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What’s your plan? The lost art of project planning

Posted in: Business Models, Design, PreDesign, Trends, by: Mario Garcia

Feb 24, 2009
01:33 PM

You know that scene from Ocean’s 11 (the Clooney version) where George gathers his crew and lays out his plan for the heist? In that sequence he outlines the details, personnel, materials necessary and timeline for stealing $100 million from a Las Vegas casino . There was a beginning, a middle, and end. It was well thought out, organized and very clear. All that was left was implementation. But the detail and clarity of the plan helped all those involved move forward with absolute confidence they would succeed. Then again, how can you go wrong with Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Cheadle and Bernie Mac?

Assuming you can’t collect that ensemble for your project, what you can count on to ensure a smoother journey towards your goal is a solid plan. Planning is something that often is overlooked, assumed or covered very quickly in our creative process, especially in a deadline-driven world. It’s certainly not the fun part of the project.

I remember when I was a novice screenwriter (a part time gig that has turned into a no time gig) all the books and experienced writers would say you had to start with an outline—a clear vision of what you were setting out to write, the beginning, middle and end, the character, the scenes. Of course I would skip this and just start writing (the fun part) only to get stuck 30 or 40 pages in and eventually abandon the project. After a 2 or 3 unfinished screenplays I decided to give this planning thing a chance and sure enough it was easier to write the script. To this day, I tell other writers, the real work is in coming up with the plan, the rest is just implementation.

Obviously this applies to any creative project. I’ve seen too many projects derailed not because it wasn’t a good idea, or because of the personnel, not for lack of motivation, but simply because there wasn’t a good plan behind it. So what does it take to have a good plan? What can you do in the planning stage to make the implementation go smoother and ensure?

Commit to Planning

Make it a REAL part of your process. I dare say make it the most important part of the process. This does not include writing, sketching, Photoshop, CSS or any of the skills you’d rather jump to. It’s simply committing to getting down on paper the answers to these questions:

Why are we doing this?
Who’s going to help?
What’s it going to take?
How are we going to do it?
How long will it take?
What’s the expected outcome?

Your Mission...if you choose to accept it

Okay, so you’ve committed to having a project plan. You’re ready and patient enough to put in the necessary work on the plan to make the rest go smoother. The next step is to know the mission you’re about to undertake. Know everything about it. The mission is the project. Example: build a web site for the FAA, create a brand for Tropicana or steal $100 million from a Las Vegas casino.

You’ll notice the examples are very specific. In the “Mission Impossible” movies Tom Cruise’s goal may have been to save the world, but his mission was to “get the microfiche” or whatever it was. That’s how we have to look at planning. If it’s bigger than this it’s just too hard to get a handle on it and it ends up on the trash heap of started but not finished projects. Saving the world encompasses way too much—stop global warming, fix the economy, clean up Amy Winehouse etc. But getting the microfiche from the bad guys?  Easier to plan for and better chance of success.

So don’t try to come up with a plan for “getting more clients” or “extending your brand.” Come up for a strategy for those things, then create a plan (or plans) to execute that strategy.

There’s no “I” in team

Part of planning is getting the personnel in place to help execute. This is the crucial time in every plan to make everyone aware of their roles. I also believe this is the most underestimated step in the planning. Even though we’re lucky enough in the design world not to have many egos (clearing throat), it’s important very early in the project that team members understand what everyone’s role is. If there’s going to be an issue, this is the time to get it on the table, not once you’re implementing when it’s too late to do something about it.

Tell team members what they need to hear now, not what you think they want to hear to get their help. Make sure the personalities work well together, not just inter-team, but with the client team as well. Learn who’s who on the client side as well. Even though there’s not much control over their team, having an idea of who you will have to deal with can also help in the planning, or even if you want to continue with the project.

Gather the ingredients

Just as if you were preparing a fancy feast in the kitchen and making sure you have all the ingredient, a good plan involves collecting everything you need to complete the project. I’m not talking about the obvious, like your laptops, software, box of crayons, action figures etc.  Every good plan should involve gathering important elements like audience or market research, information on competitors, existing brand assets, any legal or technical restrictions, and most importantly, your notes from initial client meetings.

We have a questionnaire that works as a checklist that we give to prospective clients very early in the process that covers all of the materials we feel we need for project planning. Not only does this help us, but it also helps the client in doing their own asset collection if they haven’t done so, all the while reinforcing to them how serious we are about planning.

I know it seems silly, but keep these materials close to you whenever you are working on the project. Once we get into “creative” mode our minds seem to want to take over and the project becomes more about what we want it to be rather than what our plan tells us it should be. Having the materials at the ready is a constant reminder of where the project needs to be and avoids a heavy revision phase. 

The results-driven deadline

Perhaps the hardest part of planning is figuring out how long it will take. You can lean on experience for this, but each project is different. More important is that the plan be about getting the results required rather than about meeting an artificial deadline. Can’t stress this enough to clients that having to plan around a deadline is much harder and unrealistic. Sure, you can nail it some of the times, but more often you find yourself getting away from the necessary plan just to get it done on time. This is never good.

Very early in the planning, do not commit to any timeline or date of completion. I know clients or superiors need this information, but our stock answer is that we won’t have a range until after our planning is complete. The reality is you can’t know the timeline until you have the plan. Not that you can’t have a deadline, but don’t set one until you’ve had a chance to do all the analysis, gather the team and all the information required to complete the project.

Sign off, please

From the moment you are pitching your services or yourself, let your employer/client know how serious you are about planning. Tell them how important the plan is to the success of the project and make them part of the plan. This means transparency. Just like Clooney laid it out for his accomplices, do the same for any and all involved in the project.

If the supervisor or client has any problems with the plan you can adjust accordingly without it affecting the project. Better for problems to creep up in planning stage than in project stage when it will lead to possible stall and frustration.

Once the plan is approved, let it be the map for all involved. We create a master task list from our plan and make our clients sign off on parts of the plan as they’re completed so we know and they know where we are with the project at all times. The advantage of this is that makes it very obvious when project creep or change in scope occurs.

Some people don’t want to pay attention to the plan or forget about it when you start implementing. A sign off system keeps the plan as the guide. Makes the decision-maker more responsible throughout the project and keeps things moving.

Conclusion

Planning is not as hard as sticking to the routine of planning. For us creatives, it’s boring, tedious and it doesn’t help when you have an impatient client or supervisor who wants to rush the project along, but any time we’ve had a difficult project it’s wholly attributable to poor planning. And it’s amazing how much more fun the project becomes for all when you have a solid plan in place to make it happen.

Would love to hear how you plan your creative projects? What’s your process?