Overview
Planning is a critical part of any project. While the practice of agile project management has altered the understanding of what planning is and its role in a project, planning is still a critical piece.
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy"
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face"
"Plan beats no plan"
- US military saying
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face"
-Mike Tyson
"Plan beats no plan"
-Tim Geithner
Elements of a Project Plan
While the principles of agile management preclude a manager from strictly adhering to a plan, any project of a given size will benefit from doing planning up front. In fact, there is evidence that accomplishing large projects absolutely requires careful and thoughtful planning.
(see Flyvbjerg, Gardner)
- Work Background from the Goal - the first step is to understand the goal of the project. This usually comes two forms, tying the project back to corporate strategy and/or a vision of a product or service, primarily from the customer experience perspective.
- Map out Tasks and Dependencies
- Uncover the Critical Task and Bottlenecks