Succinctly, the project management process means planning the work and then working the plan. A coaching staff may spend hours preparing unique plans for a game; the team then executes the plans to try to meet the objective-victory. Similarly, project management involves a process of first establishing a plan and then implementing that to accomplish the project objective.
The front-end effort in managing a project must be focused on establishing a baseline plan that provides a roadmap for how the project scope will be accomplished on time and within budget. This planning effort includes the following steps:
1. Clearly define the project objective. The definition must be agreed upon by the customer and the individual or organization who will perform the project
2. Divide and subdivide the project scope into major “pieces” or work packages. Although major project may seem overwhelming when viewed as a whole, one way to conquer ever the most monumental endeavor is to break it down. A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical tree of work elements or items accomplished or produced by the project team during the project. The work breakdown structure usually identifies the organization or individual responsible for each work breakdown structure. (Work breakdown structures will be discussed further in Chapter 5.)
3. Define the specific activities that need to be performed for each work package in order to accomplish the project object objective.
4. Graphically portray the activities in the form of a network diagram. This diagram shows the necessary sequence and inter dependencies of activities to achieve the project objective. Figure 1.4 is an example of a network diagram. (Network diagrams will be discussed further in Chapter 5.)