What is Planning Quality

As business competition increases, there is pressure on software development projects to become more productive and efficient. Previous research has shown that quality planning is a key factor in enhancing project performance. Thus, this article reports on the successful development and implementation of a tool (QPLAN) that enhances software development project performance by evaluating the planning quality of any type of software project and introducing best planning practices (such as references from historical data) that suggest how to manage projects in an appropriate manner, including encompassing lessons learned and involving the customer in the development process. This is applied research aimed at solving a real problem; thus, Design Science Research was adopted as the research methodology and the design science research process (DSRP) model was selected to conduct it. This artifact was designed for the project management literature, and implemented and validated in 11 organizations in five countries.