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Review the vision and scope document
Once the vision and scope document has been written, it should be reviewed by every
stakeholder, by the members of the project team, and, ideally, by at least a few people
who will actually be using the software (if they are available). Performing this review can
be as simple as emailing the document around and asking for comments. The document
can also be inspected (see Chapter 5). However the document is reviewed, it is important
that the project manager follow up with each individual person and work to understand
any issues that the reviewer brings up. The project manager should make sure that every-
one agrees that the final document really reflects the needs of the stakeholders and the
users, and that if they build the software described in the second half of the document,
then all of the needs in the first half will be met. Once the document has been reviewed
and everyone agrees that it is complete, the team is unified toward a single goal and the
project can be planned.

NOTE
More information on understanding user and stakeholder needs can be
found in Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach by Dean Lef-
fingwell and Don Widrig (Addison Wesley, 2003). More information on
defining features and creating a vision and scope document can be
found in The Art of Project Management by Scott Berkun (O’Reilly, 2005).
A more detailed template for a vision and scope document is described
in Software Requirements by Karl Wiegers (Microsoft Press, 1999).

Create the Project Plan

The project plan defines the work that will be done on the project and who will do it. A typ-
ical project plan consists of:
• A statement of work that describes all work products (specifications, test plans, code,
defect reports, and any other product of work performed over the course of the project)
that will be produced and a list of people who will perform that work

• A resource list that contains a list of all resources that will be needed for the product,

and their availability
• A work breakdown structure and a set of effort estimates (described in Chapter 3)
• A project schedule (described in Chapter 4)

• A risk plan that identifies any risks that might be encountered and indicates how those
risks would be handled, should they occur

The project plan is used by many people in the organization. The project manager uses it
to communicate the project’s status to the stakeholders and senior managers, and to plan
the team’s activities. The team members use it to understand the context for the work
they are doing. The senior managers use it to verify that the project’s cost and schedule are

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