Project planning is all out working out your plan in time and space. In The Right Questions Framework, the ‘When’ question relates to the ‘How’ of tasks and resources. As well as mapping these against time the ‘when’ also revisits the concept of priorities, first looked at under ‘why’. Putting this all together brings us to the concept of programming. There are various ways to graphically show a time-based plan but the Gantt Chart is probably the best known and most frequently used.

Programming

I was part of the initial project management team working on the construction of ‘The Shard’, the new tower above London Bridge station, which is the tallest building in Western Europe.  It goes without saying that it is massive and complex; too big to contemplate in all its detail.  What’s more, it is unique, there is not another building quite like it anywhere in the world.  Considering this, how could someone possibly decide how long it was going to take to build?  The key, as we looked at it under the ‘How’ question, was to break the whole plan down into manageable pieces. It is hard to estimate how long it will take to build a 330m tower, but you can start by working out how long it will take to construct one pillar or fit one window.

We can do the same for our goals.  We are already mostly there as under ‘How’ we broke down our dreams into goals and our goals into tasks.  It should be easier to assess the time for one task and if we need even greater accuracy we can break the task down into steps and work out the duration for those.

By doing this we are building up a programme (a plan with timings) to achieve our vision.  We have identified goals, worked out the necessary tasks and resources and now given time to each step.  Through this process, the dream starts to become more tangible.  Once again, don’t worry if you can’t work out everything – the important thing is to know the next few steps in enough detail to start to act.

Critical path analysis and keeping things simple

If you work out all of the activities that you need to achieve and the duration of each task then you will have a fully functioning programme; the sort of thing a project manager will create.  When you put all your activities into sequence the quickest route through the plan becomes the ‘critical path’ and gives you the shortest duration to achieve your aim.

Remember: a programme can include as little or as much detail as you need.  The important thing is that the programme helps you to plan and helps you track your progress towards a goal.  My advice is to start simple and if you can’t fit it legibly on one A4 page, or it starts being hard to understand, simplify it.

Gantt Chart Example

Earlier when we looked at tasks and milestones we looked at the example of building a shed. Let’s use the same example to make a simple programme. We can start by estimating the duration for each activity:

• Work out what type and size of shed you need and where it will go. We will need to go out and do some measuring so let’s assume 1 hour.
• Select the best shed to suit your purpose. This might require some time researching on the internet so let’s give ourselves 2 hours.
• Purchase the shed. I am planning to do this online, so once I have decided on the right shed, it should only take me only a few minutes.  It is a good idea to always give ourselves 30 minutes, even for a simple task, so I am going to assign a half-hour here.
• The shed is delivered. This is a milestone so I will not give it a duration. But, there is likely to be a time lag between purchasing and delivery and I will assume it will be 48 hours between payment and receiving the goods.
• Prepare the ground. I will need to level the ground and my garden is on a slope so this is likely to take some time. I will initially give myself 4 hours. This could take longer, especially if foundations are required. So I might have to re-calculate this after inspecting the ground and the shed I have chosen.
• Erect the walls. I am going to allow myself 2 hours for this task. This job will probably require the help of another person. I will have to ask someone to help soon to prevent my project from being delayed.
• Construct the roof and make it waterproof. Again I will estimate around 2 hours for this.
• Fit the door and windows. This could be a fiddly job so once again I am going to give myself 2 hours here
• Furnish the shed ready for use. This will likely require popping to the shops again so I am going to give myself 3 hours for this.
• Start using the shed. This is a milestone so I won’t give it a duration.

Now we can create a pictorial representation of the programme. This is known as a Gantt Chart (named after Henry Gantt, the man who developed the idea). Putting all the activities into the correct order, I have created a Gantt Chart. You can see the first version in Figure 1:

You will notice that as I start to fit the tasks into normal working hours, some activities roll forward. Now they take place over several days. I can now see that I won’t be able to start using the shed until the 5^th day.

Prioritising

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay

Time is limited so therefore within the plan we need to prioritise.  There is never enough time to do everything. Therefore, we need to be able to decide which things to forgo.  Our values point us towards our priorities and that helps us make the right decisions, especially when under pressure.

We have to know the tasks that are vital to success but this is not always straightforward to ascertain.  Therefore, we may need to go through a process of elimination until we can perceive the essential elements.

Which things can be done concurrently?  Which tasks could you delay or rearrange? What could you delegate or even dispense with altogether?  By asking these sorts of questions you get down to the bare bones of what are the vital actions.  You may well find that you can refine your programme after asking these questions.

For example, looking at our shed project again I can see that I don’t need to wait for the shed to arrive in order to prepare the ground. I can save myself some time by starting this task while I am waiting for the shed to be delivered as you can see in Figure 2:

You can see that by getting on with the groundwork concurrently I have reduced the total duration of the project by a day. Therefore, I will now be able to start using the shed on day 4.

Cash Flow and Budgeting

After adding the duration to the tasks the next thing to do is to add the resources needed for each activity.  This is the next layer of the programme and can be added to your table or spreadsheet.

In this way, we can establish not just the cost of any task but also the yearly, monthly, weekly or daily cost of a goal or activity.  In other words, we create a cash flow forecast or budget.

After doing all this you should be able to link the dream you have right through to the very next step you need to take.  Hopefully, you will also know exactly how long it will take and how much it will cost.  You can now put that step in your diary and you are on your way!

Project Management Programming Software

The Gantt Charts for this post was created using Merlin Project Management Software. Merlin 2 is the best project management programming software that I have used for the Mac and if you want to find out more or try a demo then click here.

Merlin is very similar to Microsoft Project, the main software I have used on PC. This is something of the industry standard for project management software, although perhaps not the best.

We do not always think in terms of risk but there is risk in every decision we make. The risk is always balanced against the opportunity to some degree or another. Risk assessment, risk management and risk strategies are processes we can add to our decision-making process. We need some way to consider and manage risk. This is because our decisions and planning are continually influenced by our attitude to risk.

“Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.”  Herodotus

High anxiety

One summer I was mountaineering in the French Alps with a group of friends.  We had just spent a few days bagging some routes when someone had the idea of tackling a nearby climb. It was not one we originally planned to do as it was a higher grade than we were generally comfortable with.

That season there had been very little snow and the ridges were more exposed and icy than usual. So, as this route was following a ridge, I argued that it would be in bad condition. It was likely to be even harder than the guidebook suggested.  The weather was also set to change for the worse, so as far as I could see, the risks outweighed the opportunity.

I thought my logic was sound but the person who had proposed the climb was very persuasive. He managed to get the other two members of the group to agree with him. They wanted to give the climb a go.  It was three against one, and I knew they needed four people to attempt the route. Therefore the pressure was on for me to accept the majority decision. But I genuinely believed it was not a safe option. It was a tough conversation. I then made myself very unpopular when I refused to do the climb. It was a stand-off. They needed a fourth climber and therefore all we could do as a group was head back down the valley.

A good call

Fortunately for them, the other three found another willing climber. I meanwhile, by now feeling somewhat sheepish, decided to go trekking for a couple of days. As I was on my own I decided to stay below the snow line and try and avoid the bad weather.

I spent most of the next few days feeling guilty about being stubborn but when I returned I found that my decision had been justified.  The weather had deteriorated and the route proved to be in poor condition, as I had predicted.  After a few hours of struggling in dangerous conditions, my old climbing partners were forced to make an emergency descent. The deteriorating weather meant they also had to make a hasty retreat back down the valley.

It turned out that they were the lucky ones; that weekend ten people lost their lives in the Mont Blanc area as high winds whipped people off icy ridges.

The Quest

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Risk affects our decision making

Life is full of decisions and intuitively we are assessing risks all the time, even if they are not as obvious as the ones in the previous example.  As we pursue our dreams we will be frequently faced with various options of ways to achieve our aims.  In order to navigate our course, we have to assess the factors, consider the risks, and make decisions as to the best way to go.  Sometimes to help answer the question ‘which way should I go?’ it is prudent to consider ‘which way shouldn’t I go?’ and this particular question is all about risk.

If a venture is suddenly deemed too risky, it is the surest thing that will stop us from acting; no matter how attractive the option first seemed. Therefore, risks need to be identified, assessed, mitigated and managed, so that we are in the best possible place to make our decisions.

Capacity for risk varies between people and situations so it is important to remember that this is an ongoing process of identification and management.  At the same time, we don’t want to become defensive, timid or risk-averse. Achieving bold visions means taking risks; we just need to make sure we have counted the cost before we commit ourselves.

When to consider risk

In The Right Questions Framework, we consider risk when we look at options. This comes under the Which question.

You don’t want to start a venture by looking at risk. If you do, the problems could easily become paralysed before you even start.  But, if you plan without considering the risk, you could quickly become disillusioned or make a serious mistake that could be hard to recover from.  Therefore it is at the point when one has a clear idea of what we need to achieve, and are considering different options to achieve that goal, that we look at risks.

“Take calculated risks.  That is quite different from being rash.”  General George S Patton

How to manage risk

Unnecessary risks can be avoided by careful planning and this process is part of your risk management process.  Your approach to risk – which risks you tolerate and those you treat – becomes your risk management strategy.

This exercise is a helpful aid to decision-making, but remember, that one should never make a decision out of fear.  Some risks will be big – you just need to know whether that danger is acceptable to achieve your aim.  Effective risk management helps us to achieve our mission, but with the risks considered and reduced as much as possible, not at the exclusion of risk entirely.  Remember, it is more important to do the right thing than the safe thing.

As you go into the process of identifying and evaluating the risks I recommend, that if you are part of a larger team, that you go through the following exercise first as an individual and then as a collective. This avoids group-think and other related biases.

Once you all have some ideas you are likely to find that as a team you will have a healthy (frequently robust) discussion about how to categorise risks. This is due to people’s different viewpoints; do not worry, this is a productive process. Diversity of thought will help you all evaluate risks more effectively and help you learn more about how the team thinks and operates. This inclusive process will also allow people to express any fears, find solutions and commit to the final plan.

Risk Management Process

Here is a simple risk process. If you follow this exercise you will be able to identify the key risks you face and create a basic risk management strategy:

• Play devil’s advocate for a moment: give yourself 5 minutes to try and think of as many things as you can that could put a stop to your venture and list all these threats.
• On a scale of 1 to 5 give each risk a score of how probable it is to occur (5 being the most likely).
• Now do something similar, scoring 1 to 5 for the severity of the impact of each of the risks.  In this case, a ‘1’ might be a minor inconvenience whereas a ‘5’ would be a show-stopper.
• For each risk multiply the probability score and the impact score so you get a score of 1-25 for each risk.  You can now rank all the risks in a table.
• Start at the top with the biggest risks and think about how you can avoid, prevent, limit the damage or otherwise manage the risk.  This is called mitigation.  Write down the plan for each risk and after the mitigation measures have been applied score the risk again for likelihood and impact to see how it has improved and whether it is acceptable to you (and/or your team).
• Now consider whether the opportunities outweigh the risks for the course of action you have chosen. If you are unsure, you can go back and look at the risks in more detail for another course of action that you generated previously.
• Once you have identified the most important risks make someone responsible for the management of each risk. They do not carry all the risk (or blame if it goes wrong) but they do have responsibility for tracking the risk on behalf of the team.

Record and review your risks

There are lots of ways you can record the information you get from this process. Most businesses have spreadsheets to capture the key operational or project risks. Find what works for you but my advice is to keep it simple. If the document is too big and complicated people won’t read it.

The other thing is to keep it up to date. Make sure you review the risks on a regular basis. The situation changes; new risks emerge, other risks fade. Make sure you are tracking them.

But don’t get obsessed or paralysed by risk. After all, who dares wins!

When we set ourselves a goal, we want to stick to it. Equally, as a leader or manager, you have to effectively delegate tasks in order for your team to perform well and to achieve your aim.

But this is simpler in theory than in practice. Often a leader’s’ experience is that – even when you think you have delegated something effectively – you still encounter problems. People may keep coming back and bugging you with questions, or alternatively the task is not done on time, or the job is not completed to the right standard.

To help avoid these issues we can use the acronym ‘SMART’ when delegating work. SMART stands for:

• Specific,
• Measurable,
• Attainable,
• Relevant and
• Time-bound.

This method is accredited to George T. Doran (who first described a version of the acronym in the November 1981 edition of Management Review) and since then the method has evolved to encompass various adaptations of the acronym including having an E (for evaluate) and an extra R (for re-evaluate) to create ‘SMARTER’ goals.

Let’s look at each one in more detail.

What a SMART or SMARTER task actually means

S – Specific

When you give someone a goal it needs to be specific. It needs to be clearly defined and unambiguous. Whether it is a large mission or a smaller task you need to express what success looks like.

Specific is the most useful word here but you could also substitute ‘significant’ or ‘stretching’ in here if you want to make a task more aspirational (such as a ‘BHAG’ – Big Hairy Audacious Goal – promoted by Jim Collins in Good to Great) or use it as a reminder to keep things ‘simple’ or ‘sustainable’.

M – Measurable

Next, the task needs to be measureable. In other words, it needs to be possible to track the progress of completion of the goal. If the task is a big one you might need to break it down into separate activities and set milestones to help monitor progress.

Having specified the goal and broken it down to measure it you have the fundamentals of a plan.

A – Attainable

It is good for goals to stretch us but the ‘A’ here makes us ensure that the task is attainable. We can be bold but the task needs to be achievable. A task can stretch a person or a team (this is healthy) but if you are asking the impossible of someone, it will quickly become de-motivational. As a leader, you set goals to help people grow, not to set them up for failure.

Therefore by asking this question we also consider whether the person in question is properly equipped and supported to achieve the task. If it is our goal then we need to reflect upon our readiness. As a manager, we should be checking that whoever we delegate to has the right training and resources to complete their work.

R – Relevant

The task needs to be relevant to the vision of the team or organisation. Ask yourself, does this piece of work take you a step closer to achieving your overall mission? It is in line with your values? If not you may need to redefine the task.

The work also needs to be relevant to the person you are delegating to. Are they the best person for the job? Is it part of their role and job description? Do they have the relevant skills and experience? Will they be developed by this task?

T – Time Dependent

Having to create a timeline makes you properly assess how long a piece of work should take. Considering time also makes you evaluate your priorities and any dependencies that one task may have upon another.

Deadlines also help to keep people accountable for finishing and stop a piece of work dragging on endlessly. The time element, as with everything else, should be set in agreement with the person you are delegating to so that you all ‘contract in’ to the parameters for the work.

E – Evaluate

Adding in the ‘E’ of ‘Evaluate’ is useful as it brings in the discipline of reviewing how well work has been done. It gives the opportunity for feedback; praise, constructive criticism and learning on behalf of the manager and worker.

For a larger goal you might want to consider these evaluation steps and plan them in along with your overall deadline. Make evaluation time dependent too.

R – Re-evaluate

Decision making and learning happen in a cycle. We recognise this by adding the re-evaluation step here. Re-evaluation is a continuation of the learning from the ‘Evaluate’ phase. Once you have identified lessons at the evaluation phase these should be incorporated in the next stage of the activity. This gives the opportunity to learn and improve as the task progresses.

For example, the first time around the deadline might not have been achieved or the person may have needed more support to achieve the goal. Once the task has been re-set and re-started then the results can be re-evaluated to identify improvement.

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Set SMART goals and SMARTER tasks

Setting SMART goals helps us ensure that goals are actually achieved. It helps take the goal from an idea to a plan that we have committed to.

Equally the SMARTER approach provides a useful checklist and process by which both a manager and employee can agree upon the parameters for a task and be accountable for its outcome. Setting SMARTER tasks helps to build in the reviewing and learning from goals that if often forgotten or neglected.

So what is your next goal or task? Apply the SMART or model and make sure it happens!