PMSA 2020

• Christopher Worsley

Adapting your project planning approach

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020

Project life-cycles

Predictive

Incremental

Initiate Plan Execute Close

Initiate

Decide on order

of development

Close

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Iterative

(Evolutionary)

Initiate

Close

Execute

Evaluate

Plan

Execute

Evaluate

Plan

Execute

Evaluate

PlanRework? Rework?

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020

Project life-cycles

Iterative

(Evolutionary)

Incremental

Initiate

Decide on order

of development

Close

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Deliver

Plan

ExecuteDecide on order

of development

CloseEvaluate

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Evaluate

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Evaluate

Execute

Deliver

PlanRework? Rework?

Initiate

Adaptive

Initiate

Close

Execute

Evaluate

Plan

Evaluate

Plan

Execute Execute

Evaluate

PlanRework? Rework?

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020Plan next iteration Develop & test

Identify & resolve risksDetermine objectives

Product life-cycles

Agile

Feature 1

Feature 2

Feature 3

Feature 4

Feature 5

Experiment

Allocate

Develop

Assess

New function

WaterfallAnalyse

Design

Build

Test

Implement

Decommission

New system

Test planVerification

& validation

Verification

& validation

Requirements

plan

Concept of

operationConcept of

requirements Requirements

Development

plan

Prototype 1 Prototype 2

Release

Detailed

design

Code

Integration

Implementation

Test

Spiral

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020

PlanExecute

C

l

o

s

e

Integrating life-cycles

Initiate

Initiate

Close

Decide on

order of

developme

nt

Evaluate

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Decide on

order of

developme

nt

Evaluate

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Decide on

order of

developme

nt

Evaluate

Execute

Deliver

Plan

Waterfall development in a predictive project life cycle

Agile development in an adaptive project life cycle

Analyse

Design

Build

Test

Implement

Decommission

New system

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 6

Formal agreement with

meeting all TCQ

constraints required

Client open to

exploration (One of

time or budget

constraints not set)

Client open to

exploration two out of

TCQ constraints not set

Requirements

known (perhaps

mandated)

Predictive PLC

Waterfall PDLC

Predictive or

incremental PLC

Waterfall PDLC

Requirements

definable (perhaps not yet

agreed)

Incremental or

iterative PLC

Waterfall or spiral

PDLC

Adaptive or iterative

PLC

Spiral or Agile PDLC

Adaptive or iterative

PLC

Agile PDLC

Requirements

difficult to

establish (perhaps

systematically

volatile) or

Product

enhancements

Adaptive PLC

Agile PDLC

Operational

management or

Adaptive PLC

Agile PDLC

Pro

du

ct d

eve

lop

ers

’ co

nce

rns

Project managers’ concerns (Success factors)

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 7

Part A Part B Part C Part DStrategic Tactical Logs Schedule

• Why do it

• Who wants it

• Why it’s valuable

• Products

• Processes

• Resources

• Stakeholders

• Assumptions

• Constraints

• Changes

• Risks

• Issues

• Dependencies

• Decisions

• Actions

• Sequence of

tasks

• Utilisation of

resources

Making plans ‘change competent’

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 8

C - PP RR SS the basic planning steps

Constraints

Products

Scope

Processes

Quality

Resources

Productivity

Risks

Contingency

Schedule

Assignment

Stakeholders

Success

Estimate size

Estimate effort

Establish risk exposure

Establish duration

Establish acceptance criteria

Confirm success criteria

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 9

Time

Planning… it depends

Cost

Products

Constraints

Processes

Stakeholders

Schedule

Risks

Resources

The success factors fundamentally affect the planning process

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 10

Planning… it depends

Resource

Resource

Constraints

Processes

Stakeholders

Schedule

Risks

Products

Stakeholder

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 11

Mission-critical

Planning… it depends

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 12

Mission-critical projects

Missing boys trapped in cave

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 13

Mission-critical projects

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 14

Mission-critical projects

Missing boys trapped in cave

Eliminate or reduce likelihood of

unmanageable risks

• World-class expertise

• Standard processes

• No untested innovations

The real professional knows the risks, their

degree, their causes, and the action

necessary to counter them, and shares this

knowledge ... (Gilb and Finzi 1988).

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 15

Innovation projects

Sidewinder missile

If the project had followed the standard,

indeed the mandated, process ...the

Sidewinder project would have been

cancelled McClean, Project Director SidewinderInnovation challenges

• Failure happens

• Change is good

• Keeping up interest

• Managing creativity

• Funding

PMSA 2020PMSA 2020 16

Summary

• Plan projects, not products

• Project plans must be ‘change competent’

• Plans reflect stakeholder perspectives

• Adaptive planning requires stakeholder

agreement

https://www.citi.co.uk/blogs/going-beyond-time-cost-quality-in-project-management/ https://managingsuccessfulprojects.wordpress.com/2019/05/02/from-right-size-to-agile-governance/ https://managingsuccessfulprojects.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/is-agile-a-planning-free-approach/ https://managingsuccessfulprojects.wordpress.com/2018/09/04/when-failure-is-not-an-option/ https://managingsuccessfulprojects.wordpress.com/2018/08/27/are-projects-the-right-vehicles-for-innovation/ https://www.citi.co.uk/blogs/agile-project-managers-deliver-projects-not-products/