Build Your Plan

At last, you get to build your plan. The basic project management tasks we have described so far have helped you to pull together all the things you need for your plan. You have answered the following questions:

• What will my project deliver?
• What tasks do I need to do?
• What groups of tasks are there?
• In what order should I do these tasks?
• How long will each of these tasks take?

Now you can build your plan by putting each task against a calendar. Decide on your start date, put the first task there. Use the duration of the task to work out when it will end, and that will give you the date you’re your second task can start. Chaining your tasks together like this gives you your plan.

Remember that some tasks, or groups of tasks, can be run at the same time as others. For example, one team could be working on landscaping your garden, while another team renovates your house.

A great way to picture your plan is using a Gantt chart. These charts show the tasks, with a representation of these tasks against a calendar. The simple example below shows a plan for a couple of jobs to improve a house: renovating a living room, and landscaping a garden. You can see there is some logic in the ordering of the tasks – before painting there is preparation of surfaces, before that removing furniture to clear space. You can also see the estimate of duration, and how these add together to give the overall duration of the project. The tasks for renovating the living room take eight days. The tasks for the landscaping also take eight days, but are run in parallel to the living room, so these tasks must be done by a different person or team.

 

You can also see in this example that the work will be done during the working week, Monday to Friday. Bear in mind that if your project is a personal project then your available time may be in evenings or at weekends. Your plan needs to reflect this – don’t assume you can put in a 40 hour working week on a home project if you still holding down a day job.

Oh, and don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy-schmancy project management tool to build your plan. Use paper and pen, the back of an old envelope, whiteboard, butcher’s paper and crayons. What the plan looks like doesn’t matter. What matters is having a plan that is realistic, that you can commit to, and that will help you deliver whatever it is you’re working towards.

Have fun putting your plan together, and in the next post we will take a look at the plan to identify key milestones you can aim for along the way.

Estimate the effort required to complete each task

If you’ve followed the posts so far you are well on the way to creating your project plan. You have a list of tasks needed to deliver the outcomes of your project. You put your tasks into logical groupings. Then you arranged your tasks in a logical order to show which tasks must be completed before others can begin.

Now you need to estimate how long each of those tasks will take. At this stage it is only an estimate – you can’t know for sure how long something will take unless you can foresee the future. You won’t know, for example, what problems might slow you down, or what you will have to do to fix these problems. Estimation can also be difficult if you are doing work that you have not done before, so you have no experience to base your estimate on. Estimation can also be difficult if you are doing creative work, such as design – who knows how long it will take to create a design that you or your client is comfortable with? You might also need to know who is going to do the work – someone with experience will work faster, and make less errors, than someone without experience.

In short, estimation is fraught with difficulties. No wonder then that this can cause problems with projects. Under-estimates can mean the project team is working against difficult or impossible targets. It can mean that your project is under-funded – for example if you asked for costs to cover 100 days, but should have asked for 200 days. Impossible timeframes and lack of funds will cause stress both for you and your team.

So, what can you do to improve your estimating?

For now, while we work through the first version of your first project plan I suggest you keep it simple.

Think about your first task, and work out how long you think it would take you. You need to consider how much time you are devoting to your project. Let’s say you are building a fence. If you think this would take you five days to build, but you can only do this at weekends, then it is going to take you two and a half weekends. That’s three weeks – not one.

Use your experience. If you have built fences before you will have a better understanding of the effort and problems involved. Compare the fence you are building now to the fences you have built before. What is the same, what is different? What does that mean for your estimate?

Use the work breakdown structure to visualise each task. A ‘dry run’ of your project may help you to estimate. How long will it take to dig post holes? How long will it take to procure and transport the timber? How long will it take to set the posts?

When will you be finished? This is about being clear on the scope of your project. Are you finished when the fence is built? Or when it is painted or treated? Or when you have painted a second coat? If you are not completely clear on scope your estimate will be way out – and it could be that your project expenses are way out too. If you underestimate cost, you can lose profit.

Now, you have ordered and grouped tasks, and you have estimates. All you need to do now is build your plan.

Arrange your tasks in order

So by now you should have an idea of all the things your project is going to deliver. You should also have a list of the tasks you need to complete to deliver these things. You have also put your tasks into natural groupings. The next basic project management step is to think about the order these tasks will be completed in.

Knowing the order will help to translate your list of tasks from a “To Do” list to a plan. Knowing the order means you know which tasks you will complete first. And then when you have finished that task, which task comes next, and so on. The plan guides you through each task, one by one, until you reach the end of the project. Having this ordered plan makes you efficient. When you have time for your project you don’t need to wonder “What next?” – the plan will tell you this.

So what things might you consider when you put your tasks in order?
Some tasks simply cannot be completed before others are completed. For example, you can’t build the walls on your new house, until you have completed the foundations. You can’t tile until you have prepared the wall. You’ can’t knit a sweater until you have bought the wool.

There may be some tasks that need to be done early because there is a long lead time. If your tiles need to be shipped in from overseas you might complete the task of ordering them early, so they are delivered by the time you are ready to tile.
It may be that you only have the resources to do a task at a particular time. For example, you can borrow your friends van to help you pick up building materials, but it is available one weekend only.

Consider also that not all tasks need to be ordered sequentially, one after the other. You may start some tasks at the same time as others, especially when you have a team of people who can all work on different tasks. You don’t need to wait for your small business to start up before you start working on your business plan.

Ordering your tasks is about putting them in a logical sequence, but also, as you can see from the examples, you may start to think about scheduling them against a calendar. The next step of basic project planning which will really help you to schedule your plan is to estimate the effort required to complete each task.

Group similar tasks together

I recommended in an earlier post that the first thing you need to do when planning a project is to list every task.  What are all the things your project will create and what are the things you need to do to create them?

This list is a great start, and it helps to keep it simple at this stage and just let your mind roam freely over what might need to be done.  When you have this list your next step will be to start making it into a plan.

Firstly, group together things which are similar.  Things you are going to make or do which fit together naturally.  For example, if your project was to renovate a room in your house you might group together all those things you need to do before you get started: maybe you need to buy tools, paint, or other materials.  You might group together all the things you need to do to prepare the room: clearing out furniture, stripping wallpaper, sanding woodwork.  You might then group together all the things you need to do for the renovation itself: painting, repairing.

Let's look at another example of grouping tasks.  If you were setting up a new business you might group together all those things you need to do before you get started: agreeing a company structure, finding an accountant, market research, building a pricing model.  All of those things would help you to put together a business plan.  So, your first group of tasks is based on creating the business plan.  Another group of tasks might be all the things you need to do from the moment you create your business: setting up shop, marketing, manufacturing.  Another group might be all the things you need to do to market your business: buiding a web-site, advertising, networking.

With each of these examples the groups of tasks all aim towards delivering something to your project.  It might be an empty room ready for painting, or it might be a marketing plan put in place.

Groups of tasks like these are often used in project management to provide a target to aim for, or a 'milestone'.  Completing all the tasks in a group, which often means actually delivering something, can provide a great sense of achievement.  That's another great reason to put some thought into your groups.  Try to design groups of work that not only fit together naturally, but allow you to complete something early in your project.

Of course you can have groups within groups.  In our new business example above there is a group of tasks for marketing which are part of the group of tasks for kicking off the business.  This is also a way of making it easier for yourself to get early wins.

So far we have listed the tasks we need to complete for our project, and we have grouped tasks into natural bundles that will often deliver something to our project.  The next step of building up our work breakdown structure, or project plan, is to think about the order in which we complete each of the tasks.

Keep it Simple

Project management (PM) can be a huge, complex, but powerful tool. You can plan and manage massive projects like building a bridge, or a rail line, or sending a satellite into orbit. To run this level of project you would need to plan, schedule, cost and re-plan until your plan was perfect. If you are sending someone into space, or building a rail line, don’t rely on this blog!

This blog is about basic project management. It is about using the fundamental, basic techniques of PM to help get you achieve your personal projects more efficiently. It is about delivering your work projects efficiently too, especially when you want to see results quickly. You can keep avoid over-engineering your work but still use project management techniques to help you deliver.

Let’s use an example. You have been asked, let’s say, to facilitate a small training course at your workplace. It may not make sense to build a complex project plan for this, but it would make sense to at least think of all the things you need to deliver this project, and all the tasks you need to complete. You might need to invite a speaker, book a room, arrange catering, arrange IT resources or stationery, send invites, print materials…You can use a work breakdown structure to help you quickly determine everything you need, what you need to do to deliver these, and to work on your priorities.

You do not need to agonise over the plan, or make it complex. You can keep it simple. The ability to ‘keep it simple’ is one of the ‘soft’ skills I recommend in Project Life for anyone managing a project. If you can simplify things, instead of adding complexity, you will make things easier for yourself, your team, and your stakeholders – the people you are managing the project for.

List every task

You can’t get more basic in basic project management than defining your work breakdown structure. It’s a fundamental part of planning your project. But before we look at what it can do for you, let’s pull that bit of jargon apart and say what it is: it's a list of all the things you need to do to complete your project.

That’s all it is. A “To do” list.

Put into your list everything you think you need to do.  The list might include tasks which help prepare for your project, such as buying materials or planning.  It should include all the tasks you need to do complete your project, maybe building, writing, creating.  Your list should also contain all the things you need to do to finish your project.

When you start making this list don't worry too much about formatting it, or ordering it.  There is more you can do later to turn your list into a plan.  For now just list every task that comes to mind. Later we will think about grouping similar tasks together and putting our tasks in order

The following is an extract from Project Life which explains the benefits to you of building your work breakdown structure when planning a project:

My first step in building the plan is to identify smaller jobs that make up the whole project. I literally break down the work into component tasks. Why do we go to the trouble of breaking down the project into these component tasks? Why not just say “Renovate bathroom”? I know roughly what the tasks are, so why write them down separately?

Because seeing each task as a separate item forces me to think about each step I need to take. I can take each of those steps in my mind and think about the problems I might encounter. Thinking through each step in detail allows me to foresee and prepare for work, which otherwise I am simply going to stumble into, perhaps unprepared and without the right tools. I can see steps that I might miss out or not consider properly if I thought only at project level. I can think through things that might go wrong, or might be difficult for me. If I am able to spot these risks, then I can also think about adding other tasks that help me to deal with those risks.

Having broken down the project into these component tasks, and thought about the problems that might arise, I can estimate more accurately how long each step might take. Estimating how long each step takes, and adding up each of these estimates, is going to be much more accurate than estimating at project level. My estimate for ‘renovate bathroom’ can be little more than a guess, but my estimate for “paint ceiling” has some chance of being more realistic.

Seeing each step separately also allows me to put the steps into a logical sequence. It allows me to spot dependencies between tasks. I know that before I can put in new tiles I need to remove the old tiles.

I can also group related tasks together. For example, there are a number of things I need to buy up front. There are a number of things I need to do to prepare the bathroom before tiling. This grouping gives me a sense of the main sets of tasks within the project, and also helps me to think through if I have included all such tasks.

Having the project split into smaller steps also allows me to think about who can do the work. Perhaps I can give some tasks to other people, and ask them to do the work. I will get a plumber to do some of the key tasks, for which I do not have the right skills or experience.

Formulating a plan with step after organised step allows me to get an accurate picture of what I need to do to get to the end of the project. It gives me a ‘rich’ picture, saturated with detail, which gives me the ability to visualise more clearly what is involved in getting to the end of the project: to having a renovated bathroom.

Finally, when I start work, the plan helps me to focus on one task at a time, not the whole project. I can see that to get to the end of the project I need to finish step one first, then move onto step two, then step three. Without this rich picture I might not work as logically or efficiently.

Basic Project Management

Let’s walk through the key steps of basic project management.

Firstly, let’s assume that you have a project in mind.  But be sure that the piece of work you want to do is a project.  A project is a temporary endeavour that delivers an outcome.  For example, building a house is a project as it has a limited duration, and delivers the outcome of a complete house.  Maintaining that house is not a project because that task will never end.  Let’s hope that your project is also something which is going to help you achieve one of your goals, and is fun too.

Now, think through all the things you need to do to complete that project, and list every task needed to complete your project.  If you are building a house that could be an extensive list, including buying land and materials, obtaining permission, building work, decorating, and landscaping.  Once you have completed all the tasks on your list, you have finished your project. (So, make sure every task is on there!)

Now, this big list of tasks is probably not very structured at this stage, so let’s structure the tasks into a more workable project plan.  

Group similar tasks together.  For example, you might group together all the tasks you need to complete to prepare the building site, or all the tasks involved in laying the building’s foundations.  

Arrange your tasks in order, e.g. you will not be building the roof until you have built walls, and the walls are in turn dependent on the foundations being in place.  There are other reasons for ordering tasks, e.g. when the right people to the job, or the dollars to pay for it become available.

Now, estimate the effort required to complete each task.  How many days or hours will be needed to finish that task?  Think about who can allocate to each task to do the work, and what their level of skill is.  Think about how much time they have available for your project, making sure that you allow for any other work they need to do.

Now you have enough information to build your plan.  Drop all of these items into a calendar.  You need to take into account all dependencies between tasks, when people are available, effort required, and how much time they can devote to your project.

With your plan in place you can identify key milestones.  These are the big targets you will reach during your project, before you reach the end, like the foundations of the house are complete, the walls are up, the roof is on, the decoration and fit-out is finished.  It is easier to aim for a milestone than the end of the whole project.

Ok, that’s the first version of your plan.  What now?

Think about how risky the project is.  What can go wrong?  How likely is this risk?  And if it does go wrong, what will you do to fix it?  This thinking gives your risk plan.  And that will help you to think about how much contingency you need to add to your plan – that’s extra time and resource which you might need to dip into if things do not go as planned.

Ok, you’re done with planning. Publish the plan to anyone who is working on it, and anyone you are doing the project for.  Let them all know what is going to happen, when it needs to happen, and when the whole thing is going to finish.

With the plan out of the way you now just need to do the work.  At this point you have stopped project planning, but the hard work of project management has only just started.   Now you need to make sure each task is completed on schedule.  This almost certainly means you will need to deal with problems.  This is the golden rule of project management – things go wrong.  You will need to fix up the problems to keep your project on track.

While you are running your project you should track your progress, regularly recording and publishing if you are working as planned.  You need to know how well (or badly) things are going, and your team will also be interested in this.  You will need to fix up those problems.  You may also need to do some re-planning if the problems you have encountered, or things you have learned mean the original plan no longer makes sense.

Project Complete?    When you get to the end of the project, celebrate and congratulate everyone involved.  Take a few moments to see what lessons you have learned from the project, and what you could you do better next time.

Now…start your next project.

Don't just do projects - manage them.

Have you ever wanted to do something but never got started?  Maybe you were going to learn a language, or learn how to paint, or write a novel,  but you just never really managed to get going.

Have you ever started something but never finished it?  Maybe you started that novel , but never got to the end.  Or maybe you were going to run a marathon but had to drop out of training because you couldn’t find the time.

Have you ever finished something but found that it was a nightmare to achieve?  Maybe something your manager asked you to do at work.  Or maybe you decided to renovate your house, or even just part of it, and it seemed to go on for ever.  There was more to it than you had anticipated.  You encountered obstacle after obstacle.  Lots of things went wrong.  You wished you had never started.

Does any of that sound familiar?

We spend a lot of time in our lives doing things which we don’t always manage effectively.  We do things which are projects, but we don’t manage them like projects.  Because we don’t manage our projects effectively we don’t complete them, or they take way too long, or they are more difficult than they need to be.  We generate hassle for ourselves, and stumble over problems we have not anticipated.  So we find the experience of doing our projects frustrating and irritating.

This site will explain principles of basic project management that you can use to manage your personal projects, or your work projects, to help you to deliver successful outcomes.