Alliteration (and Iteration) Allowed: the Professional Project Planning Process
Expanding the Six Basic Planning Questions Into Six Actionable Steps
In the last post, we discussed the six fundamental questions that should be addressed when planning any new project. The answers to those questions are the foundation of any well-run project. This is true whether we’re planning the construction of a backyard shed or putting together the first manned mission to Mars. Independent of what our project is, we always need to understand: 1) Who is the project for and why do they want or need it? 2) What solves that want/need? 3) In what form will we provide the solution? 4) How long will it take us to produce the solution? 5) How much will the process cost? And 6) what threatens our ability to pull all this off, including what can we do to reduce those threats?
Of course, those six questions were simplified. They are the “layperson’s” version of what a project manager must formally address when planning a project. I’ve shown the more rigorous/formal project management version of those questions below in the image. These are the questions and key output documents one should create when organizing and planning a typical engineering project.
For the uninitiated, I know there’s a lot going on in this image. That’s okay. Over the course of the next few blog posts, I’m going to unpack these steps in a manner that is more useable and practical for us project managers to use. Stay tuned…