5

Scope Planning

Be angry when you will, it shall have scope.

William Shakespeare

Major topics in this chapter are schedule development tools:

  • Project Charter
  • Project SWOT Analysis
  • Scope Statement
  • Work Breakdown Structure

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Figure 5.1 The role of scope planning tools in the project management process.

These tools aim at determining what work you need to do in a project in order to complete it successfully (see Figure 5.1). In particular, they form the baseline for further schedule and cost planning. Coordinated with tools of organizational, quality, and risk planning, they eventually lead to the project plan development. Later in the implementation, the scope baseline will be a vital foundation for the disciplined scope control and changes, a great barrier to scope creep.

This chapter prepares practicing and prospective project managers to achieve the following:

  • Become familiar with various scope planning tools
  • Select scope planning tools that match their project needs
  • Customize the tools of their choice

These are prerequisite skills in successful project planning and building a standardized PM process.

Project Charter

What Is the Project Charter?

A Project Charter is a tool that formally authorizes a project (see Figure 5.2) [5]. Typically issued by a manager external to the project, it equips the project manager with the authority to deploy organizational resources in the ...

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