The Planning phase follows the Project Initiation Phase and is the most important phase in project management as it is critical to a project’s success. A well thought-out project plan will provide the team with a clear framework, their roles & responsibilities and how they will contribute to the success of the project.
The objective of this phase is to refine and document the project requirements and scope into tasks and work items. In this phase a project plan is created for coordinating and controlling the activities that will meet the requirements and deliverables. The project manger leads activities to establish cost, schedule, and a list of deliverables and estimated delivery dates.
The Planning Phase answers the questions of:
- What, exactly, is the work to be done?
- How will the work be accomplished?
- Who will perform the work?
- When will the work be done?