On one hand, most managers would agree that planning is important, but on the other hand, most managers avoid the process. Here are the biggest excuses I hear.
- I don’t have time to plan.
- Things change too fast, so the plan is out of date before it’s even finished.
- No one pays attention to the plan, once it’s written.
- No one even looks at the plan, once it’s written.
- No one cares about the plan, once it’s written.
- No one can find a copy of the plan, once it’s written.
Have you ever written a grocery list, then left it at home when you made your trip to the store. Likely, your shopping was still 90 percent effective without the list. Why?
It’s not the plan, it’s the process.
If you intend to avoid the process, that’s fine. But, if you are looking for a short (3-page) process that includes a 2015 goal tracking sheet, just ask. It’s a Word doc, so you can modify it to meet your needs.
Great post, Tom!
You got 90% right, sure, and let’s be truthful, you spent extra money and bought stuff that was not on the list and you spent extra time to do another ride to the store because you missed something that was important and you needed it before the Holidays.
Out of budget, both on money and time, unfortunately it happens far too often.
Great blog series, I love it.
Take care
Colin
Coach and author of Speaking the Language of Leadership
http://www.its4sides.com
Good morning I’m interested in your 3 page planning document. It was great to meet you in Rochester last month. Looking forward to discusssing the seminar in REF this month.
Happy New Year
David
Agreed, Colin, and then there will be a few times when you get to the store and got only 50% because you simply got distracted and forgot what you needed or why you went to the store in the first place.
Personally, I am a fan of the ‘framework’ approach to planning and managing. Without any sort of strategy or notional plan, you are leaving way too much to chance and are unlikely to meet any of your objectives. A 250 page plan with play by play actions, sub topics and comprehensive back up plans is guaranteed to become obsolete and irrelevant by the time you finish.
Outline a framework with major work streams identified, highlighting key milestones and check points. Manage through the details as they materialize.
Happy 2015!
Great post Tom.
We find this problem a lot at my company. Always writing so much down at planning sessions and then keeping a tab on everything becomes a real challenge, however well laid out you make everything.
I think you have to build planning into your routine as well as using the right (digital) tools to track everything. For me, that is Trello for higher level work and collaborative things and Gmail for managing all the projects and work that I’m responsible for delivering. Don’t worry – I don’t mean standard barebones Gmail. I’m using an extension called ActiveInbox which turns it into a brilliant lightweight project and task manager and integrates with my calendar very well.
Makes sense to keep task and project lists in Gmail as that is where my work gets updated and where I keep a check of progress. I hate having 4 different places to check and update every time something changes or moves forward. And I spend most of my day in email anyway so it is great to have it all under my nose.