Painless Project Management: A Step-by-Step Guide for Planning, Executing, and Managing Projects

Chapter 4. Planning the Work and Working the Plan

The Business Case has passed muster. The project is green lighted. A project manager is appointed—sometimes it’s the investigator, but usually it’s not. That project manager is you. In this chapter, we cover the project manager’s and the project team’s responsibilities in Planning, Execution, and Close.

Planning

First, let’s look at the big picture for Planning. The project manager starts by working with the sponsor and major stakeholders to establish a Project Charter. After the Charter is drafted, the project manager and the project team begin the definition of the work (Work Breakdown Structure, WBS) needed to produce the desired product or service. To develop a schedule, a sequence of tasks to be done is created (network). From that logical sequence, a calendar schedule (Gantt Chart) is developed. Figure 4.1 gives an overall picture of the Planning phase.

© Copyright 2007 Pamela McGhee and Peter McAliney.

Figure 4.1. The Essentials of a Project Plan.

You now lead a newly formed team in Planning (which includes organizing and scheduling), Executing, and, upon completion, celebrating success and Closing the project—the remaining three stages of the Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC; see Figure 4.2). You will begin to appreciate the power of the PMLC as you lead the team through Planning to develop the Project Charter and finally, the ...