Even though good planning is more dynamic in an iterative process, doing it accurately is far easier. While
executing iteration N of any phase, the software project manager must be monitoring and controlling against a
plan that was initiated in iteration N-1 and must be planning iteration N+. The art of good project management
is to make trade-offs in the current iteration plan and the next iteration based on objective results in the current
iteration and previous iterations. This concept seems and is, overwhelming in early phases or in the project s
that are pioneering iterative development. But if the planning pump is printed successfully, the process becomes
surprisingly easy as the project progresses into the phases in which high-fidelity planning is necessary for
success.
Aside from bad architectures and misunderstood requirements, inadequate planning (and subsequent bad
management) is one of the most common reasons for project failures. Conversely, the success of every
successful project can be attributed in part to good planning. Planning, requirements and architecture are three
attributes that needs to be highlighted. The end products associated with these perspectives (a software
development plan, requirements specifications, and architecture description document) are not emphasized. On
most successful projects, they are not very important once they have been produced. They are rarely used by
most performers on a to-day basis, they are not very interesting to end users, and their paper representations are
just the tip of the iceberg with respect to working details underlie them.
While planning document is not very useful as an end item, the act of planning, is extremely important to project
success. It provides a framework and forcing functions for making decisions, ensures buy-in on the part of the
stakeholders and performers, and transforms subjective, generic process frameworks into objective process. A
project’s plan is a definition of how the project requirements will be transformed into a product within the
business constraints. It must be realistic , it must be current, it must be a team product, it must be understood by
the stakeholders, and it must be used.
Plans are not just for managers. The more open and visible the planning process and results, the more
ownership there is among team members who need to execute it. Bad, closely held plans cause attrition. Good,
open plans can shape cultures and encourage teamwork.