technical plan and resource plan

The Project Plan.
The project plans represent a high level summary of the project and are used to gain formal approval and funding for the project. They should identify the major products that need to be created. Project plans should be created by the project manager at project initiation. This plan is not used for day to day monitoring of the project, but to provide guidance on whether overall targets can be attained, cost estimations for the business case, a start point for the division of the project into sub-projects and a benchmark against which senior management can monitor progress. It consists of various components, including; the project technical plan, the project resource plan, supporting documents - for example PERT charts and project organization information.

The Project Technical Plan.
The project technical plan shows a detailed breakdown of the relationships between the major activities required by the project. Subsequent sub-project technical plans are based on it and any later amendments should be highlighted. Prepared at the same time as the project resource plan; these two plans together show a high level view of the projects products, activities and resources. Once approved by the project owner the project technical plan becomes the top level production schedule for the major products required throughout the project.

The Project Resource Plan.
The project resource plan should show the breakdown of the major resource types the project will utilize. Subsequent sub-project resource plans are based on it and any later amendments should be highlighted. It summarizes both the amount and cost of each resource type, and serves as the main management plan for exercising financial control of the project. Once approved by the project owner the project resource plan becomes the top level business plan for the project.

Review of Plans.
Certain tasks should be carried out in order to check that the plans are compatible with the constraints imposed on the project. This work should include:
Firstly - a review of the plans to identify areas where time constraints may place unrealistic demands on resources. Secondly - adjustment of the schedule of activities to bring resource and timescale requirements within the constraints imposed on the project. It may also be worth comparing the resource plan with the intended format and contents that were originally expected, in order to explain or resolve any major discrepancies. Finally, ensure that any changes that are made to the schedule or to resource levels do not create inconsistency between the resource and technical plans. The plans should be discussed and approved by an appropriate level of user management. It may be necessary to repeat all or part of the planning process until a set of plans acceptable to all parties is established.

The Sub-project Plan.
The sub-project plans show the planned activities and production schedules pertaining to specific sub-divisions of the project. The plans for all sub-projects that fall within the first stage of the project should be prepared during project initiation. This will avoid any delay in the planned start of project work. Subsequent sub-project plans should be produced under the direction of the appropriate sub-project manager and all sub-project plans will require approval by the project manager. The sub-project plan should cover all of the products, activities and resources to be included within the sub-project. This plan is used for day-to-day monitoring of the project and provides: A greater level of detail than the project plan by identifying all of the products and activities that the sub-project will produce or work on. In addition to identifying the required activities it also provides a schedule for them. The sub-project plan should also detail the relevant sub-project constraints and tolerances.

The Sub-project Technical Plan.
The sub-project technical plan should show a detailed breakdown of the relationships between the major activities required by the sub-project, showing the target dates at this more detailed activity level. It should also reflect the sub-project tolerances and the planned occurrence of any control points and quality reviews. The dependencies between activities can be expanded upon in separate documents, such as PERT Charts. The sub-project technical plan should also be kept in line with the project technical plan, the plan that is used by senior management for the purpose of monitoring and control. The project technical plan is, in effect, the sum of all of the sub-project technical plans.

The Sub-project Resource Plan.
The sub-project resource plan should show a detailed breakdown of the financial and resource information specific to the sub-project. It shows the amount and cost of each resource, or resource type, against time. On large projects this is typically for monthly or four-weekly periods. Derived from the sub-project technical plan, this plan should mirror any updates resulting from any sub-project planning changes. The sub-project resource plan should also be kept in line with the project resource plan, the plan that is used by senior management for the purpose of monitoring and control. The project resource plan is, in effect, the sum of all the sub-project resource plans.

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