Benefits realisation (which is often forgotten)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span><\/p>\nThe key to creating a realistic plan is actually to keep it simple. Sometimes, projects are way too complicated – they include hundreds or even thousands of details to specify what happens each day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nThis is the main reason why you need a Gantt chart to indicate your one to two-week tasks and major dependencies (that\u2019s another area where sometimes organisations can get too complicated by trying to mark every predecessor and every successor). So, to keep your project plan simple, you should mark only the major dependencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, it would be best if you also remembered that very true saying that none of us has a crystal ball (particularly in the current environment where changes occur within a short time frame).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nTherefore, the only way you can cater for that uncertainty is to make sure that when you’re planning, you have on the team helping you with these plans, whether it’s a minor capital project or a systems implementation or digital transformation.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nIn the earlier upcoming periods for which you’re planning (e.g., the next three to six months), you can put more details in your plan because you have a higher degree of uncertainty. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nBut leaving your plan at one or two month level of details is just fine. As those times get closer, your certainty about what will actually be required starts to increase and then you can decompose the plan into something more detailed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, it would be best not to go beyond that one to a two-week level previously recommended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n2. Disciplined Execution\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\nOnce you have a good, feasible plan and the team is confident in executing it, you need to instil a disciplined execution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nIn other words, \u201cyou\u2019ve planned the work, now you have to work the plan\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nDisciplined execution can be divided into five major areas:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n1. Variation management<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nVariation management is a simple process that can be implemented on a weekly basis according to the following model:<\/span><\/p>\n\nUpdate your actuals.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nRely on an early warning system (as soon as there’s a variation from what was planned, it sets off an alert to leadership).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nDevelop a simple recovery plan meaning a series of actions you\u2019re going to take to get back onto the plan. For example, suppose you have in your Gantt-Chart a task that\u2019s going to take two weeks and then at the end of the first week, someone updated the actuals and said you\u2019re only 25% complete. That indicates a variation and triggers an alert. As a result, you respond to that by developing a recovery plan.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nLook at the different options you have in your recovery plan. The most common option organisations have is to involve more resourcing. This option can work and be quite effective. But more often than not, there are many other good options you can use that don’t have additional costs and can be even more effective.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nSee the project developing a very orderly operating rhythm (the simple process of working the plan, detecting variations and recovery plans, getting back on track and repeating).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nOnce you implement variation management, you will observe your project sticking to the plan. Of course, your project may have some ups and downs. However, it will stick to the plan and deliver the desired outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n2. Risk management\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nThe next most important discipline after variation management is risk management. Risk management has a very bad reputation as it\u2019s commonly regarded as something boring and bureaucratic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, the basics of risk management are simple. You only need to look ahead, anticipate what can go wrong, and don\u2019t let anything go wrong. This simple discipline is very commonly overlooked. Nevertheless, if you put it in place as part of your regular weekly cadence, you will benefit from it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n3. Reporting<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nReporting is another issue that can make projects run into trouble. A lot of effort each week can produce too much reporting and complexity and too many metrics (and having too many metrics can be as bad as having none).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nWhen it comes to good reporting, there are two key elements you need to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nA. Good reporting surfaces only those key metrics that determine the project\u2019s ability to achieve its outcomes. You should always use five simple metrics for measuring variations from:<\/span><\/p>\n\nPlan\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\nSchedule<\/span><\/li>\nCost\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\nBenefits delivery<\/span><\/li>\nThe risk and issue profile of the project<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span><\/p>\nB. Reporting must be credible as typically there is a lack of trust in status reports and a suspicion that bad news is actually being hidden.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n4. Re-baselining\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nAnother common failure point on projects is when teams have a good plan at the start, but they fail to keep it current to a large number of small and seemingly minor changes. Increasingly, teams are working on activities that are not on the plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nAs time goes on, the plan becomes less and less relevant and no longer referred to as the guide to weekly activities. So, a project, in that case, doesn’t actually have a plan. As a result, organisations lose sight of the sequence of activities that should get them to the outcomes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n5. Benefits realisation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nFinally, no. 5 discipline for effective execution is benefits realisation. It’s essential to realise and remember how you obtain funding for the project right at the start in the quantified business case, which promises specific outcomes. Then, you have to create a plan on the timing by which these benefits would be realised.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nFor example, consider scope change requests instead of evaluating just the budget and the cost impact. You may decide to approve a high-cost increase because it actually increases the business benefits even higher. One hundred thousand dollar scope increase can bring you a half a million dollar increase in benefits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nThis is an example of how you can incorporate the benefits realisation into your day to day decision making and then track at the end to make sure those benefits are realised without allowing the project to close until they have actually been realised.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n3. Project Leadership and Team Management<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n <\/figure>\n\nThe third key practice that makes a difference between successful and failed projects is effective leadership and team management.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\n