“A goal without a path is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
As 2018 is completed, we have entered into a new year. Having a clear view of what we will do/want to do for 2019 is very important to guide our actions.
Maybe your are in a project that has been already started, being either in the Planning or Execution phase, or you have new assignments this year within your team. Maybe you were very busy last year solving problems that have arised instantly or the project didn’t had sufficient resources assigned.
How will you do it this year, what work was assigned, what are the forecasts? How will you ensure you balance properly work and free time? What is your focus, what do you want/need to achieve?
The 5 steps below will guide you in preparing your 2019 work plan:
- Review of 2018
- Think about the challenges you have for 2019 (What and why?)
- Define your SMART goals (What)
- Do/check your action plan (How)
- Create/update your Project’s Plan (team schedule)
1. Review of 2018
Most of the time, the projects are so tight in terms of time that we often start the new year with work remained from the previous year. Even so, before doing your 2019, is a good idea to verify how was your 2018, what went good, according to plan, what needs improvements for this year.
You could ask yourself: How did I spent my time? How much of my time was spent for what I needed? Was I efficient? After, you can think what you can improve in 2019.
To review your plan against the initial baseline, you can use different tools as Microsoft Project, Oracle Primavera or others.
2. Think about the challenges you have for 2019 (What and why?)
You can make a review of the activities planned for all the year, doing this review will help replan if needed different activities and to analyse the Cash Flow, risks and other constraints within your project. The project challenges for this year should be alligned to the Project Management Plan of the project.
3. Define your SMART goals (What)
Breaking down the challenges should have been already done when the Work Breakdown Structure(WBS) of your project was done, you can make a review and be sure the goals/scope are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely defined. You can only achieve the realistic goals that are properly set up based on the project Scope of Work.
4. Do/check your action plan (How)
How will you accomplish the scope? Have you taken all the right measures in place? Do you have the right resources(people, money, equipments), are there any possible risks involved? You should detail your plan according to the required measurable level.
5. Create/update your Project’s Plan (team schedule)
After your goals are properly defined and detailed, you should ensure the Project Plan includes info about the planned resources, finances, durations, equipments, technical constraints, weather and potential risks.The Project Planning Guideline can guide you in defining your plan.
Ensure you will be able to follow the work, you can do this by
- Creating a digital calendar
- Creating deadlines
- Use productivity apps
There are different software tools to be used depending your company management policies. (Oracle Primavera, Microsoft Project- Sharepoint, Outlook…)
Conclusions
Following the steps above will help you in ensuring you are controlling your time and your challenges for this year. Having a good plan will guide you to reach your goals.
Plan your work and work your plan!