In business, as with most things in life, change is constant. When an organisation needs to make an important change, like upgrading a computer network or expanding to a new location, it's usually best to view it as a project. Size, of course, isn't what defines a project, but what does define a project is a plan.
There are many, complex reasons why projects fail but if you get the planning stage right then that is one more reason to help you succeed so your project does not become one of the ones that never delivered on its outputs and outcomes.
A project can be defined as any planned undertaking with a set of related tasks designed to reach a defined objective that has both a beginning and an end. Without a plan, a project becomes just an assortment of tasks. For most organisations, the question isn't whether or not there is a plan, but how well the plan has been set out and how well it is followed.
A lack of planning will always contribute towards an unsuccessful project whereas good planning leads to successful projects. By clearly defining the project aims, objectives and requirements in the planning phase, and by creating an achievable schedule, appropriately sequenced and associated dependencies identified, you are more likely to succeed in delivering the project objectives. That sounds pretty simple yet so many project managers rush the planning phase – often due to external pressures – and the project is then set up for failure. A poor plan will never deliver good results.
The following are key elements of a good project plan:
Objective:
A project should have a primary objective (i.e. the end result) with a specified budget, schedule and requirements. A project may be broken down into additional objectives leading toward the primary objective. So it is best practice to structure the plan as batches of 'deliverables' (project requirements) broken down into tasks (there are properly sequenced, dependencies identified and resource assigned) that deliver the deliverables. The last task in that batch is always a milestone. this format ensures project managers have always has good line of sight to objectives, requirements and key milestones, to track progress. It also avoids the need to have a separate requirements traceability matrix.
Project Milestones:
A good plan will include milestones to help monitor progress and provide the opportunity to re-evaluate deadlines, scope and deliverables, if necessary, or provide confidence that the project is on track. It helps avoid bottle necks when there are complex inter-dependent tasks so ensuring the project can advance to successive phases. A good plan helps compare the original aims with current progress – it is highly likely that your plans will change during the course of the project (rarely do original plans deliver as expected) but a sound initial plan ensures smooth transition to a new plan that will deliver successfully, and will add certainty that the project has delivered successfully. This avoids the situation where a project is finished yet doesn’t “feel” like a success.
Stakeholder Commitment:
Projects often have several stakeholders with different priorities but a good project plan ensures all of their priorities are considered and included in the overall vision of the project. This helps ensure stakeholders are fully committed to the project and will work to drive progress forward – without this stakeholders can become disillusioned about the project and not be there when you need them.
Contingency Plan:
Another element of good planning is incorporating a contingency – both within the budget and the schedule – to account for unforeseen problems that might arise, because things can always go wrong. Without a contingency plan the project is running a real risk of failing to deliver because no allowance for additional costs or time mean that scope and/or quality will suffer, resulting in a deliverable that does not satisfy anyone’s needs
In a nutshell, a good project plan should provide a roadmap for every aspect of the project. Amongst other things, it:
- Defines what tasks need to be completed, how and when
- States who is responsible for each task
- Provides a mechanism to monitor and track progress
- Gains commitment from stakeholders
- Has a defined contingency plan for all eventualities
- Defines communication channels
