Applying the Template to Create a Real-World Plan
The project plan template you’ve just read (The Muddle Buster presumes you have) is not a plan. It merely lays out the categories of tasks that might be in a plan. Making the plan real means fleshing out the plan template with detail fitting the problem you are working. A good way to do this is as if you are writing the future story of how the project unfolds.
Start at the end
Pretend that you have finished the project and have all the information you need to implement the solution and to demonstrate that it is a good-enough solution to proceed. What happened just before that to make that possible? And before that, and before that, working back to the beginning where you are now. Use the phases in the plan template as chapter headings in your story.
Phase 3
Start with the story of Phase 3 and work backwards. Use the knowledge you have. You know what the originating problem is (Prob A). You can pretty well anticipate who the stakeholders will be at each phase, bringing in the process-oriented ones at the beginning and engaging the solution-oriented ones toward the end. You can anticipate what technical and people skills will be needed in each phase, and you can imagine what the solution options might look like at each phase. Knowing all that, proceed with the attitude that, in spite of what you know now at the beginning of project planning, your knowledge is full of gaps, and surprises may be in store so be ready to take advantage of them.
In Phase 3, who do you anticipate the stakeholders will be, and what are their serious concerns? What is likely to be in the Definition of Success? What concerns in the Definition of Success are shared among all (or most) stakeholders, and what concerns of some stakeholders are in conflict with others? What might solution options look like? Be as imaginative as you can. How will options be developed? Will you borrow from solutions that have already worked for similar problems, or will you venture creatively into the unknown and invent something novel? How in this process of creating options will you seek ideas that will resolve conflict among stakeholders? What criteria will be used to evaluate options and how will the performance of various options against those criteria be scaled? What technical expertise will be needed to create and evaluate options, and what people skills will be needed to bring consensus on resolution of conflicting interests? What organization will be needed to execute Solution-Discovery and what kind of leadership is necessary? The answers to all of these questions and more will be incorporated in the Solution-Discovery process in Phase 3 that will deliver the answer to Prob A. So describe what that Solution-Discovery process is and how it is used. That is the basis of the tasks in Phase 3.
Phase 2
In Phase 2, a similar set of question will be asked, but directed not toward solving Prob A. In Phase 2 the job is to apply a process design methodology to design the Solution-Discovery process that will be used in Phase 3 to solve Prob A. So, in Phase 2, Prob B is “What is the Solution-Discovery process to solve Prob A ?” So, in Phase 2, having a process design methodology in hand, what is the story of how that methodology is applied to design Solution-Discovery for Phase 3?
Now, in writing our story of the project we still have a question. Having backed up from Phase 3 where initiating Prob A is solved to Phase 2 where the Solution-Discovery process for Prob A is created, we still don’t know where the process design methodology in Phase 2 came from? The answer to that is Phase 1
Phase 1
So, in Phase 1, the job is two-fold. One job is to create the process design methodology to be used in Phase 2. That is done by tapping into the process design expertise of people who have the skill and experience. So, that leads to the other job of Phase 1, which in part is to assemble a project team which includes those kinds of people. The rest of the job is to bring people on board who understand project organization and management in general, to set up the project framework that will continue and evolve through the entire project. Of course, all the people involved in setting up and executing Phase 1 must be dedicated to the ultimate success in solving Prob A.