Project Management Insights

00:06 Before we move on to planning, I just want to interject with a couple of pointers that are worth knowing because we've got your back.

00:15 The first one is a tip from PMI.

00:17 So, you know, it's worth your time.

00:20 Here it is. Planning is a terrative.

00:24 We've made it clear that planning covers all sections of the project, from timelines to risks to expectations.

00:31 But it's important to know that before the planning is complete, you may often need to make modifications to the stages already planned.

00:40 New information can always change the plans you've already made.

00:44 For example, say you're planning timelines for the virtual reality area of your showroom.

00:51 Last year you added a section like this to a different showroom and it took you two months. Therefore, when you plan this in your timeline, you use the same duration. A little while later, you start planning your resources and you realize that two members of the tech team have left since last year, leaving you with 20% less staff.

01:11 There's a good chance this will affect your timelines and you will have to go back and revise them. Adjusting the time and resources of the project.

01:19 See planning is attractive.

01:22 Be patient.

01:23 And until all areas have been analyzed and planned, you better write your plans in pencil. Then we have what we call non straightforward tasks.

01:35 Some tasks are simple.

01:37 We can imagine how they will be done and in how much time.

01:41 Say one task is organize a workshop session.

01:45 The project manager reviews the necessary participants, finds a good day and time for everyone's calendars, books a room, puts a flip chart inside and sends the invitations.

01:56 This process is easy to predict and execute, right? There are, however, these non straightforward tasks.

02:06 In our project, let's say you're planning to project dynamic elements and animations on the cars, things like weather and different paint jobs. For this to work, you need to recruit an experienced software developer. Let's call this task estimate.

02:24 Recruitment duration.

02:27 Sounds simple, right? You need to analyze and dedicate a number of weeks to recruit the person.

02:34 You decide that two days are more than enough time to get the information needed to estimate this? So you write an email to HR and ask how many weeks they'll need to recruit an appropriate engineer.

02:48 The same afternoon you see a reply from HR.

02:51 Excellent. Looks like you'll have the estimate in one day instead of two.

02:56 You open the email and it says they can't give you an estimate until you tell them more about the ideal candidate.

03:02 How many years of experience? What kind of projects have they worked on? What kind of programming language is needed? Things like that.

03:10 You stare blankly at your computer screen because you have no idea.

03:15 The next day you call your colleague in the IT department and ask them for the details he needs.

03:22 They respond quickly with most of the information, but recommend you get formal validation from Sandra head of IT.

03:30 But Sandra is on holiday for the next two days.

03:32 You have no choice but to wait.

03:35 When Sandra returns, she's happy to help but needs a day to go through the information and validate it. Finally, the following day, you get the information and send it over to H.R..

03:46 They review it and give you an estimate of seven weeks.

03:51 Awesome task completed.

03:54 Although instead of two days, it took you eight days to estimate recruitment duration and fit it into your plan.

04:03 Tasks like this, especially ones which involve other people and information the project manager is not fully knowledgeable in, can have unexpected results and complicate the process, which in turn can change plans.

04:19 Keep this in mind as we move on to the next lesson and the real planning.

04:24 It's all been coming down to this.

04:27 Brace yourselves.

04:28 And see you in the next lesson.