Comments on: Advanced Project Scheduling: Starting With Rolling Wave Planning http://www.pmhut.com/advanced-project-scheduling-starting-with-rolling-wave-planning Thu, 17 May 2012 03:42:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Nitan Gulati http://www.pmhut.com/advanced-project-scheduling-starting-with-rolling-wave-planning/comment-page-1#comment-21803 Nitan Gulati Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:42:13 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/advanced-project-scheduling-starting-with-rolling-wave-planning#comment-21803 Very good document. Very good document.

]]> By: Glen B. Alleman http://www.pmhut.com/advanced-project-scheduling-starting-with-rolling-wave-planning/comment-page-1#comment-1201 Glen B. Alleman Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:29:25 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/advanced-project-scheduling-starting-with-rolling-wave-planning#comment-1201 Johanna, The Rolling Wave planning process requires the future milestones have "some" type of plan associated with them. Some estimate of the effort. The fixed durations you describe, while appropriate for your agile approach, are actually time boxes. Not defining at some level of detail what is in the future times boxes ignores the building backlog of work. In the rolling wave planning process ... "Rolling wave planning recognizes that for complex projects we can often plan in detail only those tasks that are in the near future. Tasks that are further out often have some lack of specificity about them that does not allow planning to the same level of detail. In an EVMS, the work that is planned in great deal is divided up into Work Packages. Effort that will take place further out can be identified in Planning Packages. Both Work Packages and Planning Packages are under the cognizance of a Control Account Manager (CAM). If the future work is so imprecisely defined that it cannot yet be assigned to specific CAMs, it is held at a higher level of the WBS in a Summary Level Planning Package. The key point, which many people don't realize, is that whether the effort is in a Work Package, Planning Package, or Summary Level Planning Package, it must be incorporated in the Performance Measurement Baseline as a time-phased budget. As the truth becomes more clear, Summary Level Planning Packages will migrate into Planning Packages, and Planning Packages will be fleshed out into Work Packages." It's the inclusion of the future planning packages, that makes the "rolling waves" roll. And not just be a series of 2 week or 4 week increments stuck together end to end. Johanna,
The Rolling Wave planning process requires the future milestones have “some” type of plan associated with them. Some estimate of the effort. The fixed durations you describe, while appropriate for your agile approach, are actually time boxes. Not defining at some level of detail what is in the future times boxes ignores the building backlog of work.

In the rolling wave planning process …

“Rolling wave planning recognizes that for complex projects we can often plan in detail only those tasks that are in the near future. Tasks that are further out often have some lack of specificity about them that does not allow planning to the same level of detail. In an EVMS, the work that is planned in great deal is divided up into Work Packages. Effort that will take place further out can be identified in Planning Packages. Both Work Packages and Planning Packages are under the cognizance of a Control Account Manager (CAM). If the future work is so imprecisely defined that it cannot yet be assigned to specific CAMs, it is held at a higher level of the WBS in a Summary Level Planning Package. The key point, which many people don’t realize, is that whether the effort is in a Work Package, Planning Package, or Summary Level Planning Package, it must be incorporated in the Performance Measurement Baseline as a time-phased budget. As the truth becomes more clear, Summary Level Planning Packages will migrate into Planning Packages, and Planning Packages will be fleshed out into Work Packages.”

It’s the inclusion of the future planning packages, that makes the “rolling waves” roll. And not just be a series of 2 week or 4 week increments stuck together end to end.

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