Your project plan will fail

How to make it a success, after it fails ?

Let’s go

As a PM or TPM you will make a project plan, and rely on it to drive the project. Let’s know:

1. Why your project plan fails?
2. Can you avoid failure?
3. How do you solve for a failure?

What is a project plan?

A project plan is a visual indication on how to get from point A to point B over a period of time.

Example: upgrade the database of your application from Version 1.8 to 2.3

How is it built? — A real time example

1. Tool to use: MS Excel or Google sheets
2. Top row: indicate the days/weeks
3. Left row: indicate tasks
4. Bottom: Add an appendix with all notes & questions
5. Colors

• Blue = we planned for the outage,
• Red = delayed
• Green = going per plan

Project plan I built: Delayed in middle, but success in the end !

Why your project plan fails?

• Unknown Complexities: the problem/product/project is not fully understood in depth. there could be more unknowns in your project.
• Inadequate resources: resources might not be in adequate number
• External dependencies: involves external teams, and your priorities are not their priorities. So they don’t take you seriously. and your project plan gets pushed further.

your priorities are not their priorities

• And more reasons :
• not adding enough buffers
• not talking with developers in depth
• not having planned for alternatives, at least at a high level
• not having enough experience
• Last and important Reason: not accepting the fact that the project plan fails

Can you avoid the failure?

Can you avoid failure before it occurs ? may be not.

Because..

You cannot know the complexity fully before starting the project unless you’re highly experienced in the project or its a small project. If you want to understand the complexity fully, it will take a lot of time to understand it. And if your deadlines are tight you’re already eating into your deadlines just understanding the complexity. It’s recommended to better use your time to build things than to plan for complexities that may occur far too ahead in the future. It is not agile.

So understanding the complexity fully before the project and planning for it might not be worthy in the initial stages of project. Because

1. its time consuming
2. and its not agile

So accept the fact that project plan will fail.

And be ready to solve problems in agile. Be ready to take the stress.

How do you solve for a failure

Buffer

• add buffer : add necessary buffer into the project plan. for a 1month plan , add 1 week buffer.

usually, for a 1month plan , add 1 week buffer as a minimum

External teams

• pre-inform the external team : during the planning phase if you find out a dependency on the external team, inform them about the possible dependency and the help required, so they can plan for it.
• inform the urgency to external teams : if your work is dependent on the external teams, and they are not performing it with a priority, increase the urgency on them, by communicating the urgency.

and escalate if extremely necessary

you can’t escalate every time because the team themselves are busy with their own tasks/priorities and escalation won’t work every time.

Alternative/redundant solutions

• plan for alternative solutions : while external team can solve your problems, check internally if you can do something about it. plan for alternative/redundant solutions, start implementing them. you never know - the external team may get something more important and they may have to push your work out of the queue in the last minute. always plan for alternate solutions/work-arounds instead of relying on one external team. if the external team doesn’t respond on time, you have an alternate in hand. remember, every delay risks your project plan. so over-plan, when you get there and move forward.

remember, every delay risks your project plan.

• estimate the trade-offs and choose the best option : for each alternative listed above, list down the trade-off and choose the best alternative, move forward.
• inform the stakeholders about trade-offs and results : let your management, and other teams know about the trade-offs. explain them why it is necessary to have these trade-offs and what could be the final result because of these trade-offs. if they’re okay with it, proceed. otherwise, stay put, until your roadblock clears, and accept that the project will be delayed.

otherwise, stay put, until your roadblock clears, and accept that the project will be delayed.

Conclusion

1. Why your project plan fails? Unknown Complexities, Inadequate resources, external dependencies and many more ..
2. Can you avoid failure? may be not in an agile environment
3. How do you solve for a failure? add buffers, plan for external dependencies, plan for alternative/redundant solutions

My project plan - delayed in middle, but success in the end !

Ask me questions, if you have any !