Project planning principles and practices

Project Planning: Keys to Success

When planning a project, there are many things to consider. Among those things are the keys to success that have to be carefully addressed so they can provide the most value possible. Without them, it can be very difficult to plan a project effectively. Unfortunately, many people do not understand these keys to success and how simple they can be. Because of this, they miss the keys and end up making their project planning much more difficult than it would be otherwise. That not only slows down the project and costs money, but it can also cause the project to be completely ineffective in the long run. That could go as far as to derail the entire plan and harm the company well into the future. Fortunately, there are a few things that can be done in order to make sure the project planning is effective and successful. These keys to success have to do with using the proper approach and process while making sure the risk is distributed correctly.

Use the Incubator Approach

The first key to project planning is to use the incubator approach. It is very difficult to make changes all at once, because there is always resistance to that level of change (Lavell & Martinelli, 2008). Part of the resistance comes from not being sure the changes would be effective, and part of it comes from a lack of understanding of how to make those changes quickly and effectively. Instead of pressuring the higher-ups to change everything around, it is better to "incubate" the changes (Lavell & Martinelli, 2008). In other words, suggest them at the very lowest level of the project. Once small changes have taken hold there, one can move to higher levels within the project. It will not take long before those at the upper level of the project see that something is working, and they will want to get involved with whatever is causing healthy changes to be made.

By that point the changes will have been incubating for long enough that they will be ready to be used throughout the project, even at the highest levels (Lavell & Martinelli, 2008). That will provide value to people at those levels, and also to people at the lower levels where the project changes actually got their start. This incubation of ideas and changes is one of the keys to successful project planning, because it helps to avoid the resistance that would commonly be seen if a person were to try to make changes and provide new ideas at a higher level of management (Lavell & Martinelli, 2008). However, once the ideas start to do well at lower levels of the project, those who are at higher levels will only see the success and not spend as much time concerned about why the changes were made or whether they should have been made at all (Lavell & Martinelli, 2008).

Streamline the Process

The second key to project planning success is to streamline the process (Scott, 2009). All too often, a project has too many overlapping issues that have to be properly addressed in order to make the project operate more smoothly. Until and unless a person addresses those issues, though, they will never be corrected (Scott, 2009). Once a project is being planned, and especially after that project is up and running, many people just assume the status quo is good enough, so they do not try to make any changes (Scott, 2009). The problem with that is it could cause a lot of extra time and effort to be put into a project (Scott, 2009). That ends up costing the company in quite a few ways, and it is extremely inefficient -- which just adds to the total cost in other ways that are more difficult to quantify (Scott, 2009).

In order to streamline the process, though, all the issues must be discovered. That can be done through a careful and thorough analysis of the project, and must be performed by someone qualified to do so (Scott, 2009). Once that has been done, it is easier to see where the overlaps and issues lie. Then one can begin to remove the overlaps and adjust the issues that are being faced, in order to make the project more efficient. The more streamlined a project is, the less it will cost, the faster it will be completed, and the better it will operate overall (Scott, 2009). However, one must also be careful not to streamline something so much that vital components are removed (Scott, 2009). The key to success in this particular part of the project planning is to make sure all extraneous and unneeded steps are removed but that nothing really needed is taken away.

Outsource Control -- and Risk

Outsourcing the control of the project can seem like a dangerous idea, but it is actually one of the best ways in which a project can be correctly planned and executed (Michael, Kashiwagi, & Sullivan, 2008). This is due to the fact that the more control is outsourced the more risk is also outsourced. When a person keeps overall control of the project but allows specific areas of the project to be outsourced to others, he or she is also outsourcing the risk for those particular areas to someone else (Michael, Kashiwagi, & Sullivan, 2008). That can play a large role in whether the project moves smoothly as a whole, and can also greatly affect what gets done and what does not get done when it comes to specific aspects of the project (Michael, Kashiwagi, & Sullivan, 2008).

Not all projects can have outsourced aspects, but there are many that can be adjusted that way. Doing so is not a perfect choice, because of the loss of control. Still, it is one of the best ways to make sure the level of risk is kept low for the manager of the project, and that puts some of the pressure to be successful on the other people in the project group (Michael, Kashiwagi, & Sullivan, 2008). Knowing when to give control over to others is a big key to success when it comes to planning a project (Michael, Kashiwagi, & Sullivan, 2008). It keeps the project moving forward, and also helps to keep pressure off of the main project manager so he or she is better able to focus on the entirety of the project.