Estimation in the Planning Phase

00:04 Hi. I'm sure you remember last lesson, but just in case, let's recap the logical process of scope planning.

00:12 First we analyze the available information on the project scope.

00:17 Then we gather detailed requirements and expectations.

00:20 And finally, we document the scope.

00:24 Simple enough, but now we're going to have a low level look at this process.

00:29 So the first step, the project manager analyzes the high level information from the project goal and scope gained from the initiation stage.

00:38 These come from sources like the project charter, discussions with the sponsor, client and stakeholders and other project communications.

00:46 The next step is for the project manager to gather detailed requirements and expectations. This stage involves dealing with the stakeholders, the ones who started and approved the project.

00:57 Sponsors and senior managers, usually.

01:00 And of course, the ones who benefit from or are impacted by the project, such as external parties and departments within the organization.

01:08 They are a reliable source of information on scope.

01:11 If the project manager asks the right questions.

01:15 The meetings and workshops the project manager planned are utilised here.

01:19 Remember, getting this information can be difficult as these tasks are often non straightforward tasks.

01:26 This is where a project manager's personal skills and persistence are essential throughout this task.

01:33 A project manager may find discrepancies in the expectations of different stakeholders.

01:39 For example, a senior manager for laboratory wants the sales team to have a new computer software to aid their daily work, so expects this enhancement to be part of the scope. The goal of the project is to improve the sales, right? However, new software for the sales department is not part of the scope here. Time and budget to do that are not forecasted.

02:02 And from the triple constraint, you know what implications that will have.

02:06 The project manager needs to adjust the senior managers expectations to avoid wrongly expanding the scope.

02:13 The pressure is on.

02:16 The more experienced a project manager, the more detailed the scope will be.

02:21 Of course, things will be missed and mistakes made, but the fewer, the better.

02:26 And the more information a project manager gets out of the stakeholders, then the less likely big mistakes will occur.

02:34 Once the scope is as detailed as it can be, the final step is for the project manager to officially document it using a scope statement.

02:42 A sample is in the resources for this lesson, although usually the project management office uses a standard template.

02:51 Think of the scope statement as a formal contract between the project manager and other stakeholders.

02:56 It can be used as proof of what the project manager has and hasn't committed to do. So as explained, the purpose of the scope statement is to formalize the scope.

03:09 Its format, however, is not user friendly when it comes to the practical planning with timelines, actions and owners which will follow.

03:17 This is where the project manager needs to perform another exercise of structuring the scope. Create a work breakdown structure.

03:27 In the breakdown structure, the project manager starts with the goal and breaks down the project work into deliverables or packages.

03:35 This is called a workstream and it breaks down until the work package is an appropriate size to be given to one person.

03:43 Then, for an even more user friendly experience, they create a list with all these activities.

03:49 An activity list which details the person or people or department responsible for the task or activity and they are referred to as the owner.

04:00 Please note we've just seen three documents that have the same information but are represented differently.

04:07 Scope statement is formal.

04:10 The work breakdown structure is a handy segregation of the different types of work or workstreams and the activity list is the skeleton of the project plan, the document everyone can refer to.

04:23 But hold on. We haven't mentioned how long these tasks should take, which luckily is the basis for our next task, where we will detail the timelines and schedules of activities.

04:35 Join us next lesson.

04:36 And together we'll go through how to do this.

04:39 See you there.