Planning and Project Management

 

I have often written about the ease of planning and the foibles of actually executing the plan.  Well, here I am again, expounding on the same thing again. 

I have been doing some planning the past few weeks.  Nothing grandiose like starting a company, building a skyscraper (do they still call them skyscrapers?), laying out the plan for the first manned mission to Mars.  No, my planning is more on the humble and tactical side of things.  I have just been thinking about and laying out my courses.  Classes start on August 29^th  and I am feeling pretty good about my plan.

This fall, I am teaching a class on Project Management.  I have taught this class several times, more frequently as late.  Project Management is all about planning first and then executing the plan to get the project done.  It is a skill parts of which can be taught and parts of which seem more innate, personality based if you will. 

The more complicated, resource intensive, and costly a project might be, the more important the planning becomes.  Planning is a dichotomous part of Project Planning.  While planning, it can look like nothing is being done.  It looks like no progress is being made on the project, especially if the project has a physical dimension to it e.g. building a new factory.  But, the overall length of a project can be shorter and it will be easier to manage if the more time is spent on quality planning per the graphic (somewhat exaggerated to illustrate the point).

Certainly, planning must be done at the beginning of any project.  But, planning alone doesn’t get the project done.  It is the actual work, following the plan, to accomplish the various component tasks to get the job done.  The plan should include deliverables and formal executive reviews and reporting to ensure the project is on-time and within the allocated budget. 

Planning also does not stop when the planning phase ends.  There are all kinds of minor issues that arise during a project that force projects to have to rethink and reconfigure their planning.  These kinds of minor changes include changes in personnel, tightening of budgets (which happens more than people might suspect), and other unforeseen random occurances.  There are also large issues which require serious replanning and rescoping of projects.  We lived through one of these recently:  the Covid Pandemic.  We are still dealing with supply shortages in every niche of business operation from personnel, chip, and transportation shortages.  I imagine every project manager was working on revising their Plan A to Plan B, C, or D since March of 2020 when the world changed.

A good plan is knowing when to do and when to do it.  Then, of course, is the actual doing.  A good project manager must be good at both.  Some people are naturals, others can be taught these skills.  A project manager also needs to master the people side of leading teams.  This includes motivation, building trust, problem solving, and resolving conflicts to mention a few.  They have to work with senior management and line workers with equal competency.  These softer skills can be taught but not with the same effectiveness as the others in my view. 

Well… that is my short spiel on Project Management.