Chapter4: Project Planning 79

Chapter-04
PROJECT PLANNING
Outline Syllabus
Project Coordination - Systems Integration, Sorting out the project - Work
Breakdown structure.

5.01 PROJECT PLANNING

Project planning is a procedural step in project management, where required documentation is
created to ensure successful project completion. Some of the important definition are given
below.
According to Harold Kerzner, Project planning is part of project management, which
relates to the use of schedules such as Gantt charts to plan and subsequently report progress
within the project environment.
According to R. L. Marline, "A project planning establishes the duration of the project, the
resources needed to complete each activity and the required sequence of performance of each
job.
Mark Hehl define project planning as, A formal approved document that defines how the
project is executed, monitored, and controlled. It may be summary or detailed and may be
composed of one or more subsidiary management plans and other planning documents.
So we can say that the primary purpose of planning is to establish a set of directions in sufficient
detail to tell the project team exactly what must be done, when it must be done, and what
resources to use in order to produce the deliverables of the project successfully.
Define project planning. BBA (Professional) 2007, 2009,2013

5.02 ELEMENTS OF PROJECT PLANNING

A project planning establishes the duration of the project, the resources needed to complete each
activity and the required sequence of performance of each job. Key Elements of Project Planning
are stated below.
1. Over view : This is a short summary of the objective and scope of the project is directed to
top management and contains a statement of the goals of the project, a brief explanation of
80 Project Management
their relationship to the firm's objectives, a description of the managerial structure that will be
used for the project, and a list of the major milestones in the project schedule.
2. Objective: This contains a more detailed statements of the general goals noted in the
overview section. The statement should include profit and competitive aims as well as
technical goals.
3. General approach: This section describes both the managerial and the technical approaches
to the work. The technical discussion describes the relationship of the project to available
technologies.
4. Contractual aspects: This critical section of the plan includes a complete list and description
of all the reporting requirement, customer-supplied resources, liaison arrangements, advisory
committees, project review and cancellation procedures, proprietary requirements, any
specific management arrangement, as well as the technical deliverables and their
specifications, delivery schedules, and a specific procedure for changing of the above.
5. Schedules: This section outlines the various schedules and lists all milestone events. Each
task is listed, and the estimated time for each task should be obtained from those who will do
the work.
6. Resources: There are two primary aspects to this section. The first is the budget. Second,
monitoring and control procedure should be described.
7. Personnel: This section lists the expected personnel requirements of the project. Special
skills, types of training needed, possible recruiting problems, legal or policy restriction on
work force composition, and any other special requirements, such as security clearance,
should be noted here.
8. Risk management plans: This covers potential problems as well as potential lucky breaks
that could affect the project. Sometimes it is difficulties to convince planners to make a
serious attempt to anticipate potential difficulties Or benefits.
9. Evaluation methods: Every project should be evaluated against standards and by methods
established at the project's inception, allowing for both the direct and ancillary goals of the
project.
Name different elements of project planning. BBA (Professional) 2007, 2009,2013

5.05 SYSTEM INTEGRATION

A system is an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the
overarching functionality. System integration involves integrating existing often disparate
systems. System integration (SI) is also about adding value to the system, capabilities that are
possible because of interactions between subsystems. In todays connected world, the role of
system integration engineers is becoming more and more important. Some of the important
definitions are given below.
According to Gilkey, Herbert T, System integration is defined as the process of bringing
together the component subsystems into one system and ensuring that the subsystems function
together as a system.
According to Lau, Edwin, Systems integration is the process of linking together different
computing systems and software applications physically or functionally.
 Chapter4: Project Planning 81
The system integrator brings together discrete systems utilizing a variety of techniques such as
computer networking, enterprise application integration, business process management or manual
programming.
Define system integration. BBA (Professional) 2009

5.06 ROLE OF SYSTEM INTEGRATION

A system is an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the
overarching functionality. System integration involves integrating existing often disparate
systems. System integration (SI) is also about adding value to the system, capabilities that are
possible because of interactions between subsystems. In todays connected world, the role of
system integration engineers is becoming more and more important. It is because of the following
reasons.
(i) Require .no component performance specifications unless necessary to meet one or more
systems requirements.
(ii) Every component requirement should be traceable to one or more systems requirements.
(iii) Design components for effective system performance, not the performance of subsystems
What is the role of systems integration in project management?
BBA (Professional) 2012

5.07 OBJECTIVES OF SYSTEM INTEGRATION

System integration involves integrating existing often disparate systems. System integration (SI)
is also about adding value to the system, capabilities that are possible because of interactions
between subsystems. The objectives of systems integration of an organization are given below.
1. Performance: Performance is what a system does. It includes system design, reliability,
quality, maintainability, and reparability. Obviously, these are not separate, independent elements
of the system, but are highly interrelated qualities.
2. Effectiveness: (i) Require no component performance specifications unless necessary to meet
one or more systems requirements. (ii) Every component requirement should be traceable to one
or more systems requirements. (iii) Design components for effective system performance, not the
performance of ' subsystems.
3. Cost: Cost system integration considers cost to be a design parameter, and costs can be
accumulated in several areas. Added design cost may lead to decreased component cost, leaving
performance and effectiveness otherwise unchanged.
What is the obsessive of system integration? BBA (Professional) 2012

5.08 STEPS OF BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

The basic steps to design and use the work breakdown structure are given below.
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1. Using information from the action plan, list the task breakdown in successively finer levels of
detail. Continue until all meaningful tasks or work package have been identified and each task or
package can be individually planned, scheduled, monitored, and controlled.
2. For each such work package, identify the data relevant to the WBS (e.g., vendors, durations,
equipment, materials, and special specifications.
3. All work package information should be reviewed with the individuals or organizations that
have responsibility for doing or supporting the work in order to verify the WBS's accuracy.
4. For the purpose of pricing a proposal, or determining profit and loss, the total project budget
should consist of four elements.
5. Similarly, schedule information and miles one (significant) events can be aggregated into a
project master schedule.
6. As a project is carried out, step by step, the PM can continually examine actual resources use,
by work element, work package, task, and so on up to the full project level.
7. Finally, the project schedule may be subjected to the same comparisons as the project budget.
What are the basic steps to design and use the work breakdown structure?