Planning starts by understanding the business purpose, what stakeholders want, and what the project needs to deliver.

Product Scope means the features and functions of the product, service, or result. Project Scope is the work done to deliver that product or result.

Predictive Planning Approach means planning everything in detail from the beginning. It starts with big project goals and breaks them down using tools like a scope statement or WBS (Work Breakdown Structure).

Work that is new, risky, or very important should be prioritized early. This helps reduce uncertainty before major investments are made.

Development Approach: The way you choose to develop your project (predictive, adaptive, or hybrid) will decide how much, when, and how planning should be done.

Project Deliverables: The type of output expected from the project affects planning. For example, construction needs early planning for design, logistics, and material purchases.

Organizational Requirements: Company policies, governance, culture, and processes may require project managers to follow specific planning formats or templates.

Market Conditions: If the market is very competitive, companies might plan only the essentials to speed up delivery, skipping detailed planning.

Legal or Regulatory Approvals: Some industries need to get approvals from authorities before starting or launching a project. This requires detailed planning and documentation upfront.

Methods of estimating

Deterministic Estimating means giving a fixed number as an estimate, like “this project will take 36 months.” It’s also called a point estimate.

Probabilistic Estimating gives a range of possible outcomes with the chances (probabilities) of each. For example, “the project may take 30–40 months, with 70% chance it will finish in 36.”

These can be calculated by:

(a) Using weighted average of different possible outcomes

(b) Running simulations (like Monte Carlo) to estimate the chances of cost or schedule results.

Absolute & Relative Estimating : Absolute estimates give exact values, like “120 hours of work.”

Relative estimates compare tasks with each other, like “Task A is twice as complex as Task B.” They work only within the same context.

Flow-Based Estimating

Uses two things:

• Cycle time – Time taken for one unit to complete the process
• Throughput – Number of units that pass through in a given time

These help estimate how long the total work will take.

Adjusting Estimates for Uncertainty

Since estimates are never 100% sure, we adjust them by:

• Adding extra time (contingency) or money
• Running simulations to see possible risks and how they affect the schedule or budget.

Scheduling

A schedule is a plan that shows when project activities will happen, how long they will take, and how they depend on each other. It can be created using predictive (fixed) or adaptive (flexible) approaches.

Steps in Schedule Planning:

Step 1: Break down the project work into smaller activities.

Step 2: Arrange those activities in the correct order (what comes first, next, etc.).

Step 3: Estimate how much time, effort, people, and materials are needed for each activity.

Step 4: Assign the right people and resources based on who is available.

Step 5: Keep adjusting timing, order, and resources until a realistic schedule is made

Planning Variables and Budgeting

The project budget is made based on the cost estimates decided during planning.

The cost baseline is spread across the project timeline to show when money will be spent.

This helps project managers match available funds during a specific time period with the work planned during that time.

If there isn’t enough money in a certain period, the work may need to be delayed or moved to match the available funds.

Project Team composition and communication

Planning starts with identifying the skills needed to do the project work.

Cost varies based on whether team members are hired from inside or outside the organization. Managers must weigh the value of external skills against their cost.

Communication is the most important factor for working well with stakeholders.

If the team can work together in the same place, communication is smoother and problems are solved faster.

If the team is spread across locations or time zones, more effort is needed to stay connected using technology

To plan communication effectively, we must ask:

• Who needs the information?
• What does each person or group need to know?
• Why is it important to share the information?
• What is the best way to share it (e.g., email, meeting, report)?
• When and how often should it be shared?
• Who has the information that needs to be shared?

There are different types of information, like internal vs. external, private vs. public, or general vs. detailed.

Understanding stakeholder needs and the type of information helps in creating a good communication plan for the project.

Physical Resources

Physical resources are non-human resources like materials, equipment, software, licenses, or testing tools used in a project.

While planning for physical resources, we must consider things like delivery time, how the items will be moved, stored, and finally used or disposed. We should also be able to track inventory from delivery to final use.

For projects needing a lot of physical materials, the team must plan strategically about when to order, how to deliver, and when to use the items. They must balance between bulk ordering vs. storage cost, global logistics, sustainability, and how to integrate these materials with the rest of the project work.

Procurement

Procurement means buying goods or services for the project. It can happen at any time, but planning early helps make the process smooth and avoids delays.

After understanding the project scope, the team does a make-or-buy analysis to decide what will be made internally and what needs to be bought from outside.

This analysis helps both the schedule and the team, as they get clarity on what is needed, when it is needed, and what technical details must be shared with suppliers or vendors.

Changes

Changes are natural during any project. They can happen because of risks, changes in the environment, customer requests, or better understanding of the work.

Project teams should be ready with a clear process to handle changes. This could include a formal change control system, adjusting the backlog, or updating the project baseline.

If the project involves contracts, any change may need to follow a defined contract change process

Metrics

Metrics link planning, delivering, and measuring work. They help track whether the project is on the right path.

Metrics set clear thresholds to check if performance is as expected, better than expected, worse, or totally unacceptable.

Product-related metrics measure how well the deliverables meet expectations. Schedule and budget metrics compare actual progress and spending against planned baselines or standards.

During planning, metrics, baselines, and performance limits are set. Tests and checks are also planned to see if the work meets required quality and performance standards.