MCA Workplan Guidance
Practical guidance for MCA project and activity managers on building, baselining, and tracking schedules aligned to the PPMM — for both infrastructure contracts and consulting service activities, from pre-Entry into Force preparation through Compact completion.
A workplan is only useful if it stays alive. Too often, MCA workplans become compliance artifacts — submitted on schedule, then quietly ignored. This guidance helps project and activity managers build schedules that reflect reality, hold up under scrutiny, and actually drive week-to-week decisions.
The guidance applies to both infrastructure contracts and consulting service activities, including Policy and Institutional Reform work. You can use any scheduling software — the principles do not depend on one tool. The three videos below walk through what a workplan is, how much detail is the right amount, what fields every task must have, and how to baseline and track against the plan.
The Three-Level Planning Architecture
Effective MCA schedule management works at three distinct levels. Understanding where each level lives — and who owns it — is the foundation of this guidance.
Program Milestone Map
A high-level view of the major gates across all projects — procurement awards, commencement dates, key deliverable approvals, and disbursement targets. This is the leadership dashboard, not the operational tool.
PPMM-Based MCA Workplan
The core operational schedule, structured around the 10 PPMM steps. This is what the videos cover — how to build it, how to baseline it, and how to keep it honest. This is the tool you own and update.
Contractor & Consultant Work Programs
The detailed work program produced by the contractor or consulting firm — whether a FIDIC construction programme or a consultant’s activity schedule. You review and monitor it, but you do not own it. Conflating this with the MCA workplan is a common and costly mistake.
Video Series
Watch in order for the full picture, or jump to the topic most relevant to your current challenge.
Key Principles
These ideas run through all three videos. Keep them in mind as you apply the guidance to your program.
Tool, Not Artifact
Your workplan should drive decisions, not just document them. If you only open it when MCC asks for an update, it has already failed.
Right Level of Detail
MCA managers oversee contracts and relationships — they do not execute work directly. For infrastructure, 15–40 tasks per contract. For consulting and PIR activities, 10–30 tasks. If you cannot update the workplan in 30 minutes, it has too much detail.
Baseline Discipline
A baseline only has value if it is locked and protected. Variance against baseline is information. Continuously moving the baseline erases the signal.
Honest Updating
Psychological safety for honest schedule reporting is as important as the technical structure. A team that hides slippage will always deliver worse outcomes than one that surfaces it early.
Know What You Own
Contractors and consulting firms produce their own detailed work programs. You review and monitor those — you do not own them. The MCA workplan tracks whether key milestones are being met, not the vendor’s daily activities.
Full Lifecycle View
Planning starts before Entry into Force and runs through Compact completion. Pre-EIF preparation activities need workplan coverage just as much as construction phases do.