How to: Plan

What does this look like?

Managers who plan effectively:

• set goals and objectives
• develop schedules and assign tasks
• establish clear timeframes
• anticipate potential problems and plan accordingly
• measure performance against goals
• evaluate results.

How can I do this?

1.    Develop a plan

• Before starting new projects develop a comprehensive plan that includes:
  • goals and objectives
  • required tasks and who will do what
  • timeframes
  • resources required and where they’ll come from
  • measures of progress and success.
• Involve others when developing plans, especially those who’ll implement them. Ask if anything’s missing and if your goals and timeframes are realistic.
• Present your plan clearly. Use flowcharts, spreadsheets, tables and diagrams where appropriate.
• Break large and complex projects into a set of smaller goals with their own plans. Create a master plan which shows how everything fits together.
• If developing plans isn’t your strength, delegate the task to someone more suited. Brief them well, with clear goals, objectives and project parameters.

2.    Manage resources wisely and efficiently

• Make the best possible use of all your resources, including people. Assign tasks to match people’s competence and capacity.
• Create a budget with a timeline for expenditure.
• Allocate some reserve for contingencies.
• Track your expenditure and manage the budget.

3.    Anticipate potential problems

• Think about what could go wrong and worst-case scenarios.
• Rank potential problems from most likely to least likely.
• Create a contingency plan for each most likely problem.
• The riskiest elements of your plan are often the ones you have least control over, such as people working in remote locations and consultants or suppliers. Keep in regular contact with the people you need to rely on.

4.    Monitor progress

• Set up a process for monitoring progress e.g schedule regular project meetings.
• Keep track of timeframes and time left to completion.
• Check in at key points with those working on assigned tasks, to identify problems and delays as soon as possible.

5.    Learn from others

• If planning isn’t your strength, try to learn from others who do it well. Talk to them about strategies and try applying them yourself.
• Ask others who’ve followed your plans in the past for feedback. What did they like? What didn’t they like? Take their feedback on board for your next project.

You may find this challenging if you…

• don’t have the patience to plan
• don’t like following plans and processes
• struggle to manage time
• tend to wait until the last minute
• don’t have orderly ways of working.

You’re not planning effectively if you…

• depend too much on rules, regulations, procedures and structure
• don’t cope well with change
• focus too much on plans and tasks and not enough on people.