Software Project Planning

A project plan sets out the phases activities and tasks needed to deliver a project. The purpose of planning is to establish schedules for performing all the activities which are part of a software project. A software project management plan is the controlling document for the entire development process. It specifies all the technical and managerial approaches to be used to develop the software. The software project planning metrics are intended to develop the estimates for the project work, establish necessary commitments and plan the work.

The project begins with a plan this can be done in stages also. Project planning is an important activity since the project by itself is a large complex and time-consuming task. The goal of project planning is to establish a strategy for controlling, tracking and monitoring a complex project. A project plan shows the time frames as well as the milestone during the project.

What is a Project Plan?

A project plan can be defined as a formal approved document used to guide the project execution as well as project central activities. It helps to make planning assumptions and decisions to facilitate communication among the stakeholders, document the approved scope, cost and schedule the baselines.

Structure of Software Project Management Plan

Project scope and Objective

• Objectives and measures of meeting them
• Project Authority
• stakeholders
• Modification of objectives in the light of stakeholder analysis.
• Methods of communication with all the parties.

Project Infrastructure

Installation standards and procedure

Project Charascteristics

• Project Risk
• User Requirements
• Life Cycle Approach
• Overall Resource Estimates

Project Products and Activities

• Project Deliverables
• Ideal Activity Network

Effort for Each Activity

Plan to create controllable activities

Activity Risks

• Risk Reduction measures
• Plans and estimate to take account of risks

Resource Allocation

• Identify and allocate the resources.
• Plan and estimates to take account of resources constraints.

Plan Review

• Quality Aspects
• Obtain Agreement

Example of A Software Project Management Plan

As suggested by a software project management company, an SPM plan has 4 major sections which are as follows:

Project Summary Section

• Project objectives
• Commetments made to the customers
• Proposed start and end date of the project
• Assumptions
• Details of billing

Project Planning Section

• The development process being used.
• Development environment needed.
• Tools Employed.
• Quality Plan.
• Risk management plan
• Effort and schdule estimate

Project Tracking Section

This section involves the measures to be taken for tracking or monitoring the project activities.

Project Team Section

This section defines the structure of the project team along with information about the project leader.

Objectives of Software Project Planning

Planning aims to achieve several objectives which are as follows:

Feasibility Assessment

In the project possible within the required time scale and resource constraints. It is only after we have constructed a detailed plan, that we can forecast a completion date with some reasonable knowledge of its achievability.

Resource Allocation

• What are the most effective ways of allocating resources to a project.
• When should the resources be available.
• A project plan answers these questions and also allow us to find the relationship between time scales and resource availability.

Detailed Costing

How much will the project cost. After creating the plan and allocating the resources we can obtain more detailed estimates of costs and the timing.

Motivation

Providing the targets and monitoring the achievements is an effective way of motivating the staff.

Coordination

Project Plan, particularly with large project involving more than a single team, provides an effective means for communication and coordination among the teams and members. Thus, planning and scheduling aim for completing the project in minimum time with an acceptable cost, meeting a set target date at minimum cost.