From the point of view of executive management, the deliverable of the planning process group is a project proposal that explains and documents the project plan. A small portion of the proposal document will be the main section and the majority of it will be attached appendices that document all the planning work you have done including an RBS, WBS, project network diagram, risk management plan, scheduling and any other pertinent supporting documents.

Writing the Project Plan

From the point of view of executive management, the deliverable of the planning process group is a project proposal that explains and documents the project plan.

A small portion of the proposal document will be the main section and the majority of it will be attached appendices that document all the planning work you have done including an RBS, WBS, project network diagram, risk management plan, scheduling and any other pertinent supporting documents.

A smaller section of the proposal will precede and introduce the appendices. Some of the senior management may never read or understand the appendices, so it is this main section that will hook them on the project. Even if all the senior managers happily dig into the appendices of the proposal, the main section of the document is a way for the writer to explain how they should think about the project and how they should think about those supporting appendices.

The first, main section of the proposal should have several parts:

Executive summary.

This is a quick overview of the project that covers the context of the project, its intended goal and the business value of the project. If there is a master or strategic plan that exists for the organization, the executive summary should briefly cite how the project would fit into that larger plan. All in all, much of the project justification from the scope statement can be used to create the executive summary. The key word in executive summary is “summary.” It should be short enough to run through in a two-minute pitch and it shouldn’t be much longer than a page in length. 

Background.

This is a short section that further explains the context and opportunities that the project would address.

Objective.

This is a short section that broadly explains what the project hopes to accomplish.
It should be written in plain language and it should avoid jargon. This section should make it clear what the project will and will not do.

Overview of the approach to be taken.

This is an outline of the “how” of the project. Methods and resources used should be summarized here.

Detailed statement of work.

This should be a summary of the work. It should reference attached appendices for more detail and should itself be a high-level summary.

Summary of time and cost.

This section should summarize the duration of the project, the budget of the project, and resource use of the project.
A table would be appropriate for clearly visualizing this information.
Remember, every one of these sections is a summary for executives to read. Leave the details to the appendices.

Obtaining Executive Approval to Execute the Project

Executive approval effectively transitions from the planning phase to the execution phase of the project. By approving the project plan, the executive management team agrees to commit requested resources to the project and authorizes the project manager to begin.

However, approval is often a lengthy cycle of feedback and revision. The project proposal can be rejected because it does not convince the executives that the project makes sense and will add value to the organization. There are several common reasons project proposals get rejected. They are listed below along with ways to address them:

• Project costs outweigh project benefits.
  The cost-benefit analysis should be favorable so that management can get excited about the project. In response to this problem, identify and cut aspects of the project with particularly high costs and low benefits.
• Risk is too high.
  The senior management team may find that the risk management plan is inadequate and that negative possible outcomes outweigh the potential benefits of the project. If risk considerations resulted in the rejection of the proposal, try to communication with members of the senior management team about risks they felt were unacceptable. Improve your proposal by revising your risk management plan to better respond to these risks.
• Not enough funding is available for the project.
  The project could be rejected because the organization does not have access to enough money to finance the project. If funding is preventing project launch, the project manager should consider redefining the project by revisiting the project management triangle. Project cost can often be reduced by increasing project time or decreasing project scope or quality. Funding issues can sometimes be addressed by cutting the project into different segments, each of which would require a fraction of the entire budget for launch.
• Other projects are tying up required resources.
  If this is an issue, the project manager should ask the project champion to apply political pressure to free more resources. This is easier for the project champion to do because the project manager has more authority inside the organization.

The same project may be rejected and revised multiple times before gaining approval. The key to gaining approval in the future is learning why the proposal was declined and making relevant adjustments to address senior management concerns.