Managing Time: Planning

While researching this series, I was overwhelmed by a wealth of information on project planning. It quickly became apparent to me how important it really is. Rather than going into a project blindly, there are several ways to plot each part of a project to help you manage it and ultimately complete it quickly. Planning is just one component to effective time management, but it is essential to keep your projects moving forward in a timely way.

The first step in planning projects is to estimate time for deadlines. We must be able to identify the different pieces of a project in order to get started.

Drill Down

Start with a piece of paper, and write the project title down on the far left side of the paper. Draw lines stemming from the project to each part that is needed to be completed for the project. Then continue to draw lines stemming from those pieces of the project to determine what needs to be done to complete those and continue going until you have every piece of the project plotted. Be sure to note pieces of the project where you do not fully understand what needs to be done. This will help you determine what information is still needed and what parts of the project can be done now. Once you've got all components in place, estimate the time it will take to complete each task. Use our drill down template for easy electronic plotting.

Action Plan

An action plan is a simple list of everything needed to complete a project. Something helpful to ensure you remember every piece is the acronym SCHEMES.

• Space
• Cash
• Helpers/people
• Equipment
• Materials
• Expertise
• Systems

You may not require all of these things to complete your project so feel free to subtract whatever is not needed. Action plans are best suited for smaller projects where deadlines are not strenuous.

Stakeholder Analysis

Something that may be overlooked during your project is the need for support. Who and where do I get it from and is it necessary? Try the Stakeholder Analysis to determine where, when, and who you need to support you and your project.

First, determine who the possible stakeholders are: your boss, other executives, customers or vendors etc. A stakeholder is anyone who is affected by your work or the outcome of it.

MindTools.com suggests asking the following questions to determine your stakeholders:

• What financial or emotional interest do they have in the outcome of your work? Is it positive or negative?
• What motivates the stakeholders most of all?
• What information do they want from you?
• How do they want to receive information from you? What is the best way of communicating your message to them?
• What is their current opinion of your work? Is it based on good information?
• Who influences their opinions generally, and who influences their opinion of you? Do some of these influencers therefore become important stakeholders in their own right?
• If they are not likely to be positive, what will win them over to support your project?
• If you don't think you will be able to win them over, how will you manage their opposition?
• Who else might be influenced by their opinions? Do these people become stakeholders in their own right?

Next, prioritize the stakeholders by using our Power/Interest Grid template.

Prioritize by the following criteria:

• High power, interested people - should be the people you will have the biggest stake in your project.
• High power, less interested people - should be the people who are have a stake in your project but do not need to have extensive interaction with it.
• Low power, interested people - these are the people who need to be adequately informed but are not of great power. These are the people that will likely be helping you.
• Low power, less interested people - keep these people up to date, but no extensive interaction is needed.

This may be seen as micro-managing your own project, but determining your stakeholders will allow you perform your tasks more efficiently while pleasing those who matter within the project and getting the help and support you need to plan your project.

Creating a risk management plan will help determine the possibility of things going wrong. It's important to assess this in order to make sure your project runs smoothly. Project Smart gives examples of possible issues within a project. Feel free to add whatever is not included in your specific project.

• Time and cost estimates too optimistic
• Customer review and feedback cycle too slow
• Unexpected budget cuts
• Unclear roles and responsibilities
• Stakeholder input is not sought or their needs are not properly understood
• Stakeholders changing requirements after the project has started
• Stakeholders adding new requirements after the project has started
• Poor communication resulting in misunderstandings, quality problems and rework
• Lack of resource commitment

Start a risk log before you begin your project in order to hedge any potential problems as they arise. When an issue does come up, refer to the log for possible solutions.

Planning each part of this series has been a daunting task; however, utilizing these methods helped me to organize each piece when I previously felt overwhelmed. I was able to identify and analyze each necessary part and put the plan into action. The same can work for you. Planning, outlining, and analyzing possible risks and stakeholders will leave you feeling prepared to get things done.

Check in tomorrow for part 5: organization, where we'll learn much needed methods of actually organizing and utilizing all the data and resources we have on hand.