We all want success, yet so many of us are unclear about what success is and how to achieve
success.
In this video, we look at the starting point in the foundations of being successful, looking
at...planning
If you're hungry to succeed, then this series has been designed specifically for you, giving
you tips and clarity on elements that make us successful in a given an endeavour, and
how to follow through to be successful.
In the last part we looked at how and why ideas are formed, what you can do to help
the creative process and how to identify which ideas are worth pursuing.
Today's video will focus on planning, which is one of the most critical parts of being
successful and requires time dedicated to it to ensure you have a clear structure and
plan of action.
Before we go into planning, let's just reiterate which parts will be covered as part of this
series:
1.
Ideas 2.
Planning 3.
Motivation 4.
Action 5.
Recycling
Make sure to watch the other parts, as the structure requires each facet to be applied
correctly if you want to see results to match your ambition.
In terms of planning, it's critical to plan a project, whether personal or for a group
of stakeholders, correctly and thoroughly.
In this video, we will break this down into a six step process, which are easy to follow
and understand.
So without wasting time, let's get straight into it.
1.
Identify Your Target Market and Stakeholders Then basic way to understand a stakeholder
is it is anyone who is affected by the results of your project plan.
This might be your customers and end users, or if you're working as part of a team or
a bigger organisation, also those you are working with or for to achieve the desired
outcome.
The first step in planning your project after getting an idea is to identify all stakeholders
and always firmly keep their interests as the focus of the project when creating your
project plan or solution.
How you do this might vary depending on the type of project.
In business, this is often done by having a meeting, or multiple meetings, with the
various stakeholders in a project.
Of course you can't actively meet all of the stakeholders in some cases, such as if you
deliver YouTube content, in which case you will need to rethink alternative ways to get
the details of a stakeholders requirements and needs, such as meeting focus groups, finding
online communities or doing research.
The purpose of the meetings and research is to develop an understanding of the potential
scope of the project, make sure you and your stakeholders are clear on the outcome you're
working towards, the kind of solution that will be delivered and it's purpose and benefits.
At this point, it's always vital to remember that it's easy to focus on the solution or
product being created, but it's best to keep focus on the purpose of the solution and the
problem it resolves for the person who benefits for it.
2.
Create Goals Once you have a list of stakeholder requirements,
it's important to set your project goals.
These must outline project objectives, the purpose of why these objectives must be met
and how your solution will deliver the desired outcome.
You can do this by documenting each goal and the possible solution to achieve the goal.
When you do this, it's critical to create objectives as part of each goal which will
help you deliver the solution.
These should be clear and easy to follow, which you can do by setting objectives using
the SMART methodology.
SMART goals are:
Specific Measurable
Attainable Reachable
Time Bound
Doing this will help you focus on what you're trying to achieve with each goal in the scope
of the project, as well as provide guidance in the direction the project will take.
3.
Identify Tasks and Deliverables The first step was to understand the scope
and requirement of a project, whereas the second step was to create individual goals
and objectives to fulfill the overall scope in the project.
Following on from this, the third step is to design the solution, to allow you to create
deliverables and tasks on the project.
This will mean to focus on the how, rather than the why and what you're trying to accomplish
with the project.
To do this, first identify the deliverables and the project planning steps required to
meet the project's goals.
Think about what you must deliver to meet the goals you've set for the project.
From here, once you understand the deliverables, spend time designing and outling your solution,
going down to the details of the individual tasks you must complete to deliver the solution.
If you work in a technical field, this might be defining processes and options available
to a user.
In a creative field, it might be designing an outline of what you're working to create
and identifying the materials or software you need to achieve the desired results.
Once you've designed your solution, with clearly understood tasks on how to deliver the solution,
you need to spend time assessing the time it will take for you to take action and build
your solution.
How you break this down depends on the solution and how you operate, but personally I like
the granuality of assessing tasks by the hour, which gives me a clear time frame on where
I should be during various points of the day when working.
After you have estimated the time required to complete your tasks, you will be able to
estimate due dates for each deliverable in your project plan, giving you a rough outline
for how long a solution needs to be built.
4.
Schedule Your Project Once you have your estimates for your deliverables
for your project, you will want to schedule your project.
Whether you work on a project with a long or short turnaround, scheduling is fundamental
to ensure you are on track to achieve your objective.
For example, YouTubers might deliver content weekly or even daily, making for very quick
turnarounds for each video, which are the projects.
Unless the creator has a clear schedule to help them create and deliver content, maintaining
consistency in delivering will be close to impossible.
To schedule your project, look at each deliverable and the series of tasks that must be completed
to accomplish each one.
If you're managing a team, it's important to assign the correct deliverables or tasks
to the correct member of the team, scheduling also based on their availability.
However, when working individually, your focus will be more on time than necessarily skills,
as you have to do everything.
In addition to scheduling time, you also have to factor dependencies and the order in which
tasks and deliverables are scheduled.
After all, there's a very realistic possibility that one deliverable is dependent on another
being built and available.
For example, when creating YouTube content, I have to first record my voice for a video
before I can edit the visuals, as my visuals are dependent on my recording.
5.
Identify Risks Risks are part of the parcel of projects and
must be identified when planning a project, not doing so could be costly for you later
down the line.
It might not be fun, but it's better to be prepared.
Therefore, go through a risk assessment when planning a project.
This would be identifying all of the possible risks associated with the project and what
the impact would be were the risk become a real issue.
For example, this might be people going on holiday or becoming sick, in which case you
need to understand the impact that would have on the project and on the schedule you've
set up in the previous step.
Try to set up contigencies where possible, such as tackling high risk tasks early to
minimise their potential impact later on and make your stakeholders aware of the risks
and their possible impact.
Hopefully, issues don't arise, but it's better to be prepared and have contingencies in place,
that for unwanted surprises to appear during critical points of the project.
6.
Communicate Your Project Plan The final stage of planning is to communicate
your plan with your stakeholders.
This may not always happen with consumers, depending on what you're delivering and for
what purpose, but is common in business with clients.
This will be to present what you've outlined and where responsibilities lie and with whom.
Make sure to communicate clearly and have ways to track progress against your objectives.
This is critical during management of actions to ensure you have clarity on whether you
will achieve the timescales set.
While I did mention this communication may not always occur with all stakeholders, such
as consumers, there have been some trend changes where many have shared plans and projects
more openly.
This is particularly common on platforms such as YouTube, where creators often outline their
plans for their channels with their viewers.
So use these steps and plan your projects correctly.
Doing so will put you in the best place to have a successful project.
In the next video, we'll be looking at motivation, but in the meantime I would love to know how
much time do you spend planning a project?
Let me know in the comments section below.
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