▷ Project Planning; Definition, Phases and Examples

The planning is one of thefirst stages for the elaboration of a project, through a systematic process of activities to achieve an objective, describing everything that needs to be done clearly and precisely.

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The optimal execution of a project depends to a great extent on this process, since it becomes the methodical guide that makes sure that everything is executed according to plan.

However, planning is not only limited to the execution of the project, but also its monitoring, control and closure.

It is not surprising that many projects fail due to lack of planning, giving way to improvisation; because no matter how much experience you have, planning is essential for the process to run efficiently and effectively.

To know in detail everything you need to know to plan a project, in In this post we will explain it to you, definitions, phases and examples for its planning.

What is a project?

A project represents a set of activities that are planned to accomplish a specific purpose and that should be executed during a specified period.

Regardless of the type of project, these have clear objectives, they also require a budget and a work team to carry out the different activities during the execution process of the draft.

What is project planning?

Planning a project is a prior process that allows establishing an action plan for its subsequent execution, which is based on a systematic ordering of the activities to achieve the established objectives; exposing clearly and precisely what is needed and must be done during the execution process.

In addition to identifying the objectives and action plans, the necessary resources are identified and your budget, always establishing a realistic and reasonable approach.

Phases to plan a project

Planning a project is not a process that is taken lightly, but the achievement of several phases or stages to guarantee its success, these being the following:

Feasibility analysis and definition of objectives

The main thing to start planning is to assess the feasibility of the project to know its chances of success; namely, whether or not it is feasible to invest resources as money and time in it.

At the organization level, the project manager must analyze the different internal and external factors in order to determine its viability, established realistic objectives according to the real situation and the expectations of the entity.

Set the scope

It is to manage how the scope of the project will be delimited, validated and controlled, managing all the requirements to execute the activities, describing what actions they imply and how far they can go; as well as the degree of responsibility of the parties involved.

Identify and allocate resources

In order to tackle the project it is necessary to identify each of the resources to implement, both material, technological, human, as well as financial; necessary to be able to carry out all the stages of the project without setbacks.

Create a budget

A fundamental part for the elaboration of a project is estimate theCosts that will be incurred throughout the execution process from start to finish, this will allow determining if there are enough resources to finance the project; because a bad estimate of the costs can overdraw the budget compromising the completion of the work.

Prepare a calendar of activities

It is an essential phase for coordinate the times of the activities, according to each stage of the project, describing when they will be delivered, as well as the start and end date of each stage, so that the project is executed within the pre-established deadlines; A good tool for this planning phase is the Gantt chart.

Preparation of a general work plan

Basically, it's a comprehensive plan that integrates all project factors in all its management stages, describing in detail how it will be executed, controlled and closed.

Said plan includes the budget, the schedule of activities, a risk management plan, a contingency plan for possible contingencies, human resource management, control and evaluation methods, among other factors that may vary depending on the type of draft.

Review of the plan underway

Although prior planning takes into account all the factors that intervene from the beginning to the end of the project, it is normal that during the execution process there may be unforeseen situations or changes, which must be reviewed to ensure that project continuity goes according to plan, making the readjustments that are considered necessary.

Evaluation

Evaluation is a management process that occurs with the achievement of each stage of the project until the closing of the same, assessing whether project expectations were met and the lessons learned to transform them into experiences for future projects.

Therefore, the evaluation can be said to it is a feedback phase It helps measure the performance of the project in meeting the expectations and objectives of the organization.

Project planning example

There are many types of projects, in this case, for practical purposes we will explain in a simple way how to plan a construction project for a commercial premises.