You’ve seen the picture perfect, color coordinated, works of art that are project plans following an agile system. I can’t function without the columns planned and coordinated like the rainbow, BUT I also see a different side of projects and 90 day planning, since I’m elbow deep in them each day.
The need to adapt and adjust on the fly.
The need for adjustments can be attributed to three most likely scenarios:
1. Planning well beyond 90 days.
2. The lack of planning.
3. Normal hurdles during the course of a project or progress.
Runners up would be: changing goals, making the call to scrap something, or hunkering down to absorb life and business bumps.
And it’s not always easy to make the call when you are pressed for time and red/green/yellow light decisions need to made like yesterday.
Here is why I LOVE working with progress in mind, specifically following the Progress System. You are planning 90 days out, BUT you are remaining flexible to adapt as you need paying particular attention to the timing of events.
A rule of thumb that I teach in the Progress System: Trello Edition is that you plan for projects and tasks 90 days out, but you don’t have to have every single task perfectly detailed out and accounted for. Rather, as you near the 60 day mark you firm up the details to 100% firm by the 30 days and current sprint. You are giving yourself room to make decisions at the 90+ mark, but you aren’t marrying yourself to that because a lot could change during that time.
What could change that would affect other decisions or work?:
*A break in tech
*A funnel that simply isn’t converting, calling for a retool sooner than expected
*Losing a key team member
*Adjusting current services (booked up or not booked at all)
*Change in marketing or strategies
Keeping things flexible doesn’t mean you aren’t forward thinking, rather it means that IF you need to adjust (add in another step, section out a part to delegate, bring in a new team member, etc) you are managing your resources (time, money, and energy) and making smart decisions that help you adapt BEFORE things blow up.
Adapting is the balance of: Not waiting too long to plan and having to make an important decision on the fly, but also not planning too far in advance that you’re wasting time/money/energy backtracking over work.
This is why Launch Debriefs, Sprint Reviews, team collaboration, and proper sprint planning are soooooo important.
BUT HEAR ME ON THIS:
Adapting doesn’t mean we don’t plan or just plan for the next few months out. We actually do a ton of forward planning and I am constantly going over if A happens, then we keep with B & C. If A doesn’t, then I’ll implement 1,2,3 that makes B move over and C is now on pause. It’s a constant evaluation based on progress.
Still sounds weird?
Here’s what I mean. . . I usually sprint plan for the regular ‘ole stuff beyond the 90 days. Blog posts, newsletters, IG, podcasts, important progress markers, etc likely have a standard day they release (those are easy). . . but other things like developing a new service, retooling a funnel, adding a bell or whistle- may need to be developed and planned for amidst other work. That also means you may have to be flexible in making room for the work AND be able to handle pop-up fires that occur naturally when operating a business.
So if you are little like me and like to plan but keep some options open, then I think the Progress System would be a great match. I mean who doesn’t love color coordination?
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