What happens in the Planning phase?

Say you want to build the most fantastic sandcastle on the beach. The "planning phase" is like deciding what your castle will look like and what you'll need to make it.

• What does your sandcastle look like? First, you must consider what your castle will look like. Will it have one big tower or many? Will there be a moat around it? This is the same as what project managers call "defining the project's scope".
• Gathering the Tools: Next, you must gather your buckets, shovels, and maybe even a little flag to put on top. This is equivalent to resource planning, where a project manager identifies what resources (equipment, materials, people, and money) they need to complete the project.
• Who's going to help? If you have friends or siblings, they might want to help. You might decide who is going to build the towers, who is going to dig the moat, and who is going to make the sand smooth. Similarly, in a project, managers assign responsibilities to team members based on their skills and the project's requirements.
• How long will it take? You also have to think about how long it will take. If you only have an hour before you go home, you can't spend all day on just one tower. The project manager, too, needs to figure out how long different parts of the project will take. This is called scheduling or time management.
• What if things go wrong? Lastly, what will you do if a wave comes and ruins part of your castle? It's good to have a plan for problems. In project management, managers create plans for risk management so they know what to do if something goes wrong.

And that's it! Just like you would plan to build your sandcastle, project managers plan their projects to make sure they can get their work done on time and do the best job they can.