Monday – the most important and the most challenging day.
What needs to be planned in a project?
Project planning involves thinking through and organizing everything necessary to complete work as quickly and thoroughly as possible. It covers all aspects — from defining the goal (the goal of the week, in our case) to the scope of work, tasks, and resources.
There are many task planning methods. Our team has grown very fond of the "1-3-5" method. According to this rule, you should prepare a list of tasks for the week in advance and select 9 of them: 1 major task, 3 medium ones, and 5 small ones.
More specifically, "1-3-5" is built on the understanding that we are unlikely to achieve all our intended goals at once, but we can certainly achieve at least one. Therefore, you should first include this one big goal in the plan, and then add three medium and five small ones to it.
At the same time, the definitions of "big," "medium," and "small" refer not only to the scale of the goal but also to its importance. That is, medium goals should be significant but not urgent or critical, while small ones are pleasant to complete but not mandatory. If you suddenly run out of time for them, it shouldn't cause any problems.
Thus, the 1-3-5 rule helps to achieve success gradually and avoid self-blame if you fail to reach every single daily goal. It is a tool that sets a clear direction in both personal and professional life, leading to progress step by step. Regular use of such a tool turns planning into a pleasant habit and increases the chances of success.
The beauty of the 1-3-5 rule lies in its simplicity. It simplifies the planning process itself and makes it easier to achieve results. So, if you want to make the next day, month, or year truly productive, try this method right now. The results will definitely surprise you, just as they did my team.
It is also important to formulate tasks correctly. For example, if the project goal is managerial efficiency, the task might be to teach salespeople to greet customers. Or, if the project goal is to reduce injuries, the task is to teach workers to identify unsafe conditions.
For correct formulation, my team has one "golden" rule – a task is always stated in verbs and actions. For example, "improve workers' knowledge of lifting equipment." This is a slogan. But "conduct practical training at lifting equipment training grounds" is a task. Why such precision and pedantry? It's simple. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. And in a project sprint (week), the main thing is to manage and analyze the result.
To summarize, the main purpose of planning (the week!) is to continuously maintain the project's course toward its successful completion. Throughout the project's life, all components of the project scope may undergo changes, which is why the idea of a project sprint is so relevant. And why analyze? To make the appropriate decision and move forward. Or, conversely, to pause the project and return to problematic issues — for instance, on Friday, when reviewing the implementation of Monday's tasks. A full circle 😊
To be continued in the next article.