Project managers in charge of a single small project can plan and schedule the project tasks without much formal planning and information. However, when the project manager must manage several small projects or a large complex project, a threshold is quickly reached in which the project manager can no longer cope with the details. This lesson describes a disciplined, structured method for selectively collecting information to use through all phases of the project life cycle, to meet the needs of all stakeholders (e.g., customer, project manager), and to measure performance against the strategic plan of the organization. The key learning outcomes are:
1. Identify key elements of a project scope statement and understand
why a complete scope statement is critical to project success.
2. Describe the causes of scope creep and ways to manage it.
3. Understand why it is important to establish project priorities in terms
of cost, time, and performance.
4. Demonstrate the importance of a work breakdown structure (WBS)
to the management of projects and how it serves as a database for
planning and control.
5. Demonstrate how the organization breakdown structure (OBS)
establishes accountability to organization units.
6. Describe a process breakdown structure (PBS) and when to use it.
7. Create responsibility matrices for small projects.
8. Create a communication plan for a project.