We’re continuing a series of posts concerning the project management best practice processes described in the Project Management Institute’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). So far we’ve covered Develop Project Charter, Identify Stakeholders, Plan Stakeholder Engagement, and Manage Stakeholder Engagement. This post addresses Develop Project Management Plan.
What’s the purpose of Develop Project Management Plan?
Each of the PMBOK Guide knowledge areas, except for Integration, has an associated management plan that describes how that area of project is to be managed. There are also three baselines described in the PMBOK Guide – cost, schedule, and scope. This process combines the management plans and the baselines, plus a few other elements, to create a balanced, viable, and supported, Project Management Plan.
Why is Develop Project Management Plan important?
The Project Management Plan contains all the key information for managing the project. Once approved, it is used as the benchmark against which project performance is measured.
In earlier versions of the PMBOK Guide the Project Management Plan was somewhat ill-defined. But in this version, the Project Management Plan is very clearly specified. I think of the Project Management Plan as a large 3-ring binder, with nineteen tabs, each tab corresponding to one of the nineteen elements listed in this process.
Who performs Develop Project Management Plan?
The project manager assembles, combines, and balances the various components to create the Project Management Plan. He/she may, or may not, actually create all the components. The project manager negotiates as necessary with key stakeholders to make sure their expectations are met, and the plan is viable. The Project Sponsor, along with key stakeholders, actually approves the Plan.
Interested to know more about this process?
Check out one of our project management best practices courses.