Project Management: Planning Correctly Misundersood IV

The relatively big number of Project Management (PM) methodologies considered nowadays makes it more and more difficult to understand the world of PM and make oneself understood, in the context in which terminology is used in explanations that defy the logic, in which people are stubborn in persisting that their understanding is the ultimate truth and, that between white and black there are no degrees of gray. Between all PM concepts project planning seems to be the most misunderstood, and this probably because all the activities revolve around it, while each methodology brings its own planning philosophy. Each methodology comes with its own story, its own imaginative description of what a perfect plan is about.

Independently of the methodology used there are three levels of planning. At highest level, the strategic one, the project is put in the context of other strategic activities – other projects and initiatives, as well business operations, competing altogether for the same financial and human resources.  At this level are the goals identified and put the basis for the successful execution of the project, including establishing the ground and integrating the main aspects of a project – risk, quality and communication. Here is decided which projects will be considered, in which sequence, how and when resources will be assigned. 

A project plan is typically written and further executed by having the tactical horizon in mind – the individual engagement of resources and actions, the actual means to reach the objectives set at strategic level. It’s the level where the actual project plan is detailed, where activities are sequenced and prioritized. Here each methodology has its own approach – whether the planning is done per deliverable, work package or any other approach used to partition the activities. It’s the level at which the various teams are coordinated toward specific targets. Thus the manageable unit is the team and not the individual, the deliverables or the work packages and not the individual tasks.

The operational level equates with the execution of a project’s activities. Even if the project manager oversights the activities, it’s in team’s duties to plan the activities having the set deliveries in mind. The project manager doesn’t need to know all the details, though he should be updated on a timely manner on the progress, the eventual risks and opportunities that arise in each area. This requires continuous coordination on vertical as well horizontal level.

The project manager typically oscillates between the strategic and tactical views of a project, while the operational level appears in the view only when operational themes are escalated or further coordination is needed. Even if this delimitation is clear in big projects, in the small projects the three levels melt into each other. Therefore the sprung from small to big projects and vice-versa can create issues when the approach is not tailored to project’s size and its further characteristics.

Attempting to plan each activity in the project at the lowest level of detail obscures the view, the complexity of the project kicking back sooner or later. Maintaining such a detailed plan can become a waste of time on the long term. In extremis a resource is used to update a plan, which easily can become obsolete by the time all activities were reviewed. This doesn’t mean that the project plan doesn’t need to be updated regularly, though the pace can be decided on each project’s specifics.

Therefore, one of the most important challenges in projects is finding the appropriate level of detail for planning, and there’s no general rule that works for all projects. Typically the choices alternate between work packages and deliverables. 

Strategic Management: Stakeholder (Definitions)

"In the CMMI Product Suite, a group or individual that is affected by or is in some way accountable for the outcome of an undertaking. Stakeholders may include project members, suppliers, customers, end users, and others." (Sandy Shrum et al, "CMMI®: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement", 2003)

"Individuals and organizations that are involved in or possibly affected by the data warehouse project activities." (Margaret Y Chu, "Blissful Data ", 2004)

"Someone with an interest in the outcome of a project, either because he or she has funded it, will use it, or will be affected by it." (Ken Schwaber, "Agile Project Management with Scrum", 2004)

"A group or individual affected by, or in some way accountable for, the outcome of an activity or process. Stakeholders may include the project team, suppliers, customers, purchasers, end users, and others." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"a role that is concerned with the quality and content of a work product." (Bruce P Douglass, "Real-Time Agility: The Harmony/ESW Method for Real-Time and Embedded Systems Development", 2009)

"Anyone who has a stake in technical training, is affected by technical training or the problem it will address, or can assist with technical training." (Bettina M Davis & Wendy L Combsand, "Demystifying Technical Training: Partnership, Strategy, and Execution", 2009)

"Person or organization (e.g., customer, sponsor, performing organization, or the public) that is actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by execution or completion of the project. A stakeholder may also exert influence over the project and its deliverables." (Project Management Institute, "Practice Standard for Project Estimating", 2010)

"An organization, person, process, or system that can be affected by a change to a system or process." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"An individual participant or member of a business function, department, or group charged with, and responsible for, performing tasks or activities as part of a business process." (Carl F Lehmann, "Strategy and Business Process Management", 2012)

"An individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, program, or portfolio." (Project Management Institute, "The Standard for Portfolio Management" 3rd Ed., 2012)

"Any individual, group, or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by an initiative (program, project, activity, risk)." (Paul C Dinsmore et al, "Enterprise Project Governance", 2012)

"Any person with a vested interest in the project. Project stakeholders include the project sponsor, project manager, team members, and end users of the project result." (Bonnie Biafore & Teresa Stover, "Your Project Management Coach: Best Practices for Managing Projects in the Real World", 2012)

"Anyone with an interest in your project – whether affected by its outcome or process, or with an ability to affect its outcome or process." (Mike Clayton, "Brilliant Project Leader", 2012)

"Individuals who have varying levels of commitment to a project or program for a given community or setting." (Carol A Brown, "Using Logic Models for Program Planning in K20 Education", 2013)

"Any individual or entity that has an influence on or is being impacted upon (directly or indirectly) by the project." (Chartered Institute of Building, "Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development, 5th Ed.", 2014)

"Any party who affects, or is affected by, a project or activity (within and external to an organization). For an internal audit function, stakeholders include the board and audit committee, chief executive office, senior management, audit clients, and the external auditors." (Sally-Anne Pitt, "Internal Audit Quality", 2014)

"Individual, team, or organization that has an interest in or is affected by the result of architectural change." (Gilbert Raymond & Philippe Desfray, "Modeling Enterprise Architecture with TOGAF", 2014)

"Someone that has a vested interest in a project. Stakeholders are often high-level managers or executives with authority to resolve problems within a project." (Darril Gibson, "Effective Help Desk Specialist Skills", 2014)

"A stakeholder is someone with an interest in the future of a business, enterprise, or organization, and usually includes individual customers, borrowers, depositors, investors, employees, shareholders, regulators, and the public." (Christopher Donohue et al, "Foundations of Financial Risk: An Overview of Financial Risk and Risk-based Financial Regulation, 2nd Ed", 2015)

"Someone who has a stake in the outcome of the project. Typically, this includes users, customers (if those are different from users), sponsors, managers, and development team members." (Rod Stephens, "Beginning Software Engineering", 2015)

"Any person or organization who is affected by the opportunity and who can affect the shape of the opportunity itself." (Paul H Barshop, "Capital Projects", 2016)

"A person in the organization who has a vested interest in a project or activity and the outcomes." (Jonathan Ferrar et al, "The Power of People: Learn How Successful Organizations Use Workforce Analytics To Improve Business Performance", 2017)

"A person, a group, or an organization that has interest or concern in an organization. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by an organization’s actions, objectives, and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources." (William Stallings, "Effective Cybersecurity: A Guide to Using Best Practices and Standards", 2018)

"An individual, group, or organization that may affect or be affected by project work, including decisions, activities, and outcome or deliverables. This applies to a project, program, and portfolio." (Cate McCoy & James L Haner, "CAPM Certified Associate in Project Management Practice Exams", 2018)

"In software development, a stakeholder is a person who has a vested interest in the software being developed. For example customers and users are stakeholders." (Alex Thomas, "Natural Language Processing with Spark NLP", 2020)

"a person or organisation that can affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to be affected by a decision or activity" (ISO Guide 73:2009)

"all people who have interest in an organization, project, service, etc." (ITIL)

"Any person who has an interest in an IT project. Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. Stakeholders can exercise control over both the immediate system operational characteristics, as well as over long-term system lifecycle considerations (such as portability, lifecycle costs, environmental considerations, and decommissioning of the system)." (IQBBA)

Project Management: Project Manager (Definitions)

"The individual responsible for managing a project." (Timothy J  Kloppenborg et al, "Project Leadership", 2003)

"The person responsible for managing a project." (Margaret Y Chu, "Blissful Data ", 2004)

"The person responsible for planning, directing, and controlling a project." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives." (Project Management Institute, "The Standard for Program Management" 3rd Ed., 2013)

"A professional who is responsible for managing a project’s pursuit of its intended outputs and/or outcomes. Project managers are operational leaders who are responsible for assuring that a project meets its operational goals for delivering work products with prescribed specifications - on time and on budget." (Richard J Heaslip, "Managing Complex Projects and Programs", 2014)

"Individual or body with authority, accountability and responsibility for managing a project to achieve specific objectives." (Chartered Institute of Building, "Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development" 5th Ed., 2014)

"The individual responsible for managing a project and its completion within its scope, budget, and schedule." (Christopher Carson et al, "CPM Scheduling for Construction: Best Practices and Guidelines", 2014)

"The person primarily responsible for managing a project to its successful completion." (Robert F Smallwood, "Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices", 2014)

"An organizational employee, representative, or consultant appointed to prepare project plans and organize the resources required to complete a project, prior to, during, and upon closure of the project life cycle." (H James Harrington & William S Ruggles, "Project Management for Performance Improvement Teams", 2018)