Artifact: Project Plan

This artifact gathers all of the information required to manage the project on a strategic level. Its main part consists of a coarse-grained plan, identifying project iterations and their goals.

Domains: Project Management

Purpose

The purpose of this artifact is to provide a central document where any project team member can find the information on how the project will be conducted.

Relationships

Fulfilled Slots

[Project Definition and Scope]

Roles

Responsible:

Project Manager

Modified By:

Project Manager

Tasks

Input To:

Manage Iteration

Assess Results

Output From:

Plan Project

Description

Main Description

This artifact describes how the project is organized, and identifies what practices will be followed. Additionally, it defines the parameters for tracking project progress, and specifies the high-level objectives of the iterations and their milestones.

The project plan allows stakeholders and other team members to understand the big picture and, roughly, when to expect a certain level of functionality be available. Update the plan as often as necessary, usually at the end of each iteration, in order to reflect changing priorities and needs, as well as record the lessons learned from the project.

Illustrations

Templates	Project Plan
Reports	Project Burndown
Examples	Project Burndown Report Project Plan

Key Considerations

Create and update the project plan in planning sessions that involve the whole team and appropriate project stakeholders in order to make sure that everybody agrees with it.

Tailoring

Impact of not having	Without this artifact, there can be a lack of clear boundaries of the project scope that can lead to: Risks of gaps or overlap between the roles acting on the project Poorly defined or inadequate plan for the project Subsequent difficulties in controlling the project
Reasons for not needing	This artifact is typically required in some form on all but the smallest projects. However, projects taking a purely evolutionary or maintenance approach to development may choose to omit this artifact.

More Information

Checklists	Project Plan

This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
Eclipse Public License V1.0, which accompanies this distribution.