Chapter 18

Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as

You Plan Your Project
In This Chapter
▶ Clarifying your project’s purpose
▶ Describing outcomes, schedules, and resources
▶ Addressing the uncertainties

W hen you begin a project, you always feel the pressure to jump in and
start working immediately to meet the aggressive time schedules.
Although you’re not exactly sure of where to start, you know you have the
greatest chance of success if you plan out your project before you start the
actual work. Answer the ten questions in this chapter to be sure you’ve com-
pletely identified all the work your project will require.

What’s the Purpose of Your Project?

An accurate appreciation of your project’s purpose can lead to better plans, a
greater sense of team member commitment, and improved performance. As
soon as you’re assigned to your project, get a clear and complete picture of its
significance. You can do so by determining the following:

✓ What situation(s) led to your project?

✓ Who had the original idea?
✓ Who else hopes to benefit from it?
✓ What would happen if your project weren’t done?

See Chapters 2 and 3 for more details about clarifying a project’s purpose.

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336 Part VI: The Part of Tens

Whom Do You Need to Involve?

Knowing early whom you need to involve allows you to plan for their partici-
pation at the appropriate stages in your project. Involving these people in a
timely manner ensures that their input will be available when it’s needed and
lets them know you value and respect their contributions.

As you determine who may play a role in your project’s success, categorize
them as follows:

✓ Drivers: People looking for your project’s results

✓ Supporters: People who can help your project succeed
✓ Observers: People interested in your project

After you have this comprehensive list, decide whom you need to involve and
when and how you want to involve them. (See Chapters 3, 9, and 10 for more
information on identifying project audiences.)

What Results Will You Produce?

Specify all the results you expect your project to achieve. Be sure that you
clearly describe each product, service, or impact; make the outcomes mea-
surable and include performance targets. Confirm that your project’s drivers
believe these outcomes meet their needs and expectations (see Chapter 3 for
more about project drivers). See Chapter 2 for more discussion about fram-
ing your project objectives.

What Constraints Must You Satisfy?

Identify all information, processes, and guidelines that may restrict your proj-
ect activities and your performance. When you know your constraints, you
can plan to minimize their effects on your project. Distinguish between the
following:

✓ Limitations: Restrictions that people outside your project team set

✓ Needs: Restrictions that you and your project’s team members establish

Chapter 2 has more about project constraints and ways to overcome them.

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 Chapter 18: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as You Plan Your Project 337
What Assumptions Are You Making?
As soon as you begin thinking about your project, document all assumptions
you make about it — after all, each of those assumptions can lead to one or
more project risks that you may choose to plan for in advance. Continue
adding to your list of assumptions as you develop the different parts of your
project plan. Update your plans whenever an assumption changes or you find
out its actual value. See Chapter 2 for further details about project assump-
tions and Chapter 8 for a lot more information about project risks.

What Work Has to Be Done?

Identify all the activities required to produce your project’s deliverables so
that you can assign responsibilities for them, develop schedules, estimate
resource needs, give specific tasks to team members, and monitor your proj-
ect’s performance. For each activity, specify the following:

✓ The work to be done: The processes and steps that each activity entails
✓ Inputs: All people, facilities, equipment, supplies, raw materials, funds,
and information necessary to perform each activity
✓ Results you expect: Products, services, situations, or other deliverables
that you expect each activity to produce
✓ Interdependencies and relationships: Activities that you must complete
before you can start the next one; activities you can start after you’ve
completed the current one
✓ Durations: The number of work periods required to perform each activity

See Chapter 4 for information on describing project work.

When Does Each Activity Start and End?

Develop a detailed schedule with clearly defined activities and frequent
intermediate milestones. Having this information on hand allows you to give
team members precise guidance on when to perform their assignments. This
information also supports your ongoing monitoring and control of work in
progress. Take the following into account when you create your schedule:

✓ Duration: The number of work periods required to perform each indi-

vidual activity

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338 Part VI: The Part of Tens

✓ Interdependencies: What you must finish before you can begin your
activity
✓ Resource availability: When you need particular resources and when
they’re available

See Chapter 5 for more information on how to develop a project schedule.

Who Will Perform the Project Work?

Knowing who will perform each task and how much effort they’ll have to
devote allows you to plan for their availability and more accurately estimate
the overall project budget. Specify the following information for all people
who need to work on your project:

✓ Their names, position descriptions or titles, and the skills and knowl-
edge they need to do the assignment
✓ The specific roles each person will have on an activity when more than
one person will work on the same activity, as well as how they can coor-
dinate their efforts
✓ The level of effort each person has to invest
✓ The exact time when people will do their work if they will work less than
full time on an activity

Consult with the people who’ll perform the project tasks to develop this
information. See Chapter 6 for help with estimating personnel requirements.

What Other Resources Do You Need?

Identify all equipment, facilities, services, supplies, and funds that you need
to perform your project work. Specify how much of each resource you need
and when. Chapter 7 has more on how to identify nonpersonnel resources.

What Can Go Wrong?

Identify those parts of your project that may not go according to plan. Decide
which risks pose the greatest dangers to your project’s success, and develop
plans to minimize their negative effects. See Chapter 8 for information on
how to address project risks.

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 Chapter 19

Ten Tips for Being a

Better Project Manager
In This Chapter
▶ Being proactive and looking at the big picture
▶ Encouraging others and treating them with respect
▶ Communicating effectively and acknowledging other people’s accomplishments

S uccessful project management depends not only on what you do, but
also on how you do it. Your attitudes and behaviors toward people
affect how they respond to you. If I could, I’d place a large Tip icon on this
entire chapter because it offers ten tips that can help you successfully win
people’s support. So why not give it a little of your attention?

Be a “Why” Person
Look for the reasons behind requests and actions. Understanding why helps
you make sure you respond appropriately to team members, upper managers,
and all other project audiences (which, in turn, increases people’s motiva-
tion and buy in). First, look to understand the reasons behind other people’s
requests and actions; then share your findings with other people. (Check out
Chapter 2 to find out more about how you can be a “why” person.)

Be a “Can Do” Person

Look at all problems as challenges, and do everything you can to find ways
to overcome them. Be creative, flexible, and tenacious. Keep working at the
problem until you solve it. (Flip to Chapters 2, 4, 5, and 12 for more on how to
be a tenacious problem solver.)

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340 Part VI: The Part of Tens

Think about the Big Picture

Keep events in perspective. Understand where you want to go and how your
plan will get you there. Recognize the effect your actions have on current and
future efforts. Share your vision with other people. (Flip to Chapters 2 and 14
for more on how you can keep your project elements in perspective.)

Think in Detail
Be thorough. If you don’t think through your project’s issues, who will? The
more clearly you describe your intended results, the more easily people can
recognize the benefits associated with your project. And the more clearly
you define your intended work, the more often people will ask important and
insightful questions — and believe that they can perform the work success-
fully. Clarity leads to increased personal motivation and reduced chances of
mistakes. (Check out Chapters 2 and 4 for tips on thinking in detail.)

Assume Cautiously
Take the time to find out the facts; use assumptions only as a last resort.
With every assumption comes a risk that you’re wrong. The fewer assump-
tions you make, the more confidence you can have in your plan. (Check out
Chapter 2 for more information on assumptions and Chapter 8 for info on
how to deal with risks and uncertainty.)

View People as Allies, Not Adversaries

Focus on common goals, not individual agendas. Making people feel comfort-
able encourages brainstorming, creative thinking, and the willingness to try
new ideas — all of which are essential to managing a successful project. But
viewing and treating people as adversaries can put them on the defensive
and encourage them to become enemies. (Refer to Chapters 3 and 14, where I
tell you how to get people on your side.)

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 Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Being a Better Project Manager 341
Say What You Mean, and
Mean What You Say
Communicate clearly. Be specific by letting people know exactly what you
mean. Tell them what you want them to know, what you want them to do,
and what you’ll do for them. Don’t leave these details up to their imagina-
tions. You may think that being vague gives you more leeway, but, in reality,
being vague just increases the chances for misunderstandings and mistakes.
(Check out Chapter 13 for ways to communicate more clearly.)

Respect Other People

Focus on people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. In each person on
your team, find a quality that you can respect. People work harder and enjoy
their work more when they’re around others who appreciate them and their
efforts. (See Chapter 14 for more helpful tidbits on respecting and encourag-
ing other people.)

Acknowledge Good Performance

Take a moment to acknowledge good performance. When someone does
something good, tell the person, tell the person’s boss, tell other team mem-
bers, and tell the person’s peers that you appreciate the effort and its results.
Recognizing good performance confirms to a person the accuracy and value
of his work; your praise tells a person that you appreciate his efforts, which
motivates him to work with you and other team members on future projects.

When acknowledging a person’s performance, mention the quality of the

results he accomplished as well as the effort he invested. Be specific — tell
the person exactly what he did or produced that you appreciate. Be sure to
provide your feedback promptly — don’t wait weeks or months before recog-
nizing someone for his hard work. (See Chapter 14 for more about acknowl-
edging good performance.)

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342 Part VI: The Part of Tens

Be a Manager and a Leader

Attend to people as well as to information, processes, and systems. Create
and share your vision and excitement with your team members, but don’t
forget to share a sense of order and efficiency, too. Encourage people to
strive for outstanding results, and provide the guidance and support to help
them achieve those results. (See Chapter 14 for more information about man-
agement and leadership.)

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