Project Planning

The term planning in Cobra refers to the definition of work items (control accounts and work packages) and the entry of time-phased budgets.

Planning normally takes place immediately following the creation of a new project in Cobra, but it can be performed at any time.

You can enter planning information manually in Cobra, or import it from a schedule.

Project Options for Planning

Cobra lets you set a number of project options that control the planning function. These options appear on the Preferences Tab of the Project Properties dialog box.

Related Topics:

Control Account Planning
The control account serves as a control point for tracking project costs and schedules.
Work Package Planning
A work package is a discrete, measurable amount of work contained within a control account. Performance is measured at the work package level in Cobra.
Budget Planning
To enter budget information in Cobra, you assign a resource to a work package, enter the budget amount in terms of either the first result or a derived result calculated from the first result, and spread the cost over the estimated duration of the work.
Milestones/Steps
If a work package uses any of the progress techniques other than Steps, you can define milestones and their weights each time you enter cost information about the work package. If a work package uses the Steps progress technique, you can define steps for the work package.
Control Accounts and Work Packages
The design of any earned value system must focus on the points at which a piece of work is defined, scheduled, budgeted, and tracked. These represent natural control points for cost and schedule planning. Throughout Cobra, these control points are referred to as control accounts and, at a lower level, work packages.
Performance Measurement Techniques
EVMS guidelines provide a number of alternative methods for measuring the earned value of an activity in progress.
How Cobra Calculates Progress to Determine Earned Value
Cobra calculates earned value on each work package according to different principles.
Classes and Cost Sets
User-defined classes and cost sets let you set up multiple budgets for a project, track actual costs using different criteria, and maintain information about commitments, funding, change orders, and so on, over the life of the project.
Code Files
Typically, the first step a project manager must take is to define the scope of the project. In Cobra, this is accomplished using hierarchical coding systems designed for reporting at different levels of detail. These hierarchical coding systems are known as code files.