Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes, but no plans.
—Peter F. Drucker
5 |
CHAPTER |
HABIT FIVE
Work the plan from start to finish
ADDRESS ALL ITEMS THAT THREATEN THE PLAN
Good planning takes a lot of effort and buy-in from various departments/groups. A project leader always follows an agreed-to and well-understood plan. Project leaders recognize that roadblocks or speed bumps can force them to modify the plan, but the basic strategy remains as described in the project execution plan. Once a baseline plan is in place, make sure you work that plan. In other words, first plan the work (Habit 4), then work the plan (Habit 5). This does not mean that you do not change implementation strategy with changing scope. The execution plan is a living document, and it should be a written document accessible to all team members. Sticking to the plan means that the baseline strategy should not change arbitrarily without proper communication and buy-in from all affected parties. The project leader will avoid changing course unless a drastic shift in scope takes place.
One effective way to work the plan is to do risk management. After a plan is in place, identify events which might prevent the team from achieving that plan. Encourage and engage the entire project team to identify risks (and/or opportunities) and develop mitigation plans. A project leader needs to manage risk proactively through decisive actions. With the project team and the customer (whenever possible), start listing all events that can threaten the plan. Next, assign the probability of occurrence and the quantitative impact to each such event. Then develop an appropriate mitigation plan for each risk. Regularly visit the list to reassess events that can jeopardize the original plan.
On an international power project, one key milestone (installation of a gas turbine) was at risk due to possible weather conditions (the site port closed down during monsoon season). The project leader did not want to change the original plan because the gas turbine building was going to be ready and the assembly work inside the building could continue despite the rain. An early monsoon was identified as a risk item with a possible two-month delay to the entire project. The project manager worked with the vendors to expedite delivery of key components ahead of schedule in order to mitigate the risk of a delay.
Recognizing risk and being proactive with solutions is also identified as one of the “best practices” in project management. Those project leaders who seriously deploy a risk management practice in executing projects are definitely more effective in achieving the ultimate goal of successfully completing the project in a win-win-win way. The trick is to engage the entire core team, including the customer and key vendors to actively identify risks. The risk could be to the schedule, budget overruns, technology, quality, or desired benefits. Again, this has to be a serious effort. A good risk register and an associated mitigation plan will help the project leader in working the plan from start to finish.
One of the items on the risk register was a labor shortage due to several other projects starting construction in the vicinity. In order to stick to the plan and avoid any adverse schedule impacts, the project leader decided to offer special incentives to attract skilled labor to the project. Even though the project gross margin got slightly eroded, the project leader kept all stakeholders happy and delivered on time.
Work the Plan → Adaptability
The business strategy behind promoting this habit is to keep the project team agile, flexible, and adaptable to change. Once the big picture is understood and a road map is developed to reach there, the project leader has to stick with that route. In other words, work the plan that everyone has agreed to. Assumption is the mother of most risk! Keep a close eye on the assumptions that are made in the planning cycle. No project goes completely as planned. The project leader has to make the necessary adjustments to drive results. Project leaders will keep their team adaptable to changes by constantly integrating changes to the original plan. There is a saying that the only constant in project management is “change.” In trying to work the plan, a project leader will always deploy a robust change management and risk management program.