Project planning is a procedural step in project management, where required documentation is created to ensure successful project completion. Documentation includes all actions required to define, prepare, integrate and coordinate additional plans. The project plan clearly defines how the project is executed, monitored, controlled and closed.
Project planning requires an in-depth analysis and structuring of the following activities:
Setting project goals
Identifying project deliverables
Creating project schedules
Creating supporting plans
The project planning stage requires several inputs, including conceptual proposals, project schedules, resource requirements/limitations and success metrics. Project planning begins by setting the scope of a project and eventually working through each level of dependent actions, tasks, checkpoints and deadlines.
All of this information is integrated into Gantt charts, or other types of scheduling charts, to provide a project overview for all involved parties.
The culmination of the project planning stage identifies:
Road blocks in the project
Work required for project completion
People involved in the project and their key responsibilities
Minimum project completion time
Major project deliverables
Required project milestones
Project planning is never truly finished until a project is completed. The project plan may return to the planning stage multiple times prior to project completion, or even abandoned. Generally, project complexity determines the length of the project planning stage.