We don’t generally get in our cars and just drive without being clear on where our destination is and a rough idea on how we will get there. If it’s somewhere we haven’t been before, we might consult a map beforehand or we plug the post code into the sat nav. If we didn’t we would be driving round in circles with no clue how to get to where we are going. So we make sure we have a plan and we get to where we need to be.
So if we don’t leave our car journey’s to chance, why would we set out to achieve a goal without having a plan of how to get there? Knowing the steps to get to where you want to be is important in all walks of life but is particularly important in business.
The analogy I make here is an important one. Daily in our working lives we are faced with problems and challenges and need to work to achieve a desired outcome to improve a situation. Most likely, this will involve a project to achieve the solution. What do we do? Do we dive in and start trying to do the work without knowing the right things to do or do we step back and look at things from a higher level to determine not what could be done but what should be done?
Planning before kicking off any project should never be underestimated, without a planning phase, there is a high risk of failure.
Factors to include in the planning are:
- Agreement on the required outcome – the deliverable or scope of the project. For example, if you have been tasked with implementing a new website – does that include all new content and messaging or is this simply a redesign of layout utilising original assets?
- The due date – it’s not simply a case of knowing when something is due. Planning in advance allows you to determine whether the due date is realistic or not.
- Are resources already in place and are they sufficient to meet the scope and the due date and if not, are more available or does the scope or due date need to change?
- Once the deliverable is agreed, there will be many options on how to achieve the desired outcome. An assessment of all the tasks that could be done should be carried out by establishing which ones will offer the most benefit and will be the easiest or quickest to implement. These will give the biggest benefit in a short time frame.
The importance of planning is knowing what should be done, how it will be done, by whom and by when. Without that level of detailed planning and organisation, people are simply left with no direction and the result is chaos.
To stay organised, many people utilise online tools to keep track of tasks, teams and progress and while many of these offer similar benefits to keep you on track – they don’t offer the planning phase to make sure you are making the right decisions and working on the right tasks to achieve your aims.
MindGenius Online is different – planning is built in so you can go through all of the steps I have outlined here and when you know what should be done, you can seamlessly convert the plan into tasks and monitor through to conclusion.
Planning with MindGenius Online brings many benefits:
- By providing structure to meetings, focus is maintained and therefore time spent on wasted discussions can be avoided
- The ability to plan the best way forward for any project keeps teams on the same page with everyone knowing what is required and where they are headed
- Objectives known and agreed up front ensures end results meet objectives
- Decision making is informed because you are able to breakdown your thoughts and agree on the most appropriate solution
Thorough planning is one of the most important things anyone can do in any area of life, not just in project planning. The benefits of this approach is almost instant.
IT’S EASY TO START PLANNING WITH MINDGENIUS ONLINE!
