A User's Manual to the PMBOK Guide, Fifth Edition

Chapter 4

Planning Integration

TOPICS COVERED

Planning Process Group

Planning Loops

Project Integration Management

Develop Project Management Plan

Planning Process Group

The Planning Process Group consists of those processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve. Much of what we do on a day-to-day basis is planning. Of course, a good deal of planning happens at the beginning of a project, but planning continues throughout the course of the project as well.

At the start of the project we have a high-level understanding of the product and project. This is documented in the project charter. As we go through the various planning processes we take this information and further refine it. This continues until the project closes. This concept of gathering more detailed information is called progressive elaboration. A specific type of progressive elaboration occurs when there is concerted effort to define detail for specified planning horizons. This is called rolling wave planning. The intent of rolling wave planning is to document the detail of the work that is happening in the near future and keep the work that is further out in the future (for example, 90 days or more) at a less detailed level. As future work gets closer, it is decomposed into activities, sequenced, and resource loaded in the schedule. Let’s look at the PMBOK ® Guide definition ...