Four Planning Techniques to Save Time on Your Project
Four Planning Techniques to Save Time on Your Project
“Planning” is a very general term. When you say you are planning a project, you are really validating scope, creating a Charter, estimating, creating a schedule, and more. Here are four techniques to use when you plan your projects. They may take a little longer in the planning process, but will save you much more time over the life of the project.Use Multiple Estimating Techniques if Possible
An important part of planning is being able to accurately estimate the work activities. Estimates of effort hours will, in turn, drive the cost and duration estimates. There are a number of techniques that can be used to estimate work – analogy, expert opinion, PERT, modeling and more. If possible, try to use two or more techniques for the estimate. If the estimates from multiple techniques are close, you will have more confidence in your numbers. If the estimates are far apart, you can look at the reasons and determine whether one technique may be more accurate than another.
Plan at Least One-Phase Ahead
Doesn’t it seem that most problems that are encountered on a project tend to surface later rather than earlier? In fact, some project managers purposely hurry through planning because they think they will catch any mistakes and fix them as the project progresses.
Unfortunately, the longer it takes for errors to be caught, the more time-consuming and expensive it is to fix them. Try to prepare for each phase of the project at least one phase in advance. For instance, fully planning the work will save time in the analysis phase. Getting the analysis work right the first time will make the design phase go more smoothly. In general, smart time investments early will more than make up for itself in future phases.
Create a Short-Term Schedule to Guide the Planning Processes
The process of planning the work may take a long time and may be very complicated. Therefore, the work should not be unorganized – for the same reasons that you are building the schedule for the project to begin with. Immediately after being assigned, the project manager should create a short-term schedule to cover the initial planning activities. For example, if the planning work is expected to take four weeks, you need a preliminary schedule that covers at least four, if not five or six weeks. This preliminary schedule covers all of the organizing and up-front planning activities until the formal project schedule is completed to guide the remainder of the project.
Establish the Triple Constraint when the Planning is Completed
At the end of the planning process you should have an agreement with your sponsor on the scope of work, the cost and duration that are needed to complete the work. These three items form a concept called the “triple constraint”. The key aspect of the triple constraint is that if one of the three items change, at least one, if not both, of the other items need to change as well. For example, if the scope changes, normally budget and schedule change as well. If the timeline is reduced, it may require a decrease in scope and/or an increase in cost.
