The Project Book

CHAPTER 44 NO PLAN, NO PROJECT

One of the biggest problems that project management now faces is that it’s losing the art of planning. That’s a worry because if you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a project. It really is that simple. A plan is the foundation for all activity. Whether you’re using a waterfall or an agile method, you still need a plan. For an agile project, you may plan only the next two to four weeks, while for a waterfall project you’ll be looking at the first three months at least.

A plan is a critical prerequisite when seeking to justify an investment and create some excitement and momentum around a project because, as leadership expert John Kotter says, ‘The plan is where you build your guiding coalition to support your activities’. Building the plan is the most important project activity.

Almost every organisation I’ve worked with wants to spend too long justifying a project (to itself, usually) and almost no time on planning a project. Then they wonder why their project gets into trouble almost immediately.

Whenever I started a new job and reviewed its projects, my first question of the project manager was, ‘Can I see the plan, please?’ Too often that was met with a blank look or, just as worryingly, was confused with a schedule (that’s a list of tasks, not a project plan).

ME: ‘Can I see the plan please?’

PM: ‘Yes, it’s here in Microsoft Project.’

ME: [Sigh!]

A recent Google survey asked, ‘Which processes would derive the greatest benefit from increased ...