Hi Paul,
Please comment on the below attempt. If the question asks for 5 points, does each point need an example in it? Thanks as always.
What are the advantages of having a properly agreed project management plan? Make 5 points in your answer
Change requests: The project management plan (PMP) can be used to assess the value of any future change requests before they are incorrectly implemented. For example, the PMP will help when a change affecting the schedule is requested by comparing the variance to the existing schedule, giving a holistic view of the change before approval.
Improving communication: The PMP improves communication as it can be distributed to a wide audience and they can see the project plans and strategies. The stakeholders and project team will all have visibility to the same information and can see what the others are seeing. For example, status reporting is made more effective as the project manager can refer to sections of the PMP.
New team members: When new team members join the project, the PMP can be used to clarify the projects scope/objectives. The PMP provides continuity as all the team members are working from it. For different phases the project will have different team members and it is import to concisely communicate the projects scope and the progress made towards its completion.
Document management: The PMP is a comprehensive set of documents that includes all the strategies, plans, project scope and objectives, and links all these ancillary documents together. For example, rather than having the strategies and plans separate, the PMP combines all the documents in one binder allowing for formal project authorisation for all parts.
Formal contract: The PMP binds the PM and sponsor in an agreement on how, what and when the project will be delivered. This gives a mutual understanding for how the project will be managed from both sides. For example, the sponsor will know what deliverables will be completed in the project during the third week of implementation.
Describe 5 main components of the project management plan?
Quality management plan – This is a strategy document that defines what policies and standards apply for this projects level of quality. It provides details on the techniques for controlling quality and what the organisational quality standards are. For example, the organisation might have a standard template for gathering lessons learnt on project quality and this needs to be used.
Project schedule – This provides a high-level view of the project and allows for more detailed phase plans to be drawn up. The schedule is normally in the form of a Gant chart and is updated during the project if the schedule changes. For example, the Gant chart can be used to allocate resources and determine task costs.
Stakeholder requirements – It is important to relate the stakeholder needs to requirements and ensure the deliverables achieve the requirements. The PMP contains the requirements so that the team building the deliverables know what is specifically needed from the product. For example, the IT manager (stakeholder) has a requirement for the computer to have 2 hard drives of 500GB each.
Change control process – The PMP is disseminated to stakeholders which require it and it is them who need to know how any changes to the projects baseline will be managed. There needs to be a formal change control process communicated. For example, the change process might state that the IT manager and Sponsor need to authorise any IT related changes.
Communication management plan – This advises who, when, what and how communication between the project team and the stakeholders will operate. The plan will advise how tailoring the communications to the various stakeholders will work. For example, the Finance director might require the projects costing spread sheet sent to him with weekly updates before 3pm on Friday.
Kit, two very good answers, no comments really. Well done