Budget planning is a vital part of preparing and launching a project, as it provides an overview of the existing funds, potential expenses and profits, as well as the scope of the project. Determining the budget and distributing it correctly between project goals is necessary when communicating with stakeholders, sponsors, managing lead, and the staff. An accurately planned budget ensures higher changes of success of the project. Based on the strategic goals of the company, the budgets solve the problems of distribution of economic resources at the disposal of the organization. The development of budgets gives quantitative certainty to the chosen prospects of the planned project. Scope and schedule here serve as a means of directing the budget planning, providing a set of key performance indicators, estimated timeline, and the issues the project is meant to resolve.
Inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs can be considered main tools for the planning stage. According to Geraldi and Söderlund (2017), “project management traditionally refers to the processes, tools, techniques, and concepts to manage the execution of the project” (p. 57). Thus, the initial phase of the Lucky Me Animal Rescue adoption event budget planning should begin with a comprehensive analysis: what goals this project strives to achieve and what means are there to support them. For this, critical inputs are necessary, such as the general strategy of the project, management plan, project charter, list of main stakeholders and sponsors, project scope statement, planned timetable, and key performance milestones. Moreover, any document, policy, statement, or service offer related to the project and the company planning it is also relevant as an input.
Tools and techniques serve as a means for analyzing and understanding the project: its main goals, specific requirements, certain details associated with the company, any risks and threats that can be encountered during realization phase. For the Lucky Me Animal Rescue adoption event, these tools and techniques can include interviews with the shelter’s sponsors and staff to determine their intentions for the project, for example. Then, researching focus groups that are interested in adopting pets, speaking to stakeholders and establishing their interest in the project should be performed. Collecting data from similar previous events and analyzing the projects of other rescue organizations would also be useful for determining approximate costs and required resources. Additionally, checklists, questionnaires, and pitch meetings can be considered appropriate tools for developing the project’s budget.
The outputs are the key performance indicators: what the organization is expecting to gain from the event. For Lucky Me Animal Rescue adoption event, the main goal is to get as many pets adopted as possible, as well as ensure that animals are saved from being euthanized in the shelters. Thus, the project should orient towards reaching people who seek to adopt a pet and target the right demographics with marketing the event. Moreover, there is also the goal of providing medical help to animals in need, facilitating collaboration with other animal rescue organizations, and promoting future adoption event. To ensure that all these required outputs are covered in budget planning, it is important to transform them into a set of quantitative key performance indicators distributed throughout the project schedule in stages.
The project would need the Lucky Me Animal Rescue to provide their own estimated budget and scope for the event to compare it with the one that is planned by the project team. This is necessary in order to make the final plan as comprehensive and risk-proof as possible. Sylvius (2017) emphasizes that the collaboration of sustainability and project management creates a new way of thinking in the field of PM. Moreover, the documentation on the Rescue’s stakeholders and sponsors will also be required as they are a vital part of the project and need to be consulted with at every stage. Existing expense sheets associated with animal care, Rescue’s marketing plans and guidelines, and the set of expected outputs will need to be provided, as well.
Scope and schedule planning is the most important project management process, which determines all project activities over time – especially budgeting. Tasks related to establishing project scope and schedule are carried out throughout the entire life cycle of the project, and they provide tools and means for reflection on the success of each part of it. Project scope and schedule planning starts with a preliminary strategy of the project concept and ends with a detailed work plan for the final phase. This helps determine the specific budget requirements for every stage, map out potential risks and threats, and account for possible unexpected expenses.
At the scope and schedule planning stage, the organization, methods, and means of managing the implementation of the project are determined, both as an integral system and in the context of its individual parts. Larsson and Larsson (2020) add that “the most common management approach involves competitive procurement practices and subsequent control and surveillance during implementation” (p. 585). Thus, the main goal of pre-project planning is not to determine exact benchmarks and figures but to establish a certain “segment” for each of the most important directions, within which indicators can vary. This approach allows to develop a budget that is based not only on assumptions and theories but actual experience, as well as adjust it after completion of each stage based on project performance.
References
Geraldi, J., & Söderlund, J. (2018). Project studies: What it is, where it is going. International Journal of Project Management, 36(1), 55–70. Web.
Larsson, J., & Larsson, L. (2020). Integration, application and importance of collaboration in Sustainable Project Management. Sustainability, 12(2), 585. Web.
Silvius, G. (2017). Sustainability as a new school of thought in Project Management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 166, 1479–1493. Web.