed to know and manage during their tenure with the project.

Content

The summary project plan includes three primary elements made up of the baseline information regarding time, cost, and requirements. Those are normally expressed through a summary work breakdown.

•  Human resource plans;

•  Quality plans;

•  Risk plans;

•  Procurement plans;

•  Integration plans;

•  Communications plans.

The various supporting plans provide a comprehensive structure that can be used to clarify expectations for the project and its various aspects.

Approaches

The approaches to project plans are as diverse as the project managers who build them. Because of the varying levels of depth and the various elements that can be incorporated, very few organizations without specific protocols will create similar project plans from one project to the next. The key to sound project plan development is first determining the specific needs the project plan is intended to address. If that can be determined in advance, the appropriate plans can be developed. Many organizations address this issue by establishing clear protocols for project plan development.

Considerations

The project plan is a living, growing document, evolving as the project progresses. Documentation may be retained in a set of three-ring binders, a set of file folders in a network, or any type of collection or storage media. Wherever it is stored, it should be rendered accessible to team or management members at the appropriate level of depth. All elements of the plan and its supporting plans should not be made universally available. Information should be available on a need-to-know basis, because too much information can be as damaging to project communications as too little.