Activity: Plan the Project
This activity develops plans for the project.
Work Breakdown Structure
Description

After developing the components and enclosures of the Project Plan, the entire plan is formally reviewed, for feasibility and acceptability to stakeholders.  It becomes the basis for the fine-grained plan for the next iteration (the Iteration Plan ).

The major effort in creating these artifacts comes early in the inception phase. If a more comprehensive software development plan needs to be created, the Project Manager also collates all other contributions to the plan and assembles them together.

Usage
Usage Guidance

The major effort occurs early in the inception phase; thereafter, at the beginning of each iteration (see Activity: Refine the Development Plan).

Estimation should ideally be based in the organization's own experience, which is then used to calibrate an estimation model, such as COCOMO. If the Project Manager is starting from scratch, using default values for model coefficients, it will be important to use other methods to validate the estimates. Just as important is to obtain staff and other stakeholder agreement that the estimates are realistic and achievable. However, the Project Manager has to take into account the experience of staff giving feedback about estimates. More junior staff may be just guessing numbers and then adding large margins for error; conversely, their effort estimates may be naively low. The Project Manager must be circumspect when dealing with estimates from junior staff, and be prepared to counsel them when necessary, and offer the assistance of a more experienced peer. See Task: Plan Project for more information about estimation.

All enclosed plans and sections of the Project Plan should be evaluated through internal walkthroughs and reviews before it is approved.

Work Breakdown