“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry…” ~ Robert Burns, Scottish poet (1785)

I have been working on an Organization Manual revision project for one of Thundercloud Labs’ larger clients since December. This project requires varying degrees of input from over 150 stakeholders across eight departments. The finished product will directly affect thousands of workers in the client’s organization crisscrossing the country...literally from Alaska to Florida and from New England to California.

Cognizant of the project’s importance and its far-reaching impact, shortly after assignment, I sat down at my laptop and, over the course of a few hours, crafted a project plan for the coming months. And what an amazing project plan it was! I’m not ashamed to admit that I opened that .mpp file on more than one occasion to admire it in its pure, unexecuted beauty. I brought the plan to the key stakeholders, received their enthusiastic approval, and distributed the plan to the project team. During our kickoff meeting, however, it was apparent some of the approving stakeholders had some of new ideas after giving the original plan their thumbs up. Frustrating, for sure, but they were certainly great ideas requiring incorporation into the plan. Back to the drawing board. Next came the execution phase. We discovered that sometimes putting a team of SMEs into action creates more work and adds more steps to a project than it actually completes. Again, more changes to the project plan. But now the twice updated plan hardly resembled the original.

To a project manager, time management, organization, and keen attention to detail are essential keys to success. “Schedule” is, after all, one of the three components of the “Iron Triangle” of project management (along with “Cost” and “Scope”). During the planning phase of a project, an inordinate amount of time and effort goes into creating the perfect timeline. An approved plan of action with important milestones and detailed tasks are all required before moving forward. Once complete, that Microsoft Project file is truly a work of art. It’s important to remember, however, that bringing the client’s vision to life is our ultimate goal. Not only that, the client’s expertise and insight is required for the project to be successful.

Four key takeaways to remember as you plan and execute your project plan:

• Expect change: Like it or not, there will be changes to the project plan. Prepare yourself with the tools you’ll need to capture and incorporate those changes before they occur. Taking 45 minutes to create a customized change log spreadsheet, for instance, can potentially save many hours of rework throughout the project lifecycle.
• Be receptive: As a project manager, you are often not the subject matter expert (SME). You’ll need to rely on your team of SMEs to help identify areas of the project plan which may need revision to achieve the most effective and efficient way forward. During the planning phase and early on in the execution phase, frequent team meetings are essential in making sure any issues and concerns from your SMEs are communicated.
• Focus on adaptability: Remember, your project plan should fit the work of the project; the project shouldn’t be designed and executed to fit the plan.
• Be the manager: It’s your job to determine which issues rise to the level of triggering a change to the project plan…because not all of them do. Some will be too large and outside of your control. Others will be too small and can be considered an acceptable risk. Others, still, may be completely out of the scope of the project to begin with. As project manager, judgement and thought leadership are what you bring to the table.

At the onset of a project, any project plan, no matter how thoughtfully and meticulously constructed, is almost entirely theoretical. Due to the human element, until the last deliverable is provided to the customer, “the perfect project plan” does not exist. A successful project manager must be willing to put their own pride aside, be an active listener, and remain open to change throughout the project lifecycle. Perhaps the Project Management Institute should add a fourth side to that Iron Triangle in the next PMBOK edition... “Adaptability.”