Applied Software Project Management

Create the Project Plan

The project plan defines the work that will be done on the project and who will do it. A typical project plan consists of:

• A statement of work that describes all work products (specifications, test plans, code, defect reports, and any other product of work performed over the course of the project) that will be produced and a list of people who will perform that work

• A resource list that contains a list of all resources that will be needed for the product, and their availability

• A work breakdown structure and a set of effort estimates (described in Chapter 3)

• A project schedule (described in Chapter 4)

• A risk plan that identifies any risks that might be encountered and indicates how those risks would be handled, should they occur

The project plan is used by many people in the organization. The project manager uses it to communicate the project's status to the stakeholders and senior managers, and to plan the team's activities. The team members use it to understand the context for the work they are doing. The senior managers use it to verify that the project's cost and schedule are reasonable and under control, and that the project is being done in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The stakeholders use it to make sure that the project is on track, and that their needs are being addressed.

It is important that the organization reach consensus on the project plan. To accomplish this, the plan should be inspected by the representatives of the project team, senior ...