Project planning is an essential part of project management. It involves developing action items and schedule management. This is required to make a project continue in a consistent manner. Project management has different stages and includes setting target dates for completing every actionable objective. As one action item gets completed the project moves forward with other items in progress towards completion. Escalation lists are created in certain business which form project plans.
Project And Process Planning
Many believe that project planning is similar to process planning but they are distinct stages in project management. Both are considered to be key elements for project management but their focuses are different and compliment each other. If you look at a project plan template, you will realise that process planning deals with selecting the right resources and providing a framework as to how a desired objective can be met. Project planning, on the other hand, is to identify and plan out the different tasks that form part of a project at different steps. It includes the resources that are identified by process planning.
How A Project Is Managed
There are project managers appointed for a project to keep it on course. He or she will head a team and the team members are given the responsibility to implement the different steps or action items. The role of the manager is to coordinate the team members’ actions. They will have to measure the progress of the project as per project timelines and take decisions on making changes in the project plan as and when deemed necessary. The project manager will provide the necessary resources and support to the project team to ensure that the project is moving as per set timelines and within the stipulated budget. Project manager are usually accountable to the management or company owners. Some companies have several projects ongoing at a certain time which are handled by different project managers.
Optimal Use Of Resources
Project planning is a form of business planning and there are certain guidelines that are considered to make it successful:
- Project planning should be done in a manner that the available resources are optimally utilized
- Realistic data is sought out to determine how much of certain resources are required and the timeline of such requirement
For instance, a project plan might involve trucks hauling materials at a construction site. The plan needs to schedule the deliveries of the materials and in such a manner that the trucks can be deployed for other work when the project work is not required.
Project Planning Software
Today there are several project planning software available in the market. With the help of such software it is easy to develop to a general plan, establish project objectives or assign targets to different individual project team members. Action items can be arranged in a logical sequence easily with the help of such software. There are reasonable timelines set and monitoring progress of a project is easy with the help of such software. Visit http://www.projectmanagementdocs.com for more details.