Project Management Plan: An Overview

We all know that the first process in Integration Management is Developing a Project Charter which has been discussed in detail previously. The next process in Integration Management is Developing a Project Management Plan. Let’s understand what exactly is a Project Management Plan.

Before anything, its important to understand that the develop project management plan process is where the Project Manager shines in all her glory. Experts consider that a Project Management Plan is the most important artifact of a Project. But then isn’t it obvious?!

Basically, as part of developing a Project Management Plan all the information about the project is collated. This ensures that the project team and all stakeholders have a single point of reference about everything around the project.

An analogy to the project management plan is the planning that you do before constructing a house. The elevation, interior, wallpapers or painting, facilities planning like electricity and water are all done before the work gets started. In the similar fashion, the processes in the Planning process group work towards completing the planning of the project and not the actual work. From handling risks to changes, everything is planned well in advance so that during the course of project there are as less hiccups as possible.

It is important to note that the project management plan is a single document but it is so exhaustive that its sections are themselves known as subsidiary plans. Each knowledge area typically has a subsidiary plan and all these together form the project management plan.

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