Planning Course

Lesson 1 • Defining Planning and Its Purpose

Clarifies what planning is, why organisations need it, and how it differs from improvisation. Anchors all subsequent techniques in a shared conceptual baseline.

Lesson 2 • Core Planning Principles

Introduces universally accepted principles such as clarity, feasibility, and alignment. Students apply these principles to evaluate any plan's soundness.

Lesson 3 • The Planning Cycle Overview

Introduces the iterative plan-do-review cycle as the structural backbone of the course. Sets expectations for how each subsequent chapter fits the cycle.

Lesson 4 • Types of Plans and Their Scope

Distinguishes strategic, tactical, and operational plans by time horizon and detail level. Enables correct plan selection for a given organisational need.

Lesson 1 • External Environment Analysis

Scans political, economic, social, technological, and competitive factors. Identifies opportunities and threats that must be addressed in the plan.

Lesson 2 • Translating Analysis into Planning Inputs

Converts situational findings into actionable planning parameters such as scope boundaries and resource ceilings. Bridges analysis and the planning work that follows.

Lesson 3 • Internal Capability Assessment

Evaluates strengths and weaknesses across people, processes, and resources. Grounds planning in an honest appraisal of what the organisation can actually deliver.

Lesson 4 • Assumptions and Constraints Documentation

Formalises the assumptions underlying the plan and the constraints limiting options. Creates a reference document that supports later risk and change management.

Lesson 1 • Writing Measurable Objectives

Teaches criteria-based objective writing using performance, condition, and standard components. Students draft objectives that are testable and unambiguous.

Lesson 2 • Aligning Goals Across Stakeholders

Addresses conflicting stakeholder interests and negotiation of shared objectives. Produces a consensus goal set that sustains commitment throughout execution.

Lesson 3 • Vision, Mission, and Goals Hierarchy

Maps the relationship from broad vision down to specific goals. Ensures students can trace any objective back to organisational purpose.

Lesson 1 • Defining and Documenting Scope

Establishes boundaries of deliverables, activities, and responsibilities. A clear scope statement prevents costly misunderstandings during execution.

Lesson 2 • Managing Scope Creep

Identifies causes of uncontrolled scope expansion and establishes change control habits. Protects plan integrity without blocking legitimate scope evolution.

Lesson 3 • Decomposing Work to Actionable Tasks

Breaks work packages into discrete tasks with clear owners and outputs. Produces the task list that feeds directly into scheduling and resource planning.

Lesson 1 • Duration Estimation Techniques

Applies analogous, parametric, and three-point estimation to forecast task durations. Produces estimates with explicit confidence levels rather than single-point guesses.

Lesson 2 • Milestone Planning and Baseline Setting

Defines key checkpoints that signal progress and trigger reviews. Establishes the approved baseline schedule against which actual performance is measured.

Lesson 3 • Task Sequencing and Dependencies

Identifies logical relationships between tasks and maps them into a network diagram. Correct sequencing prevents rework caused by tasks starting out of order.

Lesson 4 • Schedule Compression and Optimization

Applies crashing and fast-tracking to shorten schedules when deadlines tighten. Balances time savings against cost and quality trade-offs.

Lesson 1 • Resource Allocation and Levelling

Assigns resources to tasks and resolves over-allocation conflicts. Produces a balanced resource plan that avoids burnout and bottlenecks.

Lesson 2 • Resource Identification and Categorization

Catalogues human, material, equipment, and financial resources needed per task. A complete resource register prevents mid-execution shortfalls.

Lesson 3 • Budget Development and Baseline

Aggregates cost estimates into a time-phased budget and establishes the cost baseline. Provides the financial benchmark for earned value tracking during execution.

Lesson 4 • Cost Estimation Methods

Applies bottom-up, analogous, and parametric costing to produce reliable estimates. Connects cost estimates directly to the WBS for full traceability.

Lesson 1 • Qualitative Risk Analysis

Scores risks by probability and impact to prioritise the register for deeper analysis. Focuses limited planning resources on the risks that matter most.

Lesson 2 • Quantitative Risk Analysis

Applies numerical techniques to estimate the combined effect of risks on schedule and cost. Produces probability-weighted forecasts that inform contingency sizing.

Lesson 3 • Risk Identification Techniques

Uses brainstorming, checklists, and assumption analysis to surface potential threats and opportunities. A comprehensive risk list is the foundation of all subsequent risk work.

Lesson 4 • Contingency Planning and Fallback Options

Develops pre-approved fallback plans for high-impact risks that exceed tolerance. Ensures the team can respond quickly without waiting for new approvals.

Lesson 1 • Launching Plan Execution

Covers kickoff communication, role confirmation, and initial task activation. A structured launch reduces early confusion and establishes execution norms.

Lesson 2 • Adaptive Planning and Re-baselining

Addresses when and how to formally revise the plan in response to significant change. Balances plan stability with the flexibility needed in dynamic environments.

Lesson 3 • Corrective and Preventive Actions

Distinguishes corrective actions that fix current deviations from preventive actions that stop future ones. Builds a disciplined response habit grounded in root-cause analysis.

Lesson 4 • Earned Value Management Basics

Applies planned value, earned value, and actual cost to measure schedule and cost performance. Produces objective variance data that replaces subjective progress estimates.