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Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?
A new methodology for preparing Alternate Plans
Paramita Mukerji
28 September 2013

2. 2Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?
Agenda
Current Scenario in IT projects
Why plans change?
Constraints in Alt Planning
Alt-PM : The Alternate Planning Methodology
Prepare Guidelines
Define Benchmarks
Calculate Total weight
Derive the number of alternate plans
Critical factors for success
Benefits

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Current Scenario in IT Projects
• Plans are prepared by PMs during project planning
• All relevant information is taken in consideration
• Senior management approval, followed by customer assent
BUT THESE PLANS FREQUENTLY CHANGE
WHY?
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Why plans change?
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Factors leading to change in plans
• Factors Internal to the team
– lack of skilled resources
– lack of experience
– lack of technical competence
– processes which are either not defined or not followed
• Factors external to the team (in decreasing order of impact)
– change in scope
– change in timelines
– change in final product quality/specifications
– change in budget
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Root causes which lead to the failure of the
plans
Above data based on inputs from people working in various types of IT projects majorly in
the role of Project Managers and some in various types of other roles like Project Lead,
Analyst, Architect, Tester, Quality Assurance, Developer, vendor side SPOC across
organizations.
43%
22%
11%
9%
4%
4%
7%
Customer driven
Technology related
Unavailability of resources
In capability of the delivery
team
Competition driven
Statutory regulations
Others
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Is there a need for Alternate Plan ?
Existing Scenario in IT projects reflect that:
• 90% Project Managers feel the need for Alternate Plans
• 60% of the Projects do not prepare Alternate Plans
• 40% projects have Alternate Plans
– BUT they are created post failure of earlier plan
• 70% PMs believe Alternate Plans should be made proactively
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Constraints in Alt Planning
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Constraints in proactive planning
• Inability to forecast
• Unavailability of time (budget)
• Unavailability of data
• Not part of defined process
• Reactive versus Proactive
– Hindsight is 20:20
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Constraints in implementation
• Tendency to revert to earlier plan
• Revised plan not detailed enough
• Unavailability of resources (Human, Hard or Software).
• Lack of faith
• Frequent changes in the revised plan
• Delay in mid-project approval
– Customer approval
– Senior management approvals
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Recap
• Projects will undergo changes
• These changes have to be handled
• In order to handle changes we should:
– Identify the need for Alternate Plans
– Prepare Alternate Plans proactively
– Implement Alternate Plans appropriately
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Alt-PM
Alternate Planning Methodology
A reference tool to help projects identify the optimum number of alternate
plans required under varying project conditions
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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About Alt-PM Methodology
Alt-PM is a methodology aimed towards helping the managers
identify the alternate plans proactively based on information
available. It factors in the challenges with respect to
implementation of these plans.
It is a simple methodology in which :
– Guidelines are prepared by experienced project managers
– Projects use these guidelines to prepare Alternate Plans
– Guidelines evolve dynamically with usage
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Using Alt-PM
The usage of this methodology is a two step process:
Step 1: Preparation of the Guidelines & Benchmarks
Step 2: Calculating the number of Alternate Plans for a new project
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Step 1a. Prepare guidelines
1. Choose the group of project with similar characteristics
2. Creating the Factor table
– List the constraints which are generally faced by such projects.
We call them Factors
• Assign weight to each factor in a scale of 0-5 (5 means
highest impact on plans) – Factor Table
3. Creating the Phase table
– Sequence in which these projects get executed. We call them
Phases
• Arrange phases in chronological order
• Assign weight to each phase ( higher weight means
change in this phase has higher impact on plans) – Phase
Table
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Factor & Phase Tables for a typical IT
Development Project ( An Example )
Factors Weight (A)
Team not experienced in the
domain
3
Team not skilled for gathering
requirements
2
Team resists any change 4
Team does not follow processes 1
Customer not clear on the
requirements
4
Delay due to vendor 3
Human Resources not available 3
Phases Weight (B)
Initiation 0.25
Planning 0.25
Requirements 1
Design 2
CUT 2
Testing 3
Factor Table (1)
Phase Table (2)
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Step 1b. Define benchmarks
Benchmarks are decided on the basis of data gathered from past projects
with similar characteristics
• Identify completed project
• Identify the constraints that were faced by this project
– Note the corresponding weights for the Factors (refer Factor Table) - A
• Identify the phases in which they were identified
– Note the corresponding weight for the Phases (refer Phase Table) - B
• Final Weight for each phase = ( A * B )
• Count the number of Alternate Plans prepared during these phases of the
project to handle the constraints
• Repeat this process with various projects which are complete and take the
average value
• Benchmark this count against the weight ranges – Benchmark Table
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Benchmark Table for a typical IT
Development Project ( An Example)
Weight
Range
Recommended number of Alternate Plans
Initiation Planning Req. Design CUT Testing
0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0
2-10 1 1 2 2 3 3
11-20 2 2 3 3 4 4
>20 3 3 4 4 5 5
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?
Benchmark Table (3)

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Step 2a. Calculate total weight in case of a
new project
• Identify the Factors in the new project
– Note the corresponding weights (refer Factor Table) -- A
• Identify the Phase in which they have maximum probability of
identification
– Note the corresponding weight (refer Phase Table) -- B
• Total Weight = ( A * B)
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Calculation of Total Weight for a new IT
Development Project ( An Example )
Factors effecting the current
project
Weight
based on
Factor
Table (A)
Phase
when this
factor
may be
identified
Weight
based on
Phase
Table (B)
Total
Weight
(A * B)
Team not experienced in the
domain
3 Initiation 0.25 0.75
Team not clear on the
requirements
2 Design 2 4
Team does not follow processes 1 Req. 1 1
Multiple stakeholders 4 Planning 0.25 1
Delay in query resolution by
customer
4 Planning 0.25 1
Competitors launching similar
product
5 Design
2 10
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?
Total Weight Table (4)

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Step 2b. Derive the number of alternate
plans required for a phase
• Calculate the sum of the total weights for each of the phases
separately
• Look up in the Benchmark Table
• Find the number of alternate plans corresponding to the total
weight for that phase
• Prepare Alternate Plans accordingly for each phase
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Number of Alternate Plans for a new IT
Development Project ( Example contd.)
Phase(s) Total weight
Calculated from
Table 4
Alternate Plans to
be prepared based
on Benchmark Table
Initiation 0.75 0
Planning 2 1
Requirements 1 0
Design 14 3
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?
Number of Alternate Plans Table (5)

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Critical factors for success
The success of this methodology depends on
• Experience of the person/team preparing the guidelines
• Reliability of the data received from past projects
• Clear understanding of the project
• Updating & improving the guidelines
• Proper use of the guidelines & benchmarks
• Different set of guidelines and benchmarks to be used for
different types of projects
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Benefits of using Alt-PM
• Planning for eventualities in advance
• Saving project effort & time leading to cost saving
• Enhancing knowledge sharing and reducing person dependency
• Showcasing proactive Project Management
• Achieving higher customer satisfaction scores
• High project flexibility
• Higher team motivation
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Alt-PM
A methodology to face the challenges in a more
structured & organized manner
HAPPY PROJECT MANAGEMENT 
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?

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Thank You
Plan A Plan B Plan C……how far ?