Off Track – Project Planning

When driving a vehicle, if you take your eyes from the road and veer from your lane, the results can be disastrous for you and other drivers. If a trainload of hazardous materials derails and spills its content, the results can be expensive in many ways. This is what can happen when a vehicle goes “off track”. When projects get off track, the results can be similar to a vehicle leaving the road or the rails. Results can be minor inconveniences or major challenges.

Project work is now used in many businesses to accomplish company goals. In some industries (e.g., software development and construction), projects are the standard method of conducting company business. But, after over 70 years in which the working world has focused on projects and their improvement, project performance is often lackluster.

This article discusses some common issues related to project planning and why it isn’t always effective. Project planning , like all of project work, can and does go off track. Some of my terminology may lean toward engineering and construction projects but generally applies to any project planning.

But first, how has project management progressed over the years?

Project Management Beginnings

Modern management principles are a relatively new concept. Similarly, project management as a system is new. Both are generally recognized as beginning in the 1900’s. Frederick Taylor’s study of work initiated the concept of management. Henry Gantt, famous for the Gantt Chart, began his focus in World War I – producing the spark for project management as a way of working. From these early starts, a more organized approach to management and project management emerged as areas of focus between the 1940’s and 1960’s. Some consider Henri Fayol’s book General and Industrial Management, [Fayol, Henri. General and Industrial Management. Martino Fine Books, 2013.] published in the late 1940’s to be the start of discussion of “management” as a system. Articles began appearing about project management in the late 1950’s.

Fayol defined planning, organization, command, coordination, and control as management activities. Similarly, project phases are now recognized as initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing. Within those project phases, the methods used to accomplish the project’s aims are managed in ways that mirror the current management evolution from Fayol’s original 14 principles.

Have We Made Progress?

After seventy to eighty years of effort by 2022 (or 145,000 to 170,00 hours of 40-hour weeks for one person), we should have it well sorted – what to do, how to do it, and how to improve. But, experience is not always the best teacher.

There are many ways to measure project success. Failure, or achieving less than desirable outcomes, typically means achieving the opposite of what was intended.

The external customer is not satisfied and may even take legal action against the executing company.
The project is completed late and the end customer’s business is delayed.
Safety, especially for more physical project work, was not a high priority and people were injured. Results of poor safety practices can include personal suffering, added cost, time delays, and legal action.
I won’t review every project element here, but obviously this analysis can be extended to other project elements.

Since those early days, project management has progressed to encompass a large body of theory and recommendations for practice. From the use of simple Gantt Charts, scheduling has expanded to become today’s resource-loaded, electronic scheduling systems that can track work to the fraction of a work hour and often contain so many activities to be essentially useless as a visual tool. With current computer scheduling, we can manage thousands of activities, analyze critical paths, and perform what-if scenario analysis. Beyond scheduling, projects are now managed under a variety of project information systems both proprietary and public. These systems were developed to provide “best practices” and have grown to be systems with rules, procedures, and special terminology.

How are we doing? Not always so well. Even with the expansion of knowledge and practice, project results are not always successful.

Planning

An online search for the phrase “project planning” returns at least 2 billions results. That’s too many items to be useful, but it does show that project planning is a widely discussed topic. With so much available about planning, are planning “best practices” everyday occurrences? From my experience, the answer is “no”. More formal reports show that my experience is not isolated.

There are many reasons for this. One basic reason is that information and application are often disconnected. I believe this is a common issue in many areas of management.

A book (or article or video or training course) may exist to help me understand and better apply project planning. If I don’t access that book, its contents are of no use to me.
I can buy a book (or download an article or video), but if I never open it and read it, any value the book has is locked away inside the covers.
If I read it, get some useful ideas and potential applications but never apply those, its value is diminished.
If I apply one time, don’t get the results I want, and never try it again, I don’t really know whether those ideas had merit or not.

Information isn’t useful until it’s implemented, tested, adjusted for results, and retested. Having knowledge about or access to knowledge about project planning does not automatically result in implementing sound planning practices.

Weak Planning

Plans at the beginning of a project are often optimistic – or at least reasonably so. Otherwise, most projects would not begin. As a project progresses, results can be measured and observed. Even at completion, the end result can be tainted by failures along the way. There’s a well-known military saying -“No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces” or “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”. Though we don’t normally think of having enemies on projects, the point should be clear – do your best to plan but know that something will change and disrupt your plans.

Before the Initiation Phase

Initiation is a common name given to the phase after project award but before execution. Even before the project is won and a contract is signed, planning occurs as part of the estimate and, if required, preparation of the proposal to the Client. Some planning occurs during this stage though it may be limited in detail. Aside from the issue of limited plan details, a project can be set up during this stage for later problems. This can be cause by errors, excess optimism, or deception.

Error can occur by a miscalculation or unintentional oversight.
Excess optimism can be driven by a business need to gain new projects. Overly positive assumptions are made about cost, schedule, or other conditions.
Deception can be used to avoid punishment, to postpone a negative outcome, or to make oneself (temporarily) look good.

The level of planning will likely be only as good as the available time and information. The non-planning issues mentioned above can derail any sound plans. Regardless of cause, these other issues may be hidden and not recognized until too late to make changes to avoid poor results.

What to do to help avoid these? It can depend on the individual and the culture of the business but there are some ways these can be avoided:

Errors will happen. They can be avoided by having more than one person review the plans. It’s best if all stakeholders can review and weigh in on the project plans, but this can also be time consuming. Worst case, the plan preparer must take time to review information that is supporting the plans.
Excess optimism can be similarly avoided by involving more than one voice. Some people are more prone to optimism or pessimism. Though pessimism can have its own negative impacts to a project, at least having a more objectively-minded team member weigh in can provide some counterbalance to extreme optimism. (This may be a challenge for project teams with they are overridden by company senior managers.)
Deception is perhaps the most insidious of these three. It is a deliberate concealment of facts or evidence that should be used for planning. If your company accepts this activity, it’s time to find a new company. Otherwise, you, other project team members, and senior company leadership must look for and weed out deliberate deception.

During the Initiation Phase

Initiation is the term often used to refer to the early planning stages of a project. This is when budget and schedule are refined. Project management information systems are set up. Procurement of long-lead items takes place. Permits are obtained (where that’s part of the work). Engineering and design (for EPC projects) begin. Except for plans that happened during the estimate or proposal phase of a project, the initiation phase is when the primary planning occurs. What can lead to better planning in this phase?

Develop all plans that are needed. For a smaller and shorter-duration project, this may be one comprehensive plan. For larger, more complex, and longer-duration projects, multiple specific plans may be needed.
Involve those who are affected by the plans. You may have broad knowledge of project work. But, you won’t be performing all of the work and may not be directly responsible for certain project elements. By involving those who manage that work and those who are directly affected by the project plans, you have opportunity to get better input (i.e., this way will work better, this way won’t work well, etc.) and certainly will gain better acceptance of the plan.
Get deliberate buy-in to the plans. It’s critical to get acknowledgement that the plans are accepted by those needing to follow them. This can be a formal process but must at least be a conversation to allow voicing last minute concerns. In some cases, there may still be some disagreement or doubt.
Memorialize the plans in writing. This is sometimes a step that is missed. Planning can be hard mental work. For some people, having to write what was planned can seem too difficult and may seem unnecessary (“I’ve got the plans in my head”). Writing provides clarity and makes the plan more accessible for review by the project team. Most of us now know that though handshake contracts are a sign of trust, if they aren’t written contracts, there will be problems.
Share the plans. Except where they involve some business or company sensitive information (e.g., specific financial plans are often considered confidential), plans should be widely available to team members and project stakeholders. You may debate whether to share all plans with the Client. There are times when all plans must be shared by Contract.
Include a schedule and procedure for plan review after execution begins. The military saying quoted above reminds us that things will change. We will see better ways to complete the work. The plans will not work well in some areas. Some challenge will arise that requires a change or plans or a detour. Deliberately expecting to review the initial plans provides an opportunity to stop and see what’s working and what needs to be changed.

During the Execution Phase

Execution is when the work is being done. This can overlap with the planning work since most project schedule don’t allow time for purely sequential steps of planning then performing the work. However, in general, the plans will be in place once execution begins. There are some common issues during execution related to plans.

Plans are ignored. You think that since so much effort went into the planning effort and the documenting of project plans they would never be ignored. But, it happens.
Plans may not be accepted. If you’ve involved the right people in the planning, this shouldn’t be an issue. As new people become involved in the project, having a system of plan sharing will make it easier for them to become familiar with the plans.
Plans are not reviewed for required modifications. As already mentioned, project conditions may change. Plans may prove to be wrong. Because of this and to refresh your memory of the plans, they must be reviewed regularly. Depending on the project, this may be a weekly, monthly, or quarterly review.
Plans are not revised when you know they need to change. You’ve written your initial plans. Now, revise those written plans and republish them to those affected.
New plans are not developed as needed. Project work has a typical flow. An EPC construction project has a natural cycle of engineering, purchasing (procurement), construction, commissioning, and turnover. Though these may overlap as with Initiation and Execution, the new or next part of the cycle becomes the primary focus as the project progresses. Plans for procurement, if not developed early, must be prepared before procurement begins. Plans for commissioning and turnover are ofter best developed later during execution to better match the project status. Unexpected issues may require detailed plans of their own. How do we overcome this major material delay? A plan to address that specifically may be needed. How do we maintain schedule even though the Client’s permits have been delayed? That event may require a specific plan. There may be many opportunities to make use of a new written plan.

Project work involved other phases. However, most of the planning issues involve the early project stages and the execution stage. As work is completed successfully, the number of active plans decreases.

Using Plan Results

It’s also important to stop and review how well the planning effort went. This isn’t necessarily for the benefit of the current project but may inform planning for other projects and for the company. Some questions to ask include the following:

Was there an adequate number of plans? Review instances where the plans avoided problems and where the number of specific plans could have been more robust.
Did we follow the plans? This will highlight the project team’s ability and willingness to follow the plans that were prepared. If plans weren’t followed, investigate both why not and how planning could be improved.
Were the plans thorough enough? Review missing details that could have benefited project results.
How can we improve planning for the next project? This is obviously the goal. Improvement in planning. Though fault-finding can seem useful, the focus must be on getting better.

Conclusion

Planning is one (seemingly) small part of project work. However, its use, or lack of use, can impact project results in small and large ways. It can be a laborious task – all that planning and writing and reviewing and collaborating. In the end, it is worth the effort.