Project Planner

Project Planner

The Project Planner skill helps you create structured, comprehensive project plans with clear timelines, dependencies, deliverables, and resource requirements. It follows the ID8Pipeline methodology and ensures every project starts with proper scoping, architecture planning, and checkpoint definitions.

This skill creates actionable project plans that include work breakdown structures (WBS), critical path analysis, resource allocation, and risk mitigation strategies. It integrates with the ID8Pipeline 11-stage framework to ensure projects are built systematically from concept to launch.

The planner emphasizes vertical slicing, clear dependencies, and realistic timeline estimation based on team capacity and project complexity.

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Create New Project Plan

Steps:

1. Discovery Phase

   • Gather project requirements and constraints
   • Identify stakeholders and team members
   • Define success criteria and business objectives
   • Clarify scope boundaries (what's in, what's out)

2. Scope Definition

   • Create one-liner problem statement (Stage 1: Concept Lock)
   • Define V1 feature set (max 5 core features)
   • Document "Not Yet" list (Stage 2: Scope Fence)
   • Establish quality gates and checkpoints

3. Work Breakdown Structure

   • Break project into major phases aligned with ID8Pipeline stages
   • Decompose features into vertical slices
   • Identify atomic tasks (4-8 hour chunks)
   • Map dependencies between tasks

4. Timeline Creation

   • Estimate task durations (consider complexity and team capacity)
   • Identify critical path and parallel work streams
   • Add buffer time (20% for uncertainty)
   • Set milestone dates with checkpoint criteria

5. Resource Planning

   • Assign tasks to team members or roles
   • Identify skill gaps or training needs
   • Plan for resource conflicts and availability
   • Allocate budget and tools

6. Documentation

   • Create PIPELINE_STATUS.md in project root
   • Generate PROJECT_PLAN.md with WBS and timeline
   • Set up tracking mechanisms (GitHub Projects, etc.)
   • Define communication cadence

Output: Complete project plan with timeline, dependencies, resource allocation, and checkpoint definitions.

Workflow 2: Update Existing Project Plan

Steps:

1. Read current PIPELINE_STATUS.md and PROJECT_PLAN.md
2. Assess actual progress vs. planned progress
3. Identify blockers, delays, or scope changes
4. Recalculate timeline based on new information
5. Update resource allocation if needed
6. Revise risk mitigation strategies
7. Document changes and communicate to stakeholders

Workflow 3: Quick Project Kickoff

For smaller projects or MVPs:

1. Define one-liner (Concept Lock)
2. List 3-5 core features (Scope Fence)
3. Choose tech stack (Architecture Sketch)
4. Create 2-week sprint plan with daily checkpoints
5. Set up basic project tracking

Quick Reference

Best Practices

• Start with the one-liner: Every project needs a clear, single-sentence definition of what problem it solves for whom
• Enforce scope fence: Explicitly document what's NOT in V1 to prevent scope creep
• Use vertical slicing: Build complete features end-to-end rather than horizontal layers
• Build in checkpoints: Every stage has a clear exit criteria question that must be answered
• Plan for 70% capacity: Team members are never 100% available due to meetings, interruptions, and context switching
• Make dependencies visible: Use dependency mapping to identify critical path and parallelization opportunities
• Time-box estimation sessions: Spend 30-60 minutes max on initial estimates; refine as you learn
• Update weekly: Review and update project plan every week based on actual progress
• Track assumptions: Document all assumptions made during planning and validate them early
• Create feedback loops: Build in regular checkpoints for stakeholder review and course correction
• Use the ID8Pipeline: Follow the 11 stages systematically - no skipping unless explicitly overridden with reason
• Plan tests early: Include test coverage requirements in timeline (Stage 7 must be complete before polish)

Integration Points

• ID8Pipeline: Automatically structures plans around 11-stage framework
• GitHub Projects: Can generate project boards and issues from plan
• PIPELINE_STATUS.md: Maintains current stage and checkpoint status
• Task Manager skill: Hands off daily task management once plan is created
• Sprint Planner skill: Breaks project plan into sprint-sized chunks
• Risk Assessor skill: Identifies and tracks project risks during planning

Template Outputs

PROJECT_PLAN.md Structure

# [Project Name] - Project Plan

## Concept Lock (Stage 1)
**One-liner:** [Problem statement and target user]

## Scope Fence (Stage 2)
**V1 Features:**
1. Feature 1
2. Feature 2
3. Feature 3

**Not Yet List:**
- Future feature 1
- Future feature 2

## Timeline
[Gantt-style breakdown with dates and dependencies]

## Resources
[Team allocation and budget]

## Risks
[Top 5 risks and mitigation strategies]

## Success Criteria
[How we know we're done and it worked]

Estimation Guidelines

Adjustment factors:

• New tech stack: +30% time
• Unclear requirements: +50% time
• External dependencies: +20% time per dependency
• Junior team: +40% time
• Regulatory compliance: +25% time