Blog : Strategy

5 Essential Project Planning Answers to Have Before You Start

Your projects plans, especially for launches are a like a strawberry trifle. Layers upon layers. You have to have the graham cracker crust, the cream, the macerated berries, and finish with flair. Just like a project, you have to have the foundation, the development, the real time launch, and the follow up. It’s never just a simple as it looks.

Many times we jump right in and then scatter off to complete each layer, but its so chaotic that your trifle ends up being a big layered mess.

To keep your team on point there are certain questions that help you (and your team or project manager) frame out the plan. Once you have answered these and have a firm grasp of what’s in front of you, the planning aspect and coordination (let’s face it, all hands on deck) is much easier.

IDEAL DATE OF COMPLETION. 

In an ideal world, when would you like this completed? Please be realistic, Rome wasn’t built in a day and this project needs room to breathe. Just like that cab!

DOES THE CALENDAR MATCH?

Consult your calendar! The most important part of the ENTIRE PLANNING PROCESS is to look at not only your business calendar, but also your personal calendar. You need a good sense of how much time you have in between family happenings, busy work season, and other important dates. This also gives you a sense of how hard you have to push or helps put in perspective how hard you are willing to push to complete it. (EXAMPLE: I’m ok with putting in 10-20 extra hours this month, because next month we have visitors, out of town, etc).

WHAT OTHER MOVING OR ACTIVE PROJECTS OVERLAP?

I typically don’t like to have more than 2 or 3 active projects, or 1 depending on how involved it is. If you are running a live course, hitting the pavement with speaking or podcasts, or overhauling your website (which requires all new copy) you may not have the bandwidth to incorporate another active project. You may have to remove or pause another project to make room. Or start the project after other projects are further along. 

TEAM AVAILABILITY

While you may be planning to put this into development and marketing within 6 weeks, if key team players have scheduling conflicts then your dates may need to be shifted or stages extended to absorb some of the conflicts. Bring your team into your initial framework so they can give you more perspective on ideal dates (AND priority).

IS THERE A LIVE OR IN REAL TIME ELEMENT TO THIS?

One thing I apply in absolute-ness is if there is a live element to this project (live QA, calls, live marketing, 1-1 feedback, application review, webinar/masterclass, etc.) that is the only thing happening during that sprint. Everything else must be done before or able to wait until after the live or real-time element is completed.

Combining a live or real-time element means you probably need to add at least 1 week or 1 sprint to each phase to make sure it is “situated” or completed before the live or real-time thing happens. If you are continuing to write copy for sales pages WHILE doing 3 live webinars with personal outreach or reviewing applications and giving feedback. . . ultimately something will break and you will end up doing too many things at once.

Having these 5 answers will help you frame out the project with better clarity. You’ll see the dates, have some perspective if items need shifting, and be able to make the decision with a full picture.

If you want to learn more about to designate the right projects at the right time along with your regular stuff, then you need to meet Your Progress Gameplan: 30-60-90 day planning so you never have to ask what do I do next again! 

Progress Issue #1: Shoving 90 Days of Work into 30 Days

When you put those leggings on (sans spanx) do you ever feel like you’ve just shoved a few extra pounds into em? Like you’re a sausage about to bust out of the casing with one wrong move? You know the I-can’t-pick-that-penny-up-off-the-floor kind of move. Honey, you know you’ve been there a time or two. That Sara Blakely knows a thing or two.

I use this example a lot when I start working with clients, not because they need to look slimmer or anything, but because I normally step into a hot mess when it comes to forward planning. All too many times, I see an entire launch, reboot, or overhaul dog eared for one month. Just like when we are too ambitious with that Spring ensemble from last year- your project planning could undergoing the same stress.

Shoving 90 days of work into 30.

One wrong move. One missed deadline. One sequence you can’t nail. One flu away from total and complete disaster.

Oh snap.

That was the seam bustin’ wide open.

Asana just laughed in your face.

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to have that launch, reboot, revamp or whatever mini project planned for and broken down 90 days in advance. Wouldn’t it be a nice change to clear your regular ‘ole stuff out (like that pesky blog that remains unchecked) to make room for fresh white space for the mini project?

Wouldn’t you feel more in control and your team dialed in if you had all the ducks in a row?

That is absolutely possible!

What you need is a Gameplan and I’ve got the exact solution! Let’s get you setup with your own Progress Gameplan so you can plan your next 90 days with confidence and in ultimate planning style.

Instead of getting that busy-ness high from shoving 30 into 90 (FYI: busy-ness high- the false high from being unnecessarily busy). . . what if you learned to plan to get things done AND be adaptable at the same time?

By implementing the Progress System and the principles behind it you will feel more in control. Your team will feel more confident in their next steps. And in the end, you will have a higher quality product (and process) because you are planning in advance- yet being flexible to account for any bumps in the road.

So if the later sounds way better than that unfortunate pen drop at Target, then I think you need to check out my way of doing things.

You can start with a serious from the ground up overhaul. . . or you can start small. Thinking in terms of sprints, mapping your our next 30-60-90 day gameplan, and scheduling regular reviews to make sure you are tweaking and achieving #allthethings.

 

How Very Important Progress (VIP) is Made

How Very Important Progress (VIP) is MadeLike I’ve mentioned many times before, I work as a project manager, OBM, COO. . . basically I am the business version of a traffic director. That means that I help big dreamin’ creative business owners wrangle all their ideas, manage their teams, and bring ideas to implementation in the form of project management. That’s all well and good but what does that ACTUALLY look like? In this week’s post, I’m taking you behind-the-scenes of my business showing you exactly how I help my clients go from #alltheideas to prioritized plan of action with the VIP Intensive Program.

STEP 1: Figure out what they need (like actually need, not THINK they need)

I start off by diving deep and putting my superior PI skills to work. I know that when a client at this level needs some immediate support, they have a thousand and one on-going projects and a million and one new things they want to work on. Because I know this, my deep dive into their business helps me objectively figure out how their business is operating, what is working well, and where immediate attention is needed. It’s important that we look at their business this way because once they see how to improve the current state of affairs, the new ideas (or projects) are easier to start working on. For some this is way easy, for others we have to focus on improvements so we can scale and grow with less annoyance or risk of making a bigger mess.

STEP 2: 30-60-90 Day Gameplan

The next step is taking my deep (very nerdy) assessment and create a custom 30-60-90 Day Gameplan. This gives us a tactical plan of how we are going to attack those crucial areas AND make way for the new ideas to get off the ground. Things like adding on key team players, improving SOPs, moving to new tech or software, or even re-structuring a work week are what we plan for. Of course we also do an epic project breakdown where we also tackle the top projects or priorities that will support their goals.

STEP 3: VIP Treatment and Implementation

As we start to implement this 30-60-90 Day Gameplan, we work really closely together. You’re gonna see my makeupless face and mom bun- but you’ll also see things getting moved to the DONE! column. I’ll set you up with our signature system, The Progress System, and you’ll start working daily on the gameplan. I’m here to be your mentor during this process and help keep you (and your team) accountable and moving forward. This includes your very own Trello (or Asana) boards, milestone achievement dates, sprint checkins, and tasks with assignments and due dates for you and your team. While it’s not always super feasible to me to come on as your own COO- I can help you work through this gameplan and lead your team towards your goals. That’s why we stay connected and on top of milestones and sprint planning.

Of course each client is different but my goal is always to help you wrangle all your ideas and improve your operations so you can scale and grow to that next level. As a go-getter myself, I know that those cookie cutter solutions or at your own pace courses aren’t going to cut it, but I also know that hiring someone to sweep in and handle it isn’t exactly a line item you can afford (yet).Which is why working with me to create a custom plan (and help you stick to it) is the only way you can quickly move from idea to implementation.
The VIP Intensive is for those creatives who know they want to hit the next level, but don’t know how to get everything in line to do so. They know they need to be better organized and fire up their teams, but can’t find the time to plan for the things because they are trapped under the #allthethings to do list. This program is made for those creative business owners who want to feel accomplished when things are moved to the DONE! column, excited to get to work and moving on the next big thing, and ready to scale/grow to hit the next level.
Sound like you? I want to talk! Sign up for a complimentary call and see how we can work together to create a prioritized plan of action.