The Plans

The plans I present here cover three categories. The first plan, which the project team must create from scratch, is called the phase plan. The Unified Process does not provide a template for this plan because it is unique to each project. This plan represents the milestones and iterations found for the lifecycle of the project. The target audience of this plan is senior management.

The second category of plan is the high-level overview plan for the phase. These are also called workflow plans. There will be one overview plan for each iteration within a phase. These plans are at a macro level in that they represent groups of project activities that must be accomplished by the team. Each task found on the overview plan will explode into detailed activities on the activity plan that follows. The target audience of this plan consists of the day-to-day project managers of the project.

The third category of plan is the lower-level activity plan for the phase. There will be one activity plan for each iteration within a phase. These plans are at a detailed level, the level at which actual time would be reported and tracked. Activities roll up to the overview plan, which then rolls up to the phase plan. The target audience of this plan consists of both the day-to-day project managers and the individual team members.