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You are here: Home / Archives for Project Planning

Project Planning

Top 5 Tips for Screwing Up Project Planning

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 4 minutes
Coach pumps up the team.
Tips for Screwing Up Project Planning

Some time ago I was accused of patronising a project manager. Perhaps I was. But, I’m not apologising.

Here’s why …

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Do Tagged With: Business Case, Planning, Project Manager, Project Managers, Project Plan, Project Planning, Project Schedule, Project Teams, Schedule Planning

Warning: Use Bottom-Up Planning At Your Own Risk

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 2 minutes
Photograph of a spiral staircase taken from the top.
Bottom-Up Vs. Top-Down Planning

I recently initiated an interesting discussion about product-based planning on LinkedIn. It started soon after I promoted a guest post for the Tom’s Planner blog on project planning.

Inevitably it turned into a discussion about the merits of product-based planning over other techniques and a debate about top-down planning.

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Know Tagged With: Bottom Up Planning, Plan, Planning, Product Based Planning, Product Breakdown Structure, Project Management, Project Planning, Top Down Planning, Top-Down and Bottom-Up Design, Work Breakdown Structure

How to Write a Killer Project Plan That Gets Results

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 10 minutes
How to Write a Project Plan
How to Write a Project Plan

In this article we show you how to write a project plan. But first we intend to dispel any myths about the project plan and project planning.

Then we show you how to plan for quality and how to be prepared for difficulties that will inevitably arise when managing change.

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Know Tagged With: Article, Business Tools, Planning, Product Based Planning, Product Breakdown Structure, Product Flow Diagram, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Plan, Project Planning, Project Schedule, Project Scope, Project Sponsor, Scope, Strategic Planning

4 Reasons Why Project Planning Is Essential

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 2 minutes
Photograph of female track athletes at the starting line.
PRȆT — Ready, Willing and Able

The project planning process is holistic and encompassing. It is at the heart of project benefit viability.

What’s more, project planning is a great ways to bring the project team together. [Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Know Tagged With: Business Tools, Planning, Planning Process, Process Management, Project Management, Project Plan, Project Planning

Do You Make This Mistake When Initiating a Project?

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 3 minutes
People starting their journey on a moving walkway.
Project Initiation Starts At the Beginning

The other day I had a brief conversation with a project manager who explained that their current project was nearly completed. He talked about the project initiation document.

Apparently, it hadn’t been signed-off.

In a whisper he confessed that it wasn’t finished.

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Know Tagged With: Business Tools, Planning, PRINCE2, Project Documentation, Project Initiation Document, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Organisation, Project Planning, Strategic Planning

Reporting Project Progress Using the Highlight Report

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 4 minutes
Traffic light covers.
The Project Progress Report

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the highlight report. The PRINCE2 term given to a project progress report.

This is, in part, because they tend to describe a project in the present rather than forecasting its state when it is should be completed.

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Know Tagged With: Business Tools, Communication, Progress Report, Project Control, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Planning, Project Progress, Project Progress Report, Project Schedule, Project Scope, Risk

Project Planning in a Nutshell

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 3 minutes
Man's face framed by own hands.
Project Planning

Many people get hung up on project planning. Some say they don’t have the time to prepare a project plan.

Others think the project plan is unnecessary. They assume the project plan is a complex document. One that accounts for every minute of every day.

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: What Leaders Need to Know Tagged With: Planning, Project Management, Project Manager, Project Plan, Project Planning, Project Schedule, Scope, Work Breakdown Structure

Herding Cats: Project Management Is About Destination

by Vicky Webster and Martin Webster (Eds.) 

Read in 2 minutes

A boy heading cattle at dusk in Mozambique.

Herding Cats (or Cat Herders) is a popular advertisement that is often used to illustrate the complexity of managing business change.

[Continue Reading …]

Filed Under: How to Lead Others Tagged With: Business Change, Cat Herding, Herding, Herding Cats, Herding the Cats, Leadership Qualities, Leading Change, Managing People, Project Management, Project Planning

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