Project Planning is a formal document created to direct the control and execution of a project, generally a business project. For this reason, the project plan is essential and mandatory before starting the project.
Later, the project auditor or manager will review the project plan before starting the project to ensure the readiness level of each stakeholder in a business.
Reporting from the Teamwork page, there is a baseline or basis for making a project plan. Starting a project plan with a foundation will make it easier for you to assess project performance once it’s begun.
What’s The Difference With Project Management?
Both have primary tasks when faced with a project. Starting from the point of view to solving the problem, both use different points of view. Then, what are they?
In the application of project planning, prioritizing what elements are prioritized. A project planner will question in detail what is needed in carrying out the project so that every aspect can be adequately known.
In contrast to a project manager who emphasizes how (how) elements in a project. All aspects that have been monitored in detail by the project planner will be seen as a whole by the project manager, who watches whether all aspects can work properly.
Project Planning Tools
Project planning tools help everyone concerned keep track of project requirements and deadlines. Some of the most popular project planning tools include the following:
1. Gantt Chart
Gantt Chart, also called Milestones Chart and Project Bar Chart, is a type of bar chart widely used for project monitoring. These tools contain information about team members’ tasks, schedules, and project implementation deadlines.
Not only that, but you can also see which party or division is responsible for a job in the project.
This tool was initially formed from the idea of an engineer from Poland named Karol Adamiecki when he created a visual diagram to see the work progress.
Only in 1910, did an engineer who was also a management consultant named Henry Gantt develop it. Henry then applied the system he grew to be used to his project, which he later called the Gantt Chart.
Gantt Chart Benefits:
1. Measuring project progress
2. Time management becomes more efficient
3. Build a sense of responsibility for the tasks given
4. Team communication becomes more dynamic
2. Critical Path Method (CPM)
CPM, or Critical Path Method, is a concept or method in project planning used to identify the main tasks in a project so that you can complete them optimally and on time.
This method will significantly assist the project manager in analyzing, planning, and scheduling projects more efficiently. The reason is, by implementing this project, you can determine the following:
- List all the tasks required to complete the project.
- Which task is the most critical, in the sense that it has the most influence on the total time spent on the project, and should b prioritized?
- The best way to schedule all the tasks in a project is to meet the minimum target time for completion.
- CPM has been around since the 1940s but only became popular since it was developed and used by Morgan R. Walker of the DuPont
- Company and James E. Kelly of Remington Road to handle interrelationships in activities carried out separately on scheduled projects.
The United States Navy also used this technique in the Manhattan Project, a secret American defense program during World War II.
The Critical Path Method eventually continues to be recognized and widely used in project planning and management in various industries, such as the defense, aerospace, construction, and product development.
In its development, the implementation of CPM is no longer the same as in previous versions, but the approach used in this method is still the same.
3. Bagan PERT
A PERT chart, also known as a PERT chart, is a tool used to schedule, organize, and map tasks in a project.
PERT stands for program evaluation and review technique. PERT provides a visual representation of the project timeline and breaks down individual tasks. This chart is similar to a Gantt chart but has a different structure.
This chart consists of several steps to guide you from the start date to the project’s end date. This article will cover the five steps, provide examples, and explain how to use PERT charts effectively for your needs.
How to say the PERT chart works?
PERT charts work visually by representing related project tasks and dependencies. You can use it to create initial schedules and estimated timelines to share with stakeholders before the project starts.
- Creating a project roadmap such as a PERT chart can help you accomplish several project planning activities, including:
- Get schedule and timeline approval from leaders.
- Communicating project objectives to stakeholders
- Map complex projects visually.
- Estimate the time needed to complete individual tasks
To get the most out of PERT charts, you must first understand the steps needed to complete them and how to chart the diagrams visually.
4. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
From 1987 to 1999, the Program Management Institute (PMI) began to develop a standardized structure for non-military domains.
This modernization process then gave rise to the name “Work Breakdown Structure” in 1993, a work breakdown structure for companies and other civil projects.
WBS is a strategy with multiple levels and hierarchies. Therefore, the WBS has a trim level of work that can facilitate the efficient implementation of projects in each order.
WBS can simplify the management of resources (resources) so that they are allocated effectively so that projects can run well.
Methodologically, WBS is a method of organizing projects structurally through hierarchical reporting. WBS works as a structure to break down the project work process step by step in every detail.
The existence of WBS as a project work method can also facilitate the process of solving problems in each detailed part.
The benefits of the WBS that can be summarized include the following:
- Facilitate project delivery because there is a grouping of detailed elements for a project with goal and time orientation
- The WBS is created by those working on the project, so the implementation process is more relevant.
- The WBS allows for job clarification and communication processes between project scopes to all stakeholders in the project.
- The WBS allows for evaluating every step-by-step detail in the project work process, thereby minimizing defects or errors.
- The WBS is made in a chart or illustration with specific graphic details to make it easier for project actors to understand
- The WBS method allows project managers to get more effective and efficient time and cost allocations.