Planning is of major importance on a project because by definition the project involves creating something unique.17 In other words, you may be heading into uncharted waters, so you should have a plan to help you get through them safely. There are two types of planning: essential planning and discretionary planning.
Essential Planning
Essential planning consists of these four subprocesses:18
• Defining scope (all the products and services to be provided by the project)
• Determining required activities, resources, and schedule
• Creating detailed cost estimates and budgets
• Integrating all of the above into a comprehensive project plan
We label these subprocesses as “essential” because no one should undertake a project or project phase without first completing all four of them.
Discretionary Planning
Discretionary planning processes are desirable, but not necessarily required to complete a project.19 These processes are performed as needed and include creation of formal plans such as these:
• Quality plan
• Communications plan
• Staffing plan (over and above that described in the essential plan above)
• Procurement plan
• Risk assessment/response plan
• Others, as dictated by organizational values and policies
Some veteran project managers would no doubt argue that adopting one or more of these plans is not simply discretionary, but essential. Depending on your organization and your industry, you may agree. At minimum, you should quickly skim through the Action Tool associated with each of these planning processes and decide whether it might apply to your project; if it clearly does not apply, then you can reject it. In this way, you will be sure that you have done your job as project manager by challenging all assumptions about the work process, selecting the best possible approaches, and taking nothing for granted.
In any case, whether you classify the particular outputs as essential or discretionary, planning is a vital process of project management. As you will see in Part III, the majority of the Action Tools in this handbook are designed to support the planning process.