5 Project-Planning Tips to Help You Meet Your Goals

The Biggest Reasons Projects Fail

Don’t prioritize their projects enough. Instead, they try to do everything at once. This is a bad
idea. It increases stress, decreases the likelihood that you’ll finish what you need to and makes
it that much harder to progress effectively toward a business goal.

1. Define your projects

The first and most important thing in project planning is to figure out what projects you are
dealing with. First, what is a project? My definition is anything that takes more than a few easy
tasks to get done.
Some of your projects will be pretty obvious, but others will lurk in the background
unacknowledged. To unearth all of your projects, write down everything you’re currently working
on and everything you want to be working on. Then, group that list around specific goals.
That action will likely lead you to your project list and pick the two to five projects that are most
important, and focus on those remaining tips.

2. Give your projects a start and end date

You should know (or decide) when each project should start and end. This will allow you to
sequence projects by prioritizing them based on when they need to start or be finished. Start
and end dates will also allow you to plan around your own cycles and prevent projects from
going on for much longer than they should.

3. Make a one-page plan.

A little planning goes a long way to helping a project succeed. To create a one-page plan, jot
down your answers or notes for each of the following questions:

What problem will the project solve?

What is the benefit to the organization?
What kind of staff and budget do I need?
What are the major milestones?
What are the potential stumbling blocks?
What risks does this project pose?
What is my work plan (list of tasks or sub-items to be completed by when)?
What are the specific metrics for success?
How will you know the project is done?

4. Establish communication routines

For any project that involves multiple team members, set up communication routines in
advance. Will someone be reporting progress weekly? Monthly? Will there be a recurring call for
all parties to check in? Who is responsible for checking on whether the project is meeting its
milestones?

5. Know if and when to quit.

While it’s best to finish what you start, sometimes it’s necessary to pull the plug. If you have all
of your projects laid out, with start and end dates and a clear one-page plan that includes
milestones and communication guidelines, you should have all the information you need to
know when to quit a project.
Here some questions that can help you think through whether or not to abandon it:

Is the goal of this project still important to my organization?

What was the planned ROI for this project? What is the ROI now?
What is my opportunity cost in working on this? Could I better achieve my goals by spending
this time on other projects?
What is the emotional toll of continuing with this project?