If you have to return to earlier phases of a project, I do believe that you lose time. Once you have moved on to the next stage, you are ready for the next step and do not need to remain on the previous one. Going back would not have been included in the planning phase, thus causing the project to have to halt to resolve an unplanned issue. In the example given, I think the need to go back could have been prevented if they planned for the absence of specific team members during the planning phase. Were these team members going on vacation? Were these things spontaneous? Unless it was an emergency that caused the team members not to be available, we see again just how important it is to have a strong planning phase. The planning phase is the number one part of a part that can doom it before getting started.
I don’t consider having to go back to amend the plan a backward step. In fact I look at it as iron sharpening iron. I remember working with the American red cross on a project that involves disaster situation and dealing with livestock and developing a plan for evacuation when dealing with animals and after meeting with stakeholders in various sir teams in became apparent that some of the provisions that will put into place may need revision. New information arise that may contribute to the breath of work of a project it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re taking a backwards step in spite of that information. It’s certainly not a restart either. And I cannot be overstated that you can plan for a amalgamate of events and yet when it comes to implementation you may find that you may lack in resources that were not accounted for initially and so you have to sidestep for a moment and plan for these unexpected twists in the planning process. Sometimes we have to rethink some policies that may affect the timeline for the purpose of project success.
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.
The planning phase is essential to success. Not only should there be a plan, but there should be one with contingencies for a failed plan. It should always be okay to revaluate the project and monitor and adjust. That is part of monitoring and controlling. Sometimes adjustments are needed, but depending on the stage, some particular adjustments may be out of reach. That is one reason I think a backup plan is best. That all increases the likelihood of success.
I currently work in a field where we constantly have multiple projects going on at once, so we multitask constantly. Prior to Dr. Simon’s course, I have completed Lean Sigma Six and have a basic understanding as well as I have completed Army course Project Management for Supervisor’s course. However, this course has taught me the fundamentals behind action. Most of my experience with the Army is we get tasked out to learn a specific subject matter and we are kind of programmed, they teach us how to be efficient but not necessarily the reasoning behind the concept. From my experience with the Army as a Civilian, I agree that there are times in a project when you have to go back to the planning phase to re-evaluate the original base plans and make them relevant to the current situation. I understand for academic purposes we are learning how to break it up and separate the different phases and sections but in the real world, unfortunately, it can be due to a time constraint or just a miscommunication but phases sometimes run together in a single cycle without the proper breaks. We are currently working on a project for additional funding in my department and because of the data lapse we have had to go back to our tasks then re-evaluation and re-planning based on the most updated projected timeline. This lessens the efficacy of the team on the project because the team spends more time figuring out the timeline than executing the plan. There are many reasons why changes to the timeline occur. It could either be due to poor planning in the initial planning phase or because of unforeseeable events that caused changes, which cannot be avoided. Either way, planning is most certainly a vital part of the project’s success but even with delays, the project can still be successful through teamwork and communication.
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.
project planning plays an essential role in helping guide stakeholders, sponsors, teams, and the project manager through other project phases. planning is needed to identify desired goals, reduce risks, avoid missed deadlines, and ultimately deliver the agreed product, service or result.
The planning phase has enormous value to the success of a project. It determine its trajectory. However, often times the surprises don't happen until you execute. Therefore, execution is the more important phase. It is when all the work happens. Still, planning effectively will determine the ease of the execution phase. The best projects are the ones where the planning makes way for a smooth execution. Hence what I've done for projects in the past is double planning. The first phase of planning was handled by me. Often my goal was simply to get the customer to think through the trouble spots in advance of working with an implementation consultant. As a result, when the implementation consultant was engaged to finalize the project plan, the customer already had a sense of how to recommend and request their project implementation.
