In general, a project management plan (project management) contains an explanation of how the plans and decisions of a project will be carried out. In simple terms, the contents of project management are 4W (Why, What, Who, When) and 1H (How). A project management plan (PMP) is considered a living document, which means that if there are changes to the project plan while the project is running, the project management must also be updated or changed. So, why is PMP considered important for companies?
Project management should be viewed as a tool that helps companies to carry out their designated projects effectively and efficiently. But of course using this tool does not automatically guarantee project success. This project management can be a very important and powerful tool in the hands of a company that understands its use and has the competence to implement it.
Project Management Plan Making Process
Usually a project management plan is made by a project manager, then it will be signed by key stakeholders, and become the basis for a project plan. If there is a change, then formally the change will enter into change control and will be used as a comparison between the actual project and the baseline project. After the project manager has completed the project management plan document, a kick-off meeting will then be held to officially start the project. The purpose of conducting the kick-off meeting is to inform stakeholders that officially the project will run and provide an overview to each stakeholder regarding what activities will be carried out. Whether it’s a small or large project, creating a project management document is a must.
Fill in the Project Management Plan
Usually before a project starts, a manager or project auditor will ask for important documents such as a project charter and project management plan. The project auditor will ask for a thorough explanation of the content of project management, which aims to assess the readiness of all stakeholders in carrying out a project.
The project management plan has a baseline that will be made in the planning phase. There are 3 baselines, including the scope baseline (containing the project scope statement, WBS, and WBS dictionary), schedule baseline (containing project schedules that have a start date and end date for each activity), and the cost baseline (containing the project budget). The three baselines are usually referred to as the Performance Measurement Baseline. Because usually the project manager will always compare the running projects with the baseline. The performance will then become a report to stakeholders regarding the condition of the project, whether it is still in scope or out of scope. And whether under, within or over budget, and whether behind, on, or ahead of schedule.
Whenever there is a change related to the baseline during executing and monitoring & controlling, the change will be included in the change control system. If approved, the project manager can update the baseline in project management.
Basic Project Management Plan
There are two tools and techniques in creating or developing project management, namely expert judgment and facilitation techniques. The following are some of the basics of creating a management plan that needs attention:
1. Project charter, used as a starting point for initial planning in the initiating process group.
2. Output from other processes. All baseline and subsidiary plans that are output to other planning processes will be input to this process.
3. Enterprise environmental factors, are industry or government standards, project management information systems, organizational structure, culture, management practices, infrastructure, and personnel administration.
4. Organizational process assets, can be in the form of standardized guidelines, Work Instruction (WI), proposal evaluation criteria, performance measurement criteria, project management plan templates, change control procedures, project files from various projects, historical information and lesson learned knowledge base, and configuration management knowledge base.
In general, the Project Management Plan aims to ensure that the activities carried out can achieve certain goals targeted by the company. In working on a project, various things are needed starting from human resources, capital and others. In addition, project management is also concerned with variables such as scope, cost, time, quality and risk. Running a company is not easy, because it requires proper management and strategy.
