Plan ahead - there is no other option

Planning ahead for project success

Have you noticed how often we are told we should plan ahead for travel, for studies, for a house move, for a career, for a new power station... We're always advised to plan ahead. As though there is another option. As though we could plan backwards, find a time machine, wait until after the event, then go backwards in time and try again.

You want a great holiday. Would you plan any of it after you came home? No, not an option.

You're going to deliver a presentation. Do you wait until after the conference? No, of course not.

You're movving offices. Do you wait until after you've moved in to plan it? Difficult one. Removals. Relocation. Changes to business processes. Inform the customers and suppliers. A lot to do here. Wait until afterwards? No, best to do the planning before. I can think of a company that improved its business throughput by 30% with some good planning.

So there is only one option: we must plan ahead. But effective planning begins with the end in mind. So we plan from the end. We work out what the outcomes should be, when they are due, and how to reach the end. We consider what might go wrong - the risks - and take avoiding action.

Aftewards there should be a project review to see what went right, what went wrong, and how to do better on future projects. You can build that into future planning to be ready, always, to plan ahead.

You might need help with some of this, from strategy to project initiation to project management with associated change management. Please contact me for a conversation. Planning for project success.