Planning and Scheduling
Product-based planning is a key feature of PRINCE2, providing a focus on the
products to be delivered and their quality. It forms an integral part of the
Planning (PL) process and leads into the use of other generic techniques such
as network planning and Gantt charts.[40]
It provides a product-based framework that can be applied to any project, at
any level, to give a logical sequence to the project's work. A "product"
may be a tangible one, such as a machine, a document or a piece of software,
or it may be intangible, such as a culture change or a different organizational
structure.[41]
PRINCE2 describes three steps to the PL technique: (1) Producing a Product
Breakdown Structure (PBS); (2) Writing Product Descriptions; and (3) Producing
a Product Flow Diagram. Each step is described in detail and excellent examples
are provided as illustration. In step 2, writing a clear, complete and unambiguous
description of products is a tremendous aid to their successful creation. The
corollary is, of course, that if it is not possible to write the description,
then more work, or another iteration, is necessary to ferret out the necessary
information. In step 3, the products are re-ordered into their logical sequence
to form a product flow diagram.
The original PBS can become very detailed because the links between the products
in the product flow diagram represent the activities required to create them,
and every product must be included to capture every activity. The converse is
that no activity is necessary unless it contributes to the final outcome. A correctly
formed product flow diagram, therefore, not only identifies the activities involved
but also leads to a network dependency-based schedule or Gantt chart.[42] PRINCE2 provides a good explanation
of the technique and specifies the associated documentation to go with it.
In the Guide, planning generally is seen as part of key general management
skills,[43] is one of the five process groups
applied to each phase[44]
and is therefore recognized as an ongoing effort throughout the life of the project.
Planning is discussed in the chapter Project Integration Management, and the
essence of which is to create a consistent, coherent document that can be used
to guide both project execution[45]æand a baseline against which
changes will be controlled.[46]
However, planning also appears in each knowledge area and must be integrated
across all of them.[47] Because of
this fragmentation, an attempt is made for ease of reference to map the Guide's
various content to the planning process.[48]
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