Project Start-Up: The Plan for a Plan

During the Project Start-up and planning phase, projects will execute detailed planning processes to produce a Performance Measurement Baseline of Cost/Schedule/Scope and an associated Project Management Plan. The project schedule will then steer the project through the foggy waters of its lifecycle and eventually help it to find its way to delivery and closedown. But what about the planning phase itself when the schedule doesn't exist yet?

Here is where we need a Plan-For-A-Plan, and this is where having a process asset template can be a real help. In a simple tabular format it includes key steps to get the project through the planning phase, and can be tailored to organisation, industry or project type.

At a high level, we suggest it should include:

• Project Mandate/Business case
• Establishing Skeleton Plan-For-A-Plan
• Formal Project Registration
• Stakeholder identification and engagement
• Decision on Project Approach (both Project Lifecycle and Technical Solution)
• Production of Project Management Plan
• Initiate Requirements Definition /Refinement /Iteration Zero
• Production of Performance Measurement Baseline - Scope/Cost/Schedule Baseline (ensure aligned)
• Project Tooling setup
• Staffing engagement
• Procurement preparations
• Risk identification
• Planning Audit
• Formal agreement to Solution and Requirements
• Formal Management agreement to Baselined Plan/PID and approval to proceed/spend
• Project Governance established
• Formal Project Kickoff Meeting

We could add others, and of course this could be tailored to organisations, industry domains and project types - but we think this is a good overview. Do you have any suggestions of anything else that should form the Plan-For-A-Plan? Look out for our more detailed Project Plan-For-A-Plan Template that will be launching soon!

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