Components of a Project Plan
This NASA Document explains the steps involved in the components of a project plan. Steps include Project Overview, Project Baselines, and Project Control Plans.
NASA establishes criteria for each NASA-sponsored payload. Four risk classification levels (A thru D) are defined in the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR). For example:
Project Overview
The project overview includes information on the project’s objectives, the mission’s description and technical approach, the management structure, and the implementation approach)
Describes the background of the project and its current status, including results of Formulation activities, decisions, and documentation. Documents the project’s category and NASA payload development risk classification.
Project Baselines
Project baselines consist of a set of requirements, cost (including project-held reserves), schedule, and technical content that forms the foundation for project execution and reporting done as part of NASA’s performance assessment and governance process.
With “baseline” information, you outline what you plan for, such as your planned requirements, your planned “work breakdown structure”, your planned schedule, the resources you think you will need (including funding, materials, and the types of people who will work on the project).
Project Control Plans
Documents how the project plans to control project requirements, technical design, schedule, and cost to achieve the program requirements.
Describes the plan to monitor and control the project requirements, technical design, schedule, and cost of the project to ensure that the high-level requirements levied on the project are met.
Describes the project’s performance measures in objective, quantifiable, and measurable terms and documents how the measures are traced from the program requirements on the project.
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