As we initiate a project, once we have a clear business case and green light on funding, we move into the action stage. This might be called the “Nike part” of the project, where it’s all about “just doing it.” However, before we can ‘just do it,’ we need a shared plan.
A lot of the stage-setting, higher purpose alignment around scope and roles, and so on, has been done or is in progress during the alignment work. As we build alignment around a project, we also develop a Plan of Action (POA). There’s significant work at the beginning around alignment and planning, but throughout the project, we plan and replan in smaller ways to ensure we’re on track. It’s important to understand that a plan is not a one-and-done kind of thing. For me, a plan follows a series of steps. After planning, we move on to doing. While the doing part is in full swing, monitoring is required. Monitoring ensures that we’re either sticking to our plan, potentially replanning, or completing the tasks at hand. Planning is a continuous process throughout the project.
The Importance of Strategy and Transparency
To build a plan, we need both strategy and transparency. Strategy, broadly speaking, is about how this effort fits into our big picture goals, informing scope and requirements. Transparency requires us to freely share information across the core project team and build trust. There is a wealth of knowledge around methodologies and approaches to the action part of projects. It’s not just about which method or combination of methods you will use.
Too often, a plan is built around a fantasy timeline, much like fantasy football, where all your preferred players are available. The timeline is thought up in an ideal world without clashes of schedules, where everyone is available when needed, and there are no other pressing work or emergency deadlines. In this land, there are no conflicts, shortages of equipment, or shipping problems. No one gets sick, no one moves house, and no one has unexpected personal emergencies.
This sounds ridiculous, but so often project timelines are estimated this way, usually not by the people who will be doing the work. Building a fantasy timeline leaves room for disappointment. Most of us are not good at estimating, and it’s not our fault. It’s human nature and how our brains are wired. We have an optimism bias and think we can do things faster than we can. To combat this optimism bias, we need to work hard to test and push back against unrealistic assumptions.
Three Key Practices for Effective Planning
1. Consult Widely (and Wisely): When building a detailed plan, we consult widely with the people who will be doing the work. If they are not available or have not been recruited yet, we seek out someone who has done similar work to build an estimate. When the person who will do the work joins the team, reviewing the estimated time allowed with them is part of their onboarding. This guards against the “you never asked me” indignation and starts building a level of personal commitment within the team.
2. Allow for Contingency: Contingency planning is essential. Think of it like a hospital with a dedicated operating room for emergencies, which improves the quality of care for both elective and emergency surgeries. Similarly, in projects, allowing contingency for life’s imperfections and availability reduces the need to reallocate people to emergencies, thus reducing friction and interruptions to the workflow. Areas that are less known or more complex are the obvious places to build in contingency time or budget.
3. Capacity Building: Part of planning is figuring out how team members will create capacity for themselves and what they’re doing inside their teams to build capacity for project work. This includes reducing other workloads to make space for project tasks and ensuring the business can accommodate the project’s demands.
Differentiating a Plan from a Timeline
A plan is not just a timeline. A timeline is an essential document showing a series of tasks and milestones to guide progress and schedule interdependent activities. It supports reporting against progress but doesn’t show a complete picture. A project plan explains how we will achieve our goals. It includes the project’s purpose, expected measures of success, who will do the work, and how it will get done. It should call out constraints, risks, and how we will communicate and resolve issues. A timeline is part of this but not everything we need.
The outcome of the early planning phase of a project is that, no matter what methods and partners we use, the plan should lead to a shared set of outcomes by agreed-upon times. The whole team should be clear on what the outcomes are for each milestone and how they will achieve them.
Ready to take your project planning to the next level? Book a free 20min call with us today to learn how our expertise in project management and business improvement can help you develop effective plans and achieve your strategic objectives. Let’s ensure your projects are successful from initiation to completion.