Inplanning

Inplanning is a term used in planning and project management to describe the early, pre-formal planning stage of a project. It is not a universally defined phase; its meaning and duration vary by organization and industry. In some contexts it is written as “in planning” or “in-planning.”

During inplanning, teams explore objectives, constraints, and feasibility before drafting formal documents. Activities may include needs assessment, stakeholder mapping, preliminary risk analysis, high-level cost estimation, site evaluations, data gathering, and concept generation. The emphasis is exploratory rather than codified, and outputs are typically non-binding.

Relation to formal planning: Inplanning precedes the creation of formal plans, master plans, or detailed business cases. It aims to align goals, gain initial approvals, and determine whether continued investment is warranted. It often yields a go/no-go decision to proceed to the planning phase.

Industry variations: In municipal planning, inplanning may culminate in an outline of objectives and constraints before drafting a master plan. In product development, it may correspond to a scoping phase or discovery sprint that informs a business case and project charter.

Criticism and limitations: Because it is ill-defined, outputs of inplanning can be ambiguous and subject to change. Clear documentation of assumptions and decision criteria helps reduce ambiguity as projects move into formal planning.

See also: project lifecycle, feasibility study, scoping, pre-planning, front-end loading.