Rolling-wave planning

It is not often possible to foresee the future activities in a project with consistent detail over the entire period of the project. Therefore, project managers faced with unexpected events employ a “rolling wave” approach to planning[1]. The rolling-wave Planning is a project management technique that requires iterative planning to “rolls out” detailed plans for the near term and reevaluate the plan regularly as the project proceeds.[2] The Rolling Wave Planning technique uses progressive elaboration, which is the act of elaborating the work packages in greater detail as the project unfolds. [3] It is necessary to provide key milestones and assumptions as they will help stakeholders see the reason of using Rolling Wave Planning and what to expect as the project progresses. [3] As the project progresses, the risks, assumptions, and milestones originally identified become more defined and reliable. [4] Rolling Wave Planning focuses the team on the short-term goals, course correcting as needed. The rolling-wave planning is particularly useful in projects with high uncertainty.[3] It’s a good idea to have an understanding of the “big blocks” without detailing exactly the scope of the project.