To plan or not to plan - pros and cons

There are organizations where project planning is supposed to be a waste of time. For them, the project plan is useless. They want to "get started immediately without wasting time on useless planning meetings."

What makes construction leaders think that project planning is a waste of time?

The first and most common reason is that the organization does not control and plan the start of a new project. There is no reason to plan if they can launch the project at any time, and if the organization does not demand a return of investments after the project is completed.

On the other hand, managers must plan their projects if the organization requires the following:

• cost-benefit analysis for new projects

• a clear specification of the results that are expected to be obtained upon completion of the project

• know the cost and duration of the project.

A second and very common reason for this attitude is that many executives have never sponsored, launched, or even worked on a properly planned project. As a result, they are unaware of the benefits that a well-planned project can provide. Their projects tend to miss planned completion dates and fall short of budgets. Project teams do not know what they are responsible for, what level of performance the project manager expects, or how he will rate their work. As a result, the project manager has to tell the team members what to do every week, and sometimes every day.

Leaders of organizations also have no practical experience in controlling changes. They fail to realize that a well thought out project plan gives them and project managers the tools to manage change in volume, budget, quality, and resources.

Regardless of the reasons, organization leaders view project planning as a waste of time and resources, the project manager must convince them of the benefits of following the project plan. When leaders want to start a project, you need to describe the right steps and explain how the process will benefit the organization. Leaders also need to understand that project managers cannot use the same planning method for different projects. For example, a small project can be overwhelmed with a pile of paperwork and documents, and a large strategic project will suffer if there is not enough planning, control and risk management.

Project planning allows you and each member of the project team to know exactly what managers want before starting work. In a well-managed project, you and your team members don't stop working to figure out what to do next.

Competent planning and clear assignment of tasks by the leader allows the team to focus on the implementation, and not on replanning the project.

By the way, for every hour spent on planning, the project manager wins several hours that were previously spent on meetings, negotiations and arguments.

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