mission controlled the 5 step guide to planning projects

8/18/2019 Mission Controlled The 5 Step Guide to Planning Projects

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MISSION CONTROLLEDTHE 5-STEP GUIDE TO PLANNING PROJECTS


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1

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL(SO PLAN TO SUCCEED)

Nobody launches a new project andintends for it to fail. But time and

again projects do fail, for a vast

range of reasons.

For people in charge of projects, big

and small, it may seem that the stakes

are high, and often they are.

But there are ways of stacking the

odds in your favour. Among the most

important is resisting the very humanurge to jump straight in. Good planning

is vital for success.

In the following pages you’ll discover

the ve steps that will ensure that

your planning hits the mark to deliver

successful projects.

RESIST THE VERY HUMAN

URGE TO JUMP STRAIGHT

IN. GOOD PLANNING IS

VITAL FOR SUCCESS

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As the track dust settled and the jubilation subsided, Scotland’s public

funds watchdog, Audit Scotland,

stepped in to give its assessment.

And it was good. In fact, it was great.

Not only were around 1.2 million

tickets sold, but, in the end, the

Games were also delivered under

budget, with £34 million left in the pot.

Audit Scotland identied many reasons

for the success, but chief among themwas that “a shared vision agreed by

the strategic partners allowed partners

to work towards a common objective”.

Whether your project is a colossal

celebration of sport or a small product

upgrade your starting block will be the

same – you’ll need to gure out what

you want to achieve.

2

UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE

So your organisation has spotteda need, perhaps to improve a

product or service, or even launch

something new. It’s easy to get

carried away and jump straight in.

But you should stop and ask yourself

one simple question: Why? What do

I expect to happen after investing

considerable time and effort on this?

What does success look like?

For a sense of this success, youcan look back to a wet night in

August 2014 in Glasgow. Despite

the rain, the thousands of fans

who congregated in Scotland’s

national stadium, Hampden Park,

showed no signs of the weather

dampening their spirits. If anything,

the roar of the crowds at the nal

events of the 2014 Commonwealth

Games must have given the

organisers condence that thecompetition was surely a triumph.

STEP 1: Create the guiding light

“A SHARED VISION

AGREED BY THE

STRATEGIC PARTNERS

ALLOWED PARTNERS

TO WORK TOWARDS

A COMMON OBJECTIVE”

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4/19

3

It may seem obvious that you needto establish your overall objectives,

but not everyone is doing it properly,

according to survey results published

by the Project Management Institute

(PMI) in its 2015 report Pulse of the

Profession. The PMI looked at the

reasons for the projects of its member

organisations failing in the previous 12

months. It discovered that the primary

reason in 30 per cent of cases was the

absence of an adequate vision or goalfor the project.

Some may call it a vision or a

guiding light, but, when you boil

them down, they do the same thing.

It’s a statement that reects the

core of your idea, and it’s worth

spending time crafting this guiding

light into something meaningful

that reects the core of your

idea in simple language.

This is what will win hearts andminds. But, crucially, it can also be

used as a reference for decision

making further down the line.

Let’s say the chief executive wants

the new product you’re working

on to include an extra feature,

but you think that it isn’t in keeping

with the scope of the project. You can

simply point to the vision and ask:

“Does your request t with this?”

OF PROJECTS FAILED,PRIMARILY DUE TO

INACCURATE VISION

OR GOALS

Source: PMI30

%

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WHAT TO CONSIDER FOR

YOUR GUIDING LIGHT

PROJECT TEAM

TIMESCALES OBJECTIVES

REASON, NEED,

RATIONALE

ASSUMPTIONS

CONSTRAINTS

KEY

REQUIREMENTS

EXPECTED

OUTCOME

4

Create a guiding light for successDiscover how to get started

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5

DON’T LEAVE ANYSTONE UNTURNED

Ever heard the phrase: “There’s nosuch thing as a wrong answer”?

Well it’s worth bearing that in mind

when you’re gathering together

information during the planning

phase of a project.

You’ll need to identify key players

in the project and, where possible,

get them all together physically or

virtually. In reality, getting a full

house may not be possible, so youmay need to catch up with some

people individually.

At this point there should be no lter

– every point is valid, every idea has

a place. Encouraging a free ow of

information should be your main

goal. And don’t forget to capture

expectations and assumptions as

well as requirements. You’ll need

to manage all of these during thelife of the project through effective

communication (more on that later).

“EVERY POINT IS VALID,EVERY IDEA HAS A PLACE.

ENCOURAGING A FREE

FLOW OF INFORMATION

IS YOUR MAIN GOAL. AND

DON’T FORGET TO CAPTURE

EXPECTATIONS AND

ASSUMPTIONS AS WELL

AS REQUIREMENTS”

STEP 2: Capture requirements, expectations and assumptionsShare eBook



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6

According to reports from the BBC, theproblem was due to the rail operator

RFF giving the wrong dimensions to

the train company. The measurements

were for stations built 30 years ago,

but there are plenty more stations

that are 50 years old, and they had

wider platforms.

It’s likely that this could have been

avoided with one simple “I should

mention...” (or “ je dois mentionner ”),but that means getting the right

people involved. You should create

the right environment to encourage

people to share, so you can tap into

the deep reserve of their collective

knowledge and experience.

France’s national train operatorSNCF certainly knows how it feels

to have missed a crucial piece

of information after hitting the

headlines in 2014. It launched

a €15 billion makeover of the

country’s regional express trains,

which included a eet of shiny

new rolling stock. Any commuters

waiting excitedly at platforms for the

new carriages to arrive would have

been disappointed. It turned outthat the trains were delayed –

because they were too wide for

some 1,300 platforms – which

then needed to be ‘shaved’ at a

considerable cost to the state.

€15 BILLIONFRENCH RAIL OPERATOR

SNCF’S INVESTMENT

IN NEW TRAINS...

WHICH WERE TOO BIG

FOR PLATFORMS

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8/19

WAYS TO GATHER

REQUIREMENTS

PROTOTYPES

MIND MAPPING FOCUS GROUPS

INTERVIEWS

QUESTIONNAIRES

GROUP

CREATIVITY

BRAINSTORMING

FACILITATED

WORKSHOPS

7

Gather your requirements Discover how to get started

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9/19

8

SORT THROUGH WHAT YOUNEED (AND DON’T NEED)

So you’ve gathered a gold mine ofinformation from the people who

matter. It’s now time to dig into the

information to gure out what’s

precious, and what isn’t worth

its weight in gold.

In other words, what do you need to

deliver? The simple way of thinking

about your deliverables is to take

everyone’s requirements and

measure them against your vision.

You’ll start by taking the wish

list, prioritising it and focusing on

everything you absolutely need.

And this is a chance to decide onwhat won’t make the cut. This

list of deliverables will give you

your project scope.

You’ll then need to let your

stakeholders know what you’ve

decided and why, again using

the vision to help justify your

decision and to get agreement

from all parties. By managing

expectations you’ll avoid lengthyconfusion at the delivery stage

when the CEO is wondering where

that exciting idea of theirs went.

“THE SIMPLE WAY OF THINKING ABOUT YOUR

DELIVERABLES IS TO TAKE EVERYONE’S REQUIREMENTSAND MEASURE THEM AGAINST YOUR VISION”

STEP 3: Decide on the deliverablesShare eBook



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9

By communicating the scope to thestakeholders, this is also a chance

for them to spot any gaps. Despite

the best efforts from the best minds

in your organisation, some things can

be missed, but as you build up an

understanding of how the project will

develop, those missing links should

become more visible.

What you’ll be left with is a highly

focused scope. It’s something youwant to get correct up front before

rushing in to kick off the project,

and with good reason, according

to experienced project manager

Dr Andrew Makar, consultant at

Tactical Project Management. “A

project’s scope has a direct impact

on the other two elements of the

project’s triple constraint – time

and resources,” he said. “If the

project team can’t agree to thescope, the other two elements will

keep changing despite the project

manager’s best intent.”

Imagine the scenario: you’rebuilding the house you’ve imagined

for years. You’ve saved just enough

to make your dreams a reality.

You’ve got plans which have been

approved and construction is under

way, except you’ve forgotten to add

something at the outset. After a bit

of head scratching and a cup of tea

(or ten) your contractor comes back

with a new cost which is wildly more

than if it was planned from thestart. Your budget’s burst, your bank

doesn’t want to know and you end

up with a shell of a house without a

roof. And you really need a roof.

“A PROJECT’S SCOPE HAS ADIRECT IMPACT ON THE OTHER

TWO ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT’S

TRIPLE CONSTRAINT – TIME AND

RESOURCES. IF THE PROJECT TEAM

CAN’T AGREE TO THE SCOPE, THE

OTHER TWO ELEMENTS WILL KEEP

CHANGING DESPITE THE PROJECT

MANAGER’S BEST INTENT”

Dr Andrew Makar, consultant at

Tactical Project Management

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11/19

SCOPE

STATEMENT

USERACCEPTANCE

CRITERIA

PROJECT

ASSUMPTIONS

PROJECT SCOPE

DESCRIPTION

PROJECT

DELIVERABLES

PROJECT

BOUNDARIES

PROJECT

CONSTRAINTS

DELIVERABLE 1

DELIVERABLE 2

DELIVERABLE 3

PROCESS

CRITERIA

WHAT IS IN SCOPE

WHAT IS OUT OF SCOPE

TIME LIMITATION

RESOURCE LIMITATION

TECHNICAL LIMITATION

CONTRACT LIMITATION

PROJECT GOALS & OBJECTIVES

PROJECT DETAILS & CHARACTERISTICS

1 0

Develop a scope Discover how to get started

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12/19

1 1

PLAN FOR THE BEST,EXPECT THE WORST

As the saying goes: hope for the best,but expect the worst. It’s the ‘worst’

part of the equation that you need to

spend time assessing.

Fixating on the negative may not make

you a big hit at parties, or anywhere

really, but it will give you a chance to

put measures in place to help reduce

that risk, whether that’s having some

form of insurance or backup plan.

You’ll have to think about the

risks from inside and outside your

organisation and understand their

potential impact – ranging from small

knocks to the timetable to cataclysmic

changes in the marketplace that

makes your project irrelevant.

“IDENTIFYING RISK STILLISN’T SECOND NATURE

FOR EVERYONE MANAGING

PROJECTS”

STEP 4: IDENTIFY THE RISKSShare eBook



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1 2

and risks not being properly dened. You would have thought that, over

time, the value of identifying project

risks would have been more widely

embedded, but actually the reverse

is happening. The report points out

that “64 per cent of organisations

report the frequent use of risk

management practices, down from

a high of 71 per cent in 2012”.

It goes on to say that: “83 percent of high performers report

frequent use of risk management

practices, compared to only 49

per cent of low performers.” In

other words, identifying risk still

isn’t second nature for everyone

managing projects.

For example, it’s worth keeping awatchful eye on the ‘enemy within’.

Are there cultural issues in your

organisation or even ofce politics that

could throw a spanner in the works?

The day-to-day risks could range from

recruitment delays to a lack of training

on new technologies. And then there

are the bigger issues that you’ll need

to keep in view, such as the possibility

of funding drying up or suppliers notdelivering on time. And you may even

want to think about the impact of

global catastrophes, such as Ebola

outbreaks or hurricanes, if your project

relies on areas of the world where

these are possibilities.

According to the PMI’s 2015 Pulse of

the Profession report, of the projects

that failed in the last 12 months

30 per cent were due to opportunities

OF HIGH

PERFORMERS

REPORT FREQUENT

USE OF RISKMANAGEMENT

PRACTICES

Source: PMI

83%

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14/19

PROJECT RISKS

TECHNICAL

TECHNOLOGY

PERFORMANCE

RELIABILITY

QUALITY

COMPLEXITY

VENDORS

SUPPLIERS

REGULATORY

CUSTOMER TEAM

FUNDING

MARKET

ENVIRONMENT

TEAM

SCHEDULE

METHODS

EQUIPMENT

TOOLS

RESOURCES

ATTITUDE

AVAILABILITY

EXPERIENCE

KNOWLEDGE

EDUCATION

FUNDING

DEPENDENCIES

CULTURE

PLAN

MANAGEMENT

INTERNAL EXTERNALPROJECT

MANAGEMENT

1 3

Plot out the risks

Discover how to get started

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KEEP THE PEOPLE WHOMATTER IN THE LOOP

And you’ll want to keep them in theloop regularly. Their involvement

can help you make the right

decisions, so you can ultimately

deliver a successful project.

You’ll also have to make

sure that you are bringing

as much clarity to your

communications as

possible, and pitch

the right level of detailto the right stakeholder.

For anyone in doubt aboutthe value of crystal clear

communication at the start and

throughout the life of a project,

here’s one sobering fact – one

out of ve projects fail due to

ineffective communications,

according to PMI’s Pulse of the

Profession report.

To have a ghting chance of success,

the most crucial informationyou’ll want to communicate with

stakeholders is the scope – what

you are planning on delivering.

1 IN 5 PROJECTS FAIL DUE TOINEFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Source: PMI

STEP 5: Communicate clearly throughout

1 4

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Plan your communicationsDiscover how to get started

PROJECT STAKEHOLDER

COMMUNICATION PLAN

• FULLY ENGAGED

• GREATEST EFFORT TO SATISFY

• MANAGE CLOSELY

• KEEP SATISFIED

• DON’T BORE WITH MESSAGE

• KEEP INFORMED

• GIVE ADEQUATE INFORMATION

• ENSURE NO MAJOR ISSUES ARISE

• HELP WITH THE DETAIL OF

THE PROJECT

• KEEP INFORMED

• MONITOR (MINIMUM EFFORT)

• DO NOT EXCESSIVELY

COMMUNICATE

L OW I NT E RE S T H IG H IN T E RES T

L O W P O W

E R

H I G H

P O WE R

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17/19

THE 5-STEP GUIDE TO PLANNINGSUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

www.mindgenius.com

STEP 1.Create the guiding light

Understand why this project is needed and create a guidinglight so everyone can work toward a common goal.

STEP 2.Capture requirements,

expectations and assumptions

Identify and involve the right people and comprehensively

gather their requirements, expectations and assumptions.

Encourage a free-ow of information from stakeholders so you

don’t miss a thing.

STEP 3.Decide on the deliverables

Take the wish list from stakeholders and measure it againstthe vision to determine what the project needs to deliver (the

scope). Agree it with your stakeholders.

STEP 4.Identify the risks

Take the time to nd out the risks to your project. Involve your

stakeholders to draw from their collective knowledge. Look at

internal, external, technical and project management risks.

STEP 5.

Communicate clearly throughout

Communicate with stakeholders with the right frequency

and at the right level throughout planning and beyond to getinformation, spot gaps and get agreement on everything from

the vision to the scope.

HIT THE LAUNCH BUTTON Discover how to get started

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REFERENCES

www.mindgenius.com

So you’ve read our highlights of news stories and reports in the previous pages and want to learn more? Here’s our sources:

Well done to Commonwealth Games. Audit Scotland gives its assessment

www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/central/2015/nr_150312_commonwealth_games_third.pdf

The Project Management Institute sheds light on the reasons for project failures, and the adoption of risk identication in its 2015 report

Pulse of the Profession: Capturing the value of project management

www.pmi.org/~/media/PDF/learning/pulse-of-the-profession-2015.ashx

Oops. There’s trouble on the railtracks in France. New trains are too wide for platforms, reports The Telegraph

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10845789/French-rail-company-order-2000-trains-too-wide-for-platforms.html

The Project Management Institute points out the value of good communications for project success in the 2013 report The high cost of low

performance: the essential role of communications

www.pmi.org/~/media/PDF/Business-Solutions/The-High-Cost-Low-Performance-The-Essential-Role-of-Communications.ashx

This guide © MindGenius Ltd 2015

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PLAN FOR PROJECT SUCCESS

Make the complex simple with MindGenius, an intuitive

planning tool for people who manage projects.

Capture and organise your project needs to create a

plan that works, present it effectively to get the people

who matter on board and control your project through to

a successful completion.

For projects, it’s the start of something special.

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