Project planning Haiku: Project is chartered / Yet it needs a plan to grow / For it must have form.

A silly example, I know. What’s more, it is bad poetry. Yet, the message is clear. As you gather the tools in the Initiation phase of the project, in the planning phase, you take those tools and begin to give your project form. All of the tools must be considered and applied – and it is a detailed process. Before a project goes to execution phase, all factors must be considered, and subordinate plans need to be formulated. A good project cannot be executed “on the fly.” As a matter of fact, it is a recipe for disaster.



Think about it. In the planning phase scope must be refined and managed, tasks must be defined and broken down, quality and risk management plans need to be developed, and the project schedule needs to be developed. It sounds daunting, and it can be. However, surrounding yourself with the right team and then collaborating on the process is a recipe for success.



Here’s some tips for planning:



First, don’t reinvent the wheel. As Shakespeare said, “If there be nothing new, but that which is Hath been before…” In other words, there IS nothing new under the sun. The information on how to manage the planning process is already out there. Banging your head against the wall to come up with an ad hoc process, which will likely miss some important details, wastes time for both you, your team, and possibly a client.



Second, focus on the steps for the phase you’re in. In other words, don’t try to execute the Planning Phase while you’re still in the Initiating Phase. If time is at a premium, you can abbreviate a phase, but don’t try and execute both phases simultaneously. In the attempt to do everything at once, nothing may get accomplished. Remember that each phase builds upon the next.



Third, as mentioned above – don’t try to do it all yourself. While it is physically possible to do it all yourself, I submit to you that, especially in a time crunch, you may make errors of omission, typographical errors, and any number of other errors that happen when you burn the candles at both ends. Ideally, you work with your team to develop the key plans, both collaboratively and via “divide and conquer.”



Lastly, remember that the planning phase is not done until your team has come together and integrated the various plans. Each of the various plans generated do not stand alone. They cannot be stove-piped, rather they must be integrated.



What I have written here will not guarantee success. In the end, only you and your team will be the authors of success. However, not following the above advice may very well guarantee failure.



My project it lives / As my planning - it rings true! / Now I execute