Every project has its own characteristics. Therefore it is impossible to plan every project the same way. Just like project management processes, the planning of a project should be tailored. The necessary approach for planning in terms of the amount, timing, and frequency may change according to planning variables.
Some examples of these variables are;
- Organizational process assets,
- Enterprise environmental factors,
- Requirements of organization,
- Type and characteristics of deliverables,
- Development approach used.
The development approach is the most important variable that affects the way we plan our projects. Because according to the development approach we use, we may decide to have a high-level plan at first place and progressively elaborate it, or we may have a detailed one. In many cases, we may decide to apply adaptive planning according to the type of the development approach.
Similarly, the type of delivery has a substantial impact on the planning style. For example, if we try to obtain a concrete delivery like a bridge at the end that has stable specifications and is not subject to forecasted changes we can use predictive development approaches and plan everything upfront. However, especially software projects usually have unpredictable specifications that may change constantly during the project, and accordingly, we often decide to apply adaptive planning that welcomes changes in an agile way.
Also, the requirements of the organization, the level of competition in the market, or legal requirements may change the approach for planning.
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