In my opinion, a planning phase is very important, a successful plan has to be built up in a way that allows for dynamic changes. In other words, when the need for revisiting an earlier phase (ie. planning phase) a plan should have a feedback loop path that would allow the project manager to make adjustments and changes in order to satisfy the new requirement and meet the attained needs. This plan should be done in a certain way that it guarantees some sense of urgency and ensure that the project is following the timeline. I believe that going back to an earlier activity to fix some issues does not mean that the project failed at a certain point. Canceling some parts of a phase in a project and revisiting an earlier one should not be confused with failure.
3The planning stage plays an important role in helping guide stakeholders, sponsors, teams, and the project manager through all the other project phases. Planning is essential to identify the desired goals to reduce risks, avoid missed deadlines, and ultimately deliver the agreed product or the result. Without careful planning and good planning stage, the project performance is almost guaranteed to suffer and the project risk might increase. Project planning requires a break down of a larger project into small tasks and sometimes subtasks, assembling a project team and determining a schedule over which the work could be completed. During this important phase, a project manager can create smaller goals within the larger project, to make sure each is achievable within the time frame. The phrase “failure to plan is planning to fail” certainly holds true when it comes to managing projects like medical devices. Project managers should always be careful of three very important things: unrealistic project expectations, impatience and jumping into execution, and lack of understanding. Careful planning can help to achieve things like reducing potential risks, and reducing project failure rates. Overlapping tasks can be a reason to fall behind schedule and to not finish a project on time. An expert project manager should have a backup plan to any kind of emergencies or lack of employees or vacations or etc. This is a very important factor to keep in mind while going along with the planning stage, which in my opinion is the most important phase to achieve a successful project.
I agree revising the plan is not working backwards, it is just a response to new knowledge. However, it is important to discover that knowledge beforehand if possible. That is why extensive measures should be taken during the planning phase so that no revisions must be made unless absolutely necessary. In this case, it appears this could have been easily determined before the initiation phase which would have prevented the need to go back and revise. Nevertheless, it is better to discover issues sooner than later, address them, and pivot accordingly, rather than ignore them altogether.
Planning is important, and with proper planning some pitfalls can be avoided. Revising a plan when new information is discovered is recommended in an attempt to keep everything flowing as smoothly as possible. I'm not sure what would happen that caused several different people to suddenly become unavailable (it seems like an assumption was made vs. confirmation of availability), however, having the insight to implement a plan B is appreciated. Dismissing the issue would cause a lot more problems than recognizing the issue and revising the plan as necessary.
The planning phase of a project is very important, it details where the project is headed. Without a proper plan a project will not have adequate direction and may fail. However, the phases of a project in industry, are most likely not as defined as they are in our class. What I mean is that there is probably some blending together of the phases. Because of this, it is difficult to say which part of the whole planning process is most important. Personally, i feel like the "pre-planning" phase is crucial. As it lays a steady foundation for the planning of the whole process. Also in the pre planning phase there should be research done regarding timelines, which are very important in the planning phase for the success of the entire project.
A planning phase is essential to the product development timeline. Having a good idea of budgetary needs, timelines and deadlines to meet, and team member duties is necessary for success. However, I like the idea you bring up, things change. Throughout the development process, things change and the schedule and budgets might need to be adjusted. Like mentioned, this doesn't necessarily mean that it is taking a step backwards, or losing time on the project. In order to continue to make good progress in development, there needs to be an accurate timeline and plan, if work from the planning phase needs to be adjusted in order to compensate for this, so be it, overall it will prove to be worth the small delay in the long run.
I absolutely agree. I am a firm believer in proper execution, even if it means taking longer than expected. Therefore, going back to a previous phase for any legitimate reason is justified in my opinion. A legitimate reason, however, means that there was no simple way to avoid reverting back. This means that the PM acknowledged the schedules of the key members of the project, reviewing lessons learned for similar projects/related tasks, and properly estimating timelines/costs. In this case, it appears that the availability of critical staff members should have been considered prior to the implementation phase. Although every situation is unique, I believe this was a situation that could have been avoided.
I agree that the Project Planning Phase is extremely important and crucial for any project’s success. A project must be planned well. Planning is required as it helps in identifying the desired goals, reducing the risks, avoiding the deadlines, and able to deliver the agreed product on the scheduled time. Planning is the base of the project scope. Besides planning, other factors that support the project for success are communication and team works. However, at times planning too much and re-evaluating each factor can lead to poor progress of the project. Therefore, it is always important to invest time to think before planning and then plan the work. That way it is easier to decide a deadline which is achievable and avoids making too many changes in the planning phase.
In your example I think that if possible those critical team members should have notified of their availability for the dates needed. The project manager should have asked if she/he did not if there were any vacation days coming up or critical project deadlines around the time of implementation. I feel like it would be rare for all critical members of a team to not be available due to unforeseen circumstances so in this example I feel like it's poor planning on someone's part which is now leading to possible delays in the project and potential extra costs to outsource if the project deadline is to be met.
This is a good example of why planning is so important. A good plan will also leave space for unforeseen circumstances and that's why a late finish and early finish are included in the planning.
As Dr.Simon mentioned, if you failed to plan so you planning to fail. Planning phase is the most important phase of a project as every other phase of a project is dependent upon by this phase. Planning involves a lot factors before putting into practice this involves checking on a lot of things that involves availability of employees and the estimating the time required for a particular task with the available employees. As much as important, is risk management, which should always be prepared along with planning as to reduces possible setbacks later on.
I believe the planning phase is really important for a project to be successful. Like in the example, problems are unavoidable which may require members of the group or the project manager to go back and figure out other ways to fix the problem. I also believe that when planning the project, in specific with the critical staff members not being available, these problems should have been looked at when planning the project. The availability of members in the group is very important to the project because you depend on those people to do their part. If they are too busy and cannot help with the project, that will delay the project a lot and finding replacements can take time. If it isn’t time, it will also cost money for outside resources to be used, which should also be added in the budget. All aspects of the project should be looked at before moving forward with the next phase in the project, just so that you are not required to go back and change things.
It is extremely important to verify and crosscheck current knowledge and updates in procedure with the old planning procedure. This way, the process will always have the highest efficiency in completing tasks as the method of proceeding with the project plan is the most optimal. In my experience working on tasks and projects that have a set lifecycle, my team meets every month to discuss potential changes in the lifecycle process and timeline to see if any remediation can be made for this task. This works well with routine tasks that are constantly being done, but it is substantially more difficult to implement new information and alter the procedure of a large, complicated project.
Hello everyone,
Suppose you're leading a project aimed at updating the packaging for a product line. You begin the planning phase by estimating your project budget and completion date.when you enter the buildup phase ,you get much more specific in your budget and schedule estimates. Then, during the implementation phase,it turns out that several critical staff members aren't available. This forces you to go back to your project plan and revise it to your account for the need for outside resources to keep the project moving forward.
Returning to the activities of an earlier phase doesn't means you're moving backwards or losing ground.It is simply means you're incorporating new knowledge and information into the overall project plan. Please share to this discussion your ideas if you agree. How important should a planning phase be for a project to be a success.
Properly planning a project is absolutely key to the project's success. Since these development processes take a long time (up to several years), it is not uncommon for members of the team to change roles or leave the company throughout the course of the project. There should always be a succession plan in place to plan for this and ensure a member leaving the team doesn't hold up the progress of the project. During the transition phase of onboarding the new member onto the team, I think it's the responsibility of other team member to pick up the slack in the meantime for the overall good of the project.
As for revisiting prior stages of the project, I think that is generally a pretty major setback. I don't think individuals leaving the team or not being available are an acceptable reason to revisit a prior stage in the project, since that should not derail the entire course of the project. Work can still be completed and the project can still move forward, but adjustments may just need to be made to finish the project as planned.
Hello everyone,
Suppose you're leading a project aimed at updating the packaging for a product line. You begin the planning phase by estimating your project budget and completion date.when you enter the buildup phase ,you get much more specific in your budget and schedule estimates. Then, during the implementation phase,it turns out that several critical staff members aren't available. This forces you to go back to your project plan and revise it to your account for the need for outside resources to keep the project moving forward.
Returning to the activities of an earlier phase doesn't means you're moving backwards or losing ground.It is simply means you're incorporating new knowledge and information into the overall project plan. Please share to this discussion your ideas if you agree. How important should a planning phase be for a project to be a success.
I agree with you. I do not think it is moving backwards you are just making it better with new knowledge. It does create a problem to the overall project end date but if it can become better I think it is more important to go back and fix the planning phase. But again sometimes the project needs to be finished by a certain date and there is no going back on that and in that situation you would not have the luxury to go back and change the planning phase. It would be more important to get the product on the market then it would be to make it perfect.
The planning phase is important since it is the foundation of a project's progress. Poor planning will cause delays, cancellations, and may not produce a profitable product if development process was poorly executed. Going back to an earlier phase doesn't mean anything negative depending on how it impedes or promotes production later down the line. It is always possible for new outcomes and new possiblities to occur when returning to a different phase.
