Project Familiarisation in Project Planning and Control

16 Ways To Achieve Project Familiarisation In Project Planning and Control

The 16 areas of Project Familiarisation your team need to understand

In a recent Project Planning and Controls training course, we did a review session on Project Familiarisation and ended up with quite a few questions around the subject. So we thought it would be worth sharing the high level areas that Planners need to consider as part of their project, commonly known as project familiarisation.

Things to consider

It’s worth remembering that effective Project Management requires effective planning and control, and effective planning and control requires:

The clear definition of the project
A robust approach to planning
Selection and use of the appropriate techniques
Rigorous monitoring the enable proactive control of the project
Good record keeping, which also facilitates the feedback and learning cycle

When approaching the planning of a project, it is important to gain a wide appreciation of important factors that may influence the project’s success, its approach or its complexity.

Although a planner will not be expected to know the finite technical detail of the project, planners should have an appreciation of each element of the project.

16 areas your team needs to understand to achieve Project Familiarisation

Here are our top 16 areas where the project team typically need to gain a high level of understanding, also known as Project Familiarisation.

Document or Source	Example of Information
1.	Business case	Key dates for funding approval
2.	The contract, especially identified risks and key deliverables	Key dates, contract dates, risk ownership, restrictions, limitations on working conditions, and any other requirements
3.	Customers’ requirements	Processes to follow, may include delivery implications and handover or hand-back regimes
4.	Drawings	Scope, implied methodologies
5.	Specifications	Standards, methodologies
6.	Previous stage schedules	Key interfaces with earlier phases
7.	Meetings, workshops	Insight into the project, in particular the drivers, output rates and methodologies
8.	Stakeholders	Who are the ‘key players’ that will impact the success or failure of the project? How does this influence the plans? Legal agreements with third parties (party wall agreements; intellectual property rights)
9.	External interfaces, i.e. those that will not be covered by the project schedule	Supply of critical resources, e.g. utilities, power supply
10.	Benchmark data — output or productivity guides	Refer back to previous similar jobs/projects and use realistic durations in the new schedule
11.	Cost estimates	Scope verification
12.	Industry specific	Identify provisional sums
13.	Previous projects of a similar nature lead-in times	Basis for budget loading of the schedule
14.	Available resource	Soil investigation reports, site visits, weather records for construction
15.	Gateways and stage approvals	Planned closures to enable works
16.	Limitations imposed by relevant legislation	Capability requirements in defence

What are the benefits of offering the Project Planning and Control training within your organisation?

Project Planning and Control is one our passions, and we deliver courses all over the world aimed at the project control planning specialists. Our courses are accredited by APMG and utilise the guidance based on the Association for Project Management (APM) approach for Planning and Project Control Managers and Engineers.

Here are some of the main benefits to undertaking Project Planning and Control training:

Individuals can achieve a credible, industry recognised accreditation which in turn boosts confidence and status.
Helps the delegates to achieve mutual understanding of terminology, that will be shared across the industry with colleagues, customers and suppliers.
The course gives them the time, space and context to work openly together in a training environment and enables them have the common understanding and vocabulary so that they can work together to adapt the current practices. e.g. Use of total / free float, addition of buffers and SVT’s (rather than using lag or slack).
It helps with the appropriate use of management contingency, change and risk budgets etc
Helps the team to understand and be able to develop their own scheduling guidelines and the various types (Gantts, Line of Balance and Time Chainage).
Project Planning and Control is accepted best practice aligned with the APM PMC Special Interest Group (PMC SIG)
The course provides attendees with the added value of acting as informal or informal project assurance
Gives confidence in many existing processes (as many are already aligned with best practice)
This best practice has been reviewed (the APM guide) by Rolls-Royce representative(s)
Promotes the idea that planning and scheduling need to be considered as separate but highly interdependent disciplines
Formally suggests that schedule reviews(s) should be undertaken before a schedule is baselined initially and later in the project so that it acts as a reliable measurement baseline for decision making
Links the various planning and scheduling tools into a coherent set
Links project controls into the wider project management context (trainers are experienced project managers as well as knowledgeable in the project controls area)
Has been accepted as a standard by respected defense organisation(s)
Is currently under review ready to produce the second edition based on positive feedback
One of our public courses was attended by one of the guide’s authors and has received very good feedback from her.
Delegates were able to consider how to best use hammocks, schedule visibility tasks, buffers and different type of dependencies within their schedules.
It increased learners understanding of how estimation variances and risks impact, can affect the chances of completion on time and budget.

If you have any questions on Project Planning and Controls please drop us an email, we would be glad to answer your questions, learning@trainingbytesize.com.

Studying for your Project Planning and Control certification with Training ByteSize

Project Planning and Control protects your project from risk and will ensure it stays on track for delivery, even when things change during the project’s life-cycle.

Without the right tools and processes in place, it can be challenging to maintain momentum on a project, minimise risk, keep stakeholders informed and stick to tight timescales and budgets.

Learning how to implement effective Project Planning and Control best practice can have a significant impact on you as a Project Manager or on your business. Planning is vital – but so is the ability to be able to manage and mitigate risk within your projects. This is where Project Planning and Control makes all the difference!

At Training ByteSize we offer an excellent standard of training and a variety of options in which to learn, however our online course is by far the most popular. This option is flexible so you can fit your learning around your busy schedule, with minimal disruption to your day job.

For just £249+VAT you can get access to our interactive and engaging online learning management system for three months, featuring films, activities and an extensive mock exam simulator, plus the online exam. Discover more about our training options here.

Try before you buy

Knowing what the course looks like before you buy anything is a service we’re really proud to offer. Click here to see our Project Planning and Control Foundation online course demo.

Project Planning and Control

Look out for offers

We’re always supporting our customers with fantastic offers to help ensure you can afford to learn, so make sure you explore our offers page before you buy. At the moment we are offering Project Planning and Control Foundation online learning plus the online exam for incredible value at just £249+VAT.

Talk to us

We’re here for you at every stage of your project management career, so please take the opportunity to talk to us. You can use the chat function in the bottom right of your screen, email us at learning@trainingbytesize.com, or call us on +44 (0)1270 626330.

If you are looking to train a team of people in Project Planning and Control, you’ll find that our onsite training is a viable and cost-effective option for you. If you would like to find out more about this option or any other aspect of the course, please do get in touch.

Tag: Project Familiarisation Project Planning and Control

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The benefits of Project Planning and Control

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