Project planning, an inevitable part of project management, involves a set of schedules such as Pert charts, Gantt charts, etc. Thus it plans and thereafter reports the progress of design within the project environment. According to the objective and defined scope of the project, appropriate methods for designing the project are determined. Then the different tasks needed to be completed, the required time is taken, all these processes would be listed and grouped into a work structure.
By preparing an activity-oriented network diagram, the logical dependencies and relationships among various tasks would be defined from which the critical path will be identified.
Now it’s time to estimate the needed resources and costs for each and every activity. It would reveal the total cost of the project. Aiming to the project objectives at this stage, planning can be optimized for the achievement of the appropriate balance between the duration of the project and the utilization of available resources. Once the plan is materialized, it would be the baseline. Earned Value management is the process of analyzing progress compared to the baseline. Project control is a term of project management that ensures the flow of project development/ work as per the well-defined plan. “The following are some important stages in project management, four of which are relevant to project planning and control:
- Stage 1
Understanding the project environment – internal and external factors which may influence the project. - Stage 2
Defining the project – setting the objectives, scope and strategy for the project. - Stage 3
Project planning – deciding how the project will be executed. - Stage 4
Technical execution – performing the technical aspects of the project. - Stage 5
Project control – ensuring that the project is carried out according to plan.