The purpose of a Master Project Plan (MPP) is to provide assurance that the product in development is engineered to industry standard regulations and to act as a guide for the development team, ultimately resulting in a successful and satisfactory implementation.

To begin, consider the key elements needed to complete a project plan. Most MPPs include: Risk Analysis, Configuration Management, Quality Assurance, Problem Reporting and Resolution, Software Requirements, Software Designs, and Acceptance Test Plans. Once the key elements are identified, determine what goals must be met as it relates to development. Goals may include:

• Development within a requested time schedule
• Operational within extreme conditions
• Level of Quality within the product
• Standards/Requirements product should include

Identify what type of operating environment the product’s system is to be developed in, for example:  embedded, PC, or other. Define the scope of the project by outlining development efforts and determine which external components the system must interface with. To keep this project on target, parallel development may be employed. Parallel development establishes the mechanisms for ensuring the entire project is complete in the time frame requested.

A review of the project plan and associated information is expected to be completed, adjusted, and approved by all stakeholders following the initial kickoff meeting. An approval plan should clarify expectations set forth by all parties and is required to start the design phase. Design of product is subject to approval by the end client. Preliminary versions are established during the approval process as the product’s design may include Architectural Design, Detailed Software Design(s), Traceability Matrix, and Test Plans. At this time, specific development languages and source code development projects must be established.

Development teams will be established and should plan to meet at least once a month, ensuring development remains on schedule and is continuing as defined. Informal meetings will be held as necessary to address immediate issues and/or concerns. For increased visibility, status reports will be generated weekly to show progress and effort, as well as budget utilized and budget remaining.

Project Management

During this stage of the planning process, a project management plan should be created to define duties and responsibilities for each project stakeholder. Within the project management plan, a project schedule will be developed, likely utilizing a tool like Microsoft Project. The project schedule should be updated each week to reflect the status, accomplishments, and milestones within the project and delivered to each stakeholder. Within the status report, include a development schedule for the following week, comments and test results, open issues and concerns, and finally, any information relating to release of software.

Change requests may occur and should be funneled through the project manager. This individual will be responsible for obtaining additional information, coordinating meetings, and organizing appropriate responsibilities to fulfill all requests. If the change request effects project scope and effort related to the respective issue, he or she must notify all stakeholders. Should an issue arise, the project manager must involve personnel responsible for quality assurance. The project manager, in conjunction with the QA manager, is responsible for obtaining additional information, determining root cause, coordinating meetings, and organizing corrective actions and activities to resolve any issues.

Project Wrap-up

At the start of the project, it is important to look ahead and determine the logistics of project completion. Who will be responsible for testing? Whether that be stress or functional acceptance testing, determine which party is responsible. What type of support will be needed in the future? Determine what type of support will be needed and a lot a specific duration so that there are no questions regarding support responsibilities. Within the project management plan, name the specific deliverables expected to complete the project. Examples of final deliverables are:

• Project Management Documents
  • Email Correspondence, Meeting Agendas, Meeting Minutes
  • Status Reports & Project Tracking Reports
  • Project Management Plans and Project Plan (MPP)
• Source Documents
  • Architectural Designs
  • Software Requirements
  • Detailed Design Specifications
  • Test Plans
  • User Manual
• Source Code
  • Source Text Files
  • Source Executables
  • Project Build Files
  • Source File History Reports
• Review Documentation
  • Documentation Reviews with approvals
  • Source Code Reviews with approvals
  • Test results with approvals

Summary

The MPP will guide the project through completion, reducing project uncertainty. Ultimately, each project stakeholder should know their respective roles as it relates to engineering, reporting, approvals, and deliverables once the MPP is complete.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Next week we will deliver part 3 of this series, focusing on the 2^nd critical step of project planning, the risk management plan & mitigation report.