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Ceres is a systematic method for streamlining the planning for project, programs, and business operations. Ceres methodical approach engages the team early in the planning process and challenges the conventional or traditional methods utilized for planning. The success of the methodology can be attributed to the specific order in which each step must be completed.

Ceres represents a radical new approach for planning enabling the team to remain focused on the task at hand to gain quick results.

= History =

How poor planning guarantees failure

According to the Project Management Institute, when a project fails, one third of the budget is lost for good. Since an average of 36% of projects do not meet their original goals or business intent, this means that just over US$120,000 is at risk for every US$1 million spent on projects.

There are numerous articles and research studies that focus on determining why projects continue to fail. According to a research study published by gantthead.com, an Online Project Management Community, five out of the top ten reasons why projects fail can be attributed to project planning.

This continued struggle to develop an accurate project plan led to the development of the Ceres Planning Methodology. Ceres was intentionally developed to allow adaptability for various industries and planning needs. It can be utilized as a stand-alone methodology for operational planning or in conjunction with existing project management methodologies. For example, Ceres Project Planning compliments project management methodologies, not compete with them. Therefore, it is easily integrated into existing project management processes. Ceres Project Planning focuses only on the planning aspects of projects just like Scrum focuses on the development of software. Once the project plan has been developed, traditional project management methodologies may be used to manage the workload.

The Ceres Planning Methodology was first used in 1998 during a project planning session for a telecommunications project. The success of the planning workshop led the expansion of the methodology into a formal end-to-end planning process to include program and operational planning.

Approach
The success of creating a plan using Ceres can be attributed to a few key factors:
 * All team members participate.
 * The interactive process provides early identification of risks, hidden agendas, personal preferences, assumptions and issues.
 * The order in which the tasks are completed promotes focus, thereby reducing distractions and planning time.
 * Each step in the process mandates acceptance from the team before proceeding. This helps to ensure buy-in on solution delivery and execution approach.
 * An actionable plan may be developed in only a few days as opposed to weeks or months. This allows companies to immediately execute objectives and therefore, minimize risk of shifting priorities.
 * Ceres may be used to develop new plans or validate existing plans.

Project Management Integration

One of the common concerns among project managers is related to the complexity of project planning. Most project management methodologies identify techniques for planning, but do not specifically address the how to develop a project plan. Ceres is a flexible methodology that can be integrated into any existing project management processes.

Listed below are examples of how the Ceres Planning Methodology is integrated into some of the more common project management methodologies.

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

If the PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) Guide is being used as a foundation for a project management methodology, Ceres can easily integrate into the Planning Process Group (some organizations call it the Planning Phase) of the PMBOK® Model. The Planning Process Group is designed to capture all the information necessary to develop the project plan.

PRINCE2

The PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) Project Management Model is one of the most popular project management methodologies due to the product-based planning requirements. It focuses on product delivery and encourages formal recognition of responsibilities and focuses on what a project is to deliver, activities needed to produce the product and required resources. Ceres easily integrates into the Planning Phase due to the encouragement of team involvement for plan development. The Project Manager will have an actionable project plan as well as buy-in from the project team.

SCRUM

The Scrum Project Management Model is one of the most famous project management methodologies due to the iterative, incremental process, often seen in Agile software development.

Ceres easily integrates into the Pre-Game phase of the Scrum methodology due to team (Scrum Players) involvement in project plan development. Since Scrum focuses on user requirements to identify what should be delivered as opposed to how IT will complete development, the flexibility of Ceres is a powerful tool for the Scrum Team since it doesn’t lock the development team into a specific development process.

The Scrum Master will have an agreed upon list of requirements ( product backlog) from the Scrum Players which the Scrum Development Team can use to determine what they can complete in the first and subsequent Sprints.

WATERFALL

The Waterfall Project Management Model is a sequential design process, often used in software development projects, in which the process is seen as flowing steadily from phase to phase (like a waterfall).

Ceres easily integrates into the Requirements Phase of the Waterfall Model. This phase is designed to capture user requirements and develop the project plan. User acceptance is a key component of the Waterfall Model. Sign-off of each phase must be obtained before the next phase may begin and Ceres creates the activity to easily obtain approval during the Requirements Phase since the project team is actively involved in the development of the project plan.

Scope and Requirements Validation

A key principle of Ceres is the requirement that all project team members participate in the planning process so the issues related to project objectives and scope can be resolved because of this collaboration. Team members are actively involved in the identification of tasks, resources and duration. The project plan developed as a by-product of using the process results has minimal risk associated with scope creep and schedule adjustments since all team members have signed off on the information used to develop the project plan.

Project Priority Validation

Another issue that continues to be a challenge for most projects is related to changing organizational priorities. If it takes weeks or months to develop a project plan, then it has a high risk of reprioritization. By following Ceres processes the team provides a project plan that identifies project parameters (scope, schedule and cost) quickly allowing the organization's leadership to make business decisions based on validated project information. Ceres can also be used to validate proposed projects as part of your organization’s annual budget and strategic planning. Using this process provides costs, schedule and resource needs related to proposed projects which will result in more accurate budget and strategic plans.

Plan Validation

It is nearly impossible to identify all internal or external environmental factors (economic indicators, industry fluctuations, technology changes, etc.) that could impact project success. Ceres can be used during any phase of a project. The processes may be completed any time a project plan needs to be validated if project parameters (scope, schedule or cost) have significantly changed.

Listed below are the artifacts that you can expect to produce when using the Ceres Planning Methodology:

Ceres Project Planning Artifacts
 * Project Objective Statement
 * Success Criteria
 * Scope
 * Flexibility Matrix
 * Issues
 * Risk Identification
 * Risk Plan (Mitigation and Contingency)
 * Assumptions
 * Deliverables
 * Activities
 * Tasks
 * Resource Assignments
 * Skills Needed
 * Dependencies
 * Schedule
 * Cost

Ceres Program Planning Artifacts
 * Program Objective Statement
 * Success Criteria
 * Scope
 * Flexibility Matrix
 * Issues
 * Risk Identification
 * Risk Plan (Mitigation and Contingency)
 * Assumptions
 * Project List
 * Project Objectives
 * Project Deliverables
 * Skills Needed
 * Dependencies between Projects
 * High Level Schedule
 * High Level Cost

Ceres Strategic Planning Artifacts
 * Strategic Objective Statement
 * Annual Goals
 * Internal and External Considerations
 * Issues
 * Risks
 * Risk Plan (Mitigation and Contingency)
 * Assumptions
 * Strategic Goals
 * Execution Plan
 * Resource Impact Analysis
 * Dependencies between Strategic Goals

References:


 * http://www.pmi.org/~/media/pdf/research/2012_pulse_of_the_profession.ashx
 * http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/10/20/smallb4.html?page=all
 * Project Management Body of Knowledge
 * http://www.scrummethodology.org/scrum-phases.html
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRINCE2
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model