Foundations of Planning

Question 1

Elements to be Planned

Answer 1

• deliverables (quality)
• dates (time and end date)
• resources (people and budget)
• work (what first - most important)

Question 2

Project Plan - Purposes

Answer 2

• Guides project execution
• Provides baseline for progress measurement and project control
• Easier communication among stakeholders
• Eliminate or reduces uncertainty

Question 3

Project Plan

Answer 3

1. A document that describes the technical and managing approach to be followed for a project
2. The plan typically defines
   - work to be done
   - resources
   - methods
   - procedures
   - schedules
   - organization
3. The project plan is central and important!
   - measure the progress
   - formal and approved

Question 4

Baseline

Answer 4

1. The originally approved plan plus or minus approved changes
2. Baselines are used
   - to compare the actual performance
   - to give forecasts of the project with the original plan

Question 5

Activities

Answer 5

1. An element of work performed during the course of a project. An activity normally has expected duration, an expected cost and expected resource requirements
2. Activity decomposition
   - Activities are recursively decomposed into sub-activities
3. Atomic activity (work package)
   - not further decomposed
   - performed by one or a few people in a short time
   - with well-defined inputs and outputs

Question 6

Work Package

Answer 6

1. An activity that can be executed within a short time
2. Delivers a clear result that can be checked against its requirements
3. Work package
   - result & intermediate results
   - final and intermediate deadlines
   - effort and duration estimation
   - actual cost (when finished)
4. A contract between project manager and developer
5. Basis for estimation of effort, controlling, and workload balancing

Question 7

Milestone

Answer 7

1. Milestones are defined points in time during the project where defined results have to be available
2. External milestone
   - Gate with a go / no-go decision
   - The customer decides based on the results and the market situation
3. Internal milestone
   - Milestone between external milestones
   - Used for internal controlling

Question 8

Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)

Answer 8

• Hierarchical structure of things that the project will make or outcomes that it will deliver
• Decomposes a Main Product into its constituent parts in the form of a hierarchical structure

Question 9

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Answer 9

• A deliverable-oriented, hierarchical grouping of project elements that organizes and defines the total work scope of the project.
• Each descending level represents an increasing detailed definition of the project

Question 10

Validating a WBS

Answer 10

1. Disjunction rule
   - All activities of a level must be completely distinct
2. Completion rule
   - If an activity is decomposed in sub-activities the whole scope of the activity must be converted
   - Nothing is left

Question 11

Checklist for WBS Work Packages

Answer 11

1. Can we estimate cost and duration?
2. Can we measure the progress?
3. Can the task of the work package be performed independently from other work packages?
   -> no coordination between work packages is needed!