5. Define the Project Work Plan

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The tasks you have to complete to fulfill the requirements and deliverables of the project constitute the project work plan. 

eep in mind, that in this and all project planning activities, you should not be working alone. You should involve stake holders and team members as early and as often as possible.

Use the requirements list to define the project work plan.  The work plan definition is made up of one or more work packages, each of which is in support of a project requirement or deliverable. Each package identifies tasks that make up the actions needed to fulfill those requirements. The collection of work packages is also known as a work breakdown structure (WBS). A formal WBS is a separate document used to focus planning efforts on deliverables and requirements  and the work packages needed to achieve them. A work package is simply a breakdown of work into categories and task groupings that can be more easily assigned and managed, and that can be more easily estimated in terms of time, effort, and cost.

Caution: Task groupings are not the same thing as tasks.  A task grouping could be "doors and windows installed".  The tasks associated with the grouping will be defined in the next step.

Use the project work plan to build the task list. From the work plan you'll produce a task list. The task list should refer back to the Work Package by number and should include the categories under which the tasks are listed. It will be an expansion of the task groupings that were part of the work packages. For example, the task grouping "doors and windows installed" could break down into the following tasks:

• Install garage door 
• Install front and rear entrance doors 
• Install large decorative glass over door 
• Install standard windows 
• Install interior doors 
• Install skylights 

The task list should be made up of tasks and activities that can be completed by one person.

Assign a preliminary duration to the tasks. If you have access to information about similar projects that have been done before you can use actual durations from previous tasks. If you have knowledgeable help in planning the project you can get practical estimates for how long the tasks will take.

Indicate important task relationships and sequencing issues. After you have the list of tasks, you can identify relationships and dependencies between them. Look for tasks that can't occur at the same time or that can't start until another task is started or completed. This information will be an input to the project schedule.

There are two common tools used to layout the task schedule. Task relationships and dependencies are often portrayed with a network diagram. Some tasks may not be able to begin until one or more other tasks are started or finished. This chart will help later when determining task sequences.

Task Dependency Chart

In the chart tasks 2 and 3 both depend on task 1, so task 1 is predecessor of 2 and 3.  Task 9 is a predecessor of tasks 10, 11 and 12. A task is said to be on the critical path if delaying or lengthening it will cause the end date of the project to slip.

A numbered task table can be used to show relationships by including a column with the numbers of predecessors.  The table below comes from Microsoft Project, but you can just as easily use a spreadsheet program like Excel or 1-2-3.

Task List with Dependencies

Use project management software with caution.  If you start using a project management tool too early you could wind up spending a lot of time working in the software just trying to finish your planning. Programs like Microsoft Project are comprehensive and are capable of doing a lot more than what you need for managing small projects. With all that power they become more difficult to use and oddly, the more training wheel features that are added, the more difficult and unpredictable they become. 

Most new project managers are better off if they first build the project work plan on paper or in a spreadsheet and then transcribe it to the Project Management software. The software can then be used to track and report progress and variances.

Next in the series: Develop the Project Risk Plan

- Jake Alexander