# Module 5: Core Planning – Scope, Value, Resources, Finance and Risk MODULE OVERVIEW This module focuses on the core planning activities required to define project requirements, manage scope, deliver business value and plan resources, finances and risks effectively. Learners will explore how to gather and prioritise requirements, define project scope, develop a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and manage changes throughout the project. The module also covers value-based delivery, benefits realisation and incremental delivery to ensure that project activities remain aligned with business objectives. In addition, learners will understand resource planning, cost estimation, budgeting, financial management and risk response strategies. Sustainability and technology-related risks are also explored as part of effective project planning. By the end of this module, learners will understand how to develop practical project plans that balance scope, value, resources, cost and risk while supporting successful project outcomes. WHAT WILL BE COVERED 5.1 UNDERSTANDING PROJECT REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES Learn how to identify project requirements and understand what the project is expected to achieve. Topics include: * Understanding project requirements and their purpose. * Identifying stakeholder needs and expectations. * Understanding business requirements and project objectives. * Defining expected project outcomes and benefits. * Distinguishing between requirements, deliverables and outcomes. * Evaluating whether requirements support project objectives. * Maintaining alignment between project requirements and business needs. Practical example: Identify the requirements for a new customer management system by gathering input from sales, customer service, finance and management teams. 5.2 DEFINING PROJECT SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES Understand how to establish project boundaries and define the work required to achieve project objectives. Topics include: * Understanding project scope and its importance. * Defining project scope based on approved requirements. * Identifying project deliverables. * Understanding scope inclusions and exclusions. * Preparing a project scope statement. * Establishing acceptance criteria for deliverables. * Ensuring stakeholders share a common understanding of the agreed scope. Practical example: Define the scope of an ERP implementation by identifying the departments, business functions, system features and deliverables included in the project. 5.3 REQUIREMENTS GATHERING, ANALYSIS AND PRIORITISATION Explore techniques for collecting, analysing and prioritising project requirements. Topics include: * Understanding requirements gathering techniques. * Conducting stakeholder interviews and discussions. * Using workshops, surveys and observation to collect requirements. * Analysing and documenting requirements. * Identifying dependencies and conflicting requirements. * Prioritising requirements based on business needs and project constraints. * Validating requirements with relevant stakeholders. Practical example: Gather requirements for a business reporting solution and prioritise dashboard features based on management needs, reporting frequency and available resources. 5.4 SCOPE DECOMPOSITION AND WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) Learn how to break down project scope into smaller and manageable components using a Work Breakdown Structure. Topics include: * Understanding scope decomposition. * Introduction to the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). * Breaking project deliverables into smaller work components. * Understanding work packages. * Organising project activities into a hierarchical structure. * Defining the scope of individual work packages. * Using the WBS as a foundation for schedule and cost planning. Practical example: Develop a WBS for a website development project by breaking it into design, content preparation, development, testing and deployment work packages. 5.5 MANAGING SCOPE CHANGES AND EXPECTATIONS Understand how to manage changes to project scope while maintaining control over project objectives and commitments. Topics include: * Understanding scope changes and their causes. * Identifying scope creep and its impact. * Evaluating proposed changes. * Assessing the impact of changes on schedule, cost, resources and quality. * Following the change control process. * Communicating approved and rejected changes. * Managing stakeholder expectations when requirements change. Practical example: Evaluate a request to add new reporting features to an ongoing software project and assess its impact on the agreed budget and delivery timeline before approval. 5.6 VALUE-BASED DELIVERY AND BENEFITS REALISATION Explore how project activities and deliverables contribute to business value and expected benefits. Topics include: * Understanding value-based delivery. * Identifying expected business benefits. * Connecting project deliverables with organisational objectives. * Understanding benefits realisation planning. * Identifying measures to evaluate delivered value. * Monitoring whether expected benefits are achieved. * Aligning project priorities with business outcomes. Practical example: Evaluate whether a new inventory management system delivers expected benefits through reduced stock discrepancies, improved tracking and lower operating costs. 5.7 PRIORITISING WORK BASED ON BUSINESS VALUE Learn how to prioritise project activities based on their importance, expected benefits and contribution to business objectives. Topics include: * Understanding the importance of work prioritisation. * Evaluating business value and stakeholder needs. * Identifying high-priority and low-priority requirements. * Considering urgency, dependencies and project constraints. * Prioritising work based on expected benefits. * Reviewing priorities when business requirements change. * Communicating prioritisation decisions to stakeholders. Practical example: Prioritise essential system functions for an initial release while scheduling additional features for later phases based on business importance and available resources. 5.8 INCREMENTAL DELIVERY AND MEASURING OUTCOMES Understand how projects can deliver value in smaller increments and how outcomes can be evaluated throughout delivery. Topics include: * Understanding incremental delivery. * Exploring the benefits of delivering work in smaller portions. * Identifying deliverables suitable for incremental implementation. * Collecting stakeholder feedback after each delivery. * Measuring outcomes against expected benefits. * Reviewing performance and identifying improvement opportunities. * Adjusting future work based on feedback and results. Practical example: Implement a business reporting solution department by department, collecting feedback after each release and improving subsequent dashboards based on user requirements. 5.9 IDENTIFYING AND PLANNING PROJECT RESOURCES Learn how to identify the resources required to complete project activities successfully. Topics include: * Understanding project resource requirements. * Identifying human, physical and material resources. * Estimating resource needs based on project activities. * Identifying required skills and competencies. * Understanding resource availability and constraints. * Preparing resource management plans. * Aligning resource requirements with project schedules and deliverables. Practical example: Identify the project manager, developers, testers, infrastructure requirements and software licences needed for a system implementation project. 5.10 RESOURCE ALLOCATION, CAPACITY AND UTILISATION Understand how to allocate resources effectively and manage workload throughout the project. Topics include: * Understanding resource allocation. * Assessing team capacity and availability. * Understanding resource utilisation. * Matching resource skills with project activities. * Managing competing resource requirements. * Identifying resource shortages and overallocation. * Monitoring resource performance and adjusting allocations when required. Practical example: Allocate developers and testers across multiple project activities while considering their availability, workload and required delivery dates. 5.11 PROJECT COST ESTIMATION AND BUDGETING FUNDAMENTALS Explore how to estimate project costs and prepare budgets based on project requirements and resource needs. Topics include: * Understanding project cost estimation. * Identifying direct and indirect project costs. * Estimating labour, material, equipment and service costs. * Exploring estimation techniques. * Understanding analogous, parametric and bottom-up estimation. * Preparing project cost estimates. * Understanding contingency reserves and budget considerations. * Establishing a project budget based on estimated costs. Practical example: Estimate the cost of a software implementation project by calculating personnel costs, software licences, infrastructure, training and external service expenses. 5.12 FINANCIAL PLANNING AND COST MANAGEMENT Learn how to plan, monitor and control project finances to maintain budget performance. Topics include: * Understanding project financial planning. * Establishing cost baselines and budget controls. * Monitoring actual expenditure against planned costs. * Identifying budget deviations and cost overruns. * Understanding cost control and corrective actions. * Reviewing financial performance throughout the project. * Communicating budget status to relevant stakeholders. Practical example: Compare planned and actual project expenditure each month, identify areas of overspending and recommend corrective actions to maintain the approved budget. 5.13 IDENTIFYING, ANALYSING AND PRIORITISING PROJECT RISKS Understand how to identify potential project risks and evaluate their possible impact on project objectives. Topics include: * Understanding project risks and uncertainties. * Identifying threats and opportunities. * Exploring risk identification techniques. * Analysing the probability and impact of risks. * Conducting qualitative risk analysis. * Prioritising risks based on their potential impact. * Understanding risk exposure and maintaining risk records. Practical example: Identify risks associated with a construction project, including material shortages, weather conditions, resource availability and regulatory delays, then assess their potential impact. 5.14 RISK RESPONSE STRATEGIES AND CONTINGENCY PLANNING Learn how to select suitable risk response strategies and prepare actions to address potential project risks. Topics include: * Understanding risk response planning. * Exploring strategies for managing threats: avoid, mitigate, transfer and accept. * Understanding strategies for managing opportunities. * Assigning risk owners and defining response responsibilities. * Preparing contingency plans. * Identifying triggers for activating planned responses. * Monitoring the effectiveness of risk responses. Practical example: Develop a contingency plan for a project that depends on a critical supplier by identifying alternative suppliers and defining the actions to take if the original delivery is delayed. 5.15 MAINTAINING RISK REGISTERS AND MONITORING RISK EXPOSURE Understand how to document, track and review project risks throughout the project lifecycle. Topics include: * Understanding the purpose of a risk register. * Recording identified risks and their characteristics. * Documenting probability, impact and risk priority. * Assigning risk owners and response actions. * Monitoring existing risks and identifying new risks. * Reviewing changes in risk exposure. * Updating risk responses based on project conditions. * Communicating important risk information to stakeholders. Practical example: Maintain a project risk register for an IT implementation, updating risk status, ownership, response actions and exposure during regular project reviews. 5.16 CONSIDERING SUSTAINABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY-RELATED RISKS Explore how sustainability requirements and technology-related uncertainties can influence project planning and risk management. Topics include: * Identifying sustainability considerations in project planning. * Understanding environmental, social and economic risks. * Evaluating technology-related project risks. * Considering cybersecurity, data privacy and system availability. * Understanding risks associated with new or emerging technologies. * Assessing the impact of technology changes on project delivery. * Including relevant sustainability and technology risks in project risk planning. Practical example: Assess sustainability and technology risks when implementing a cloud-based business system, including energy use, data security, regulatory requirements and service availability. SKILLS YOU WILL GAIN By completing this module, learners will develop the ability to: * Identify project requirements and expected outcomes. * Define project scope, deliverables and acceptance criteria. * Gather, analyse and prioritise requirements. * Develop a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). * Manage scope changes and control scope creep. * Connect project deliverables with business value and benefits. * Prioritise work based on business needs. * Understand incremental delivery and outcome measurement. * Identify and plan project resources. * Allocate resources based on capacity and availability. * Estimate project costs and prepare budgets. * Monitor financial performance and manage project costs. * Identify, analyse and prioritise project risks. * Develop risk response strategies and contingency plans. * Maintain risk registers and monitor risk exposure. * Consider sustainability and technology-related risks. LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this module, learners will understand how effective planning of scope, value, resources, finance and risk contributes to better project control and successful delivery. * Clearer project requirements and scope: Define what the project needs to achieve, establish agreed deliverables and reduce misunderstandings about project responsibilities. * Better scope management: Evaluate proposed changes, control scope creep and understand how changes can affect cost, schedule, resources and project outcomes. * Stronger focus on business value: Prioritise activities based on expected benefits and ensure that project deliverables contribute to organisational objectives. * Improved resource utilisation: Identify resource requirements, allocate responsibilities and manage team capacity to reduce resource conflicts and overallocation. * Better financial control: Estimate project costs, prepare budgets and monitor actual expenditure to identify deviations before they become major financial issues. * Proactive risk management: Identify potential threats and opportunities, evaluate their impact and prepare suitable response strategies before risks affect project delivery. * Improved project predictability: Use structured planning, incremental delivery and regular performance reviews to identify issues and make informed adjustments. * Responsible project planning: Consider sustainability, cybersecurity, data privacy and technology-related risks when making project decisions. PMP EXAM ALIGNMENT This module primarily supports the Process domain of the PMP Examination Content Outline, covering project planning, scope management, resource planning, cost management and risk management. PMP examination domain Relevant learning areas People Stakeholder requirements, resource coordination, team capacity and collaboration during planning. Process Requirements gathering, scope definition, WBS, change management, delivery planning, resource allocation, cost estimation and risk management. Business Environment Business value, benefits realisation, organisational priorities, sustainability and technology-related considerations. CONTINUE TO THE NEXT MODULE Continue to Module 6: Integrated Planning – Delivery Approach, Schedule, Quality and Procurement. [https://teamacademy.help.center/article/1319-module-6-integrated-planning-delivery-approach-schedule-quality-and-procurement]