Science? Art? or just a way of thinking.... SMART Programme Module 2 Planning Science? Art? or just a way of thinking.... Notes to Instructor: Opening Slide – ensure correct date and location are updated prior to course commencing 18th January 2016 Brindisi

Assignment 4a Planning Input

Module Objective To provide participants with a practical planning technique that can be used on any task requiring planning and links directly to the simple assessment technique learned earlier to scope out the requirement. Notes to Instructor: The participants will see how by doing planning focused on Results, it is easier to integrate all aspects of the programme/project or task into a single planning process

Learning Outcome On completion of the module, participants will be able to: Understand the following: Minimum Content for a plan Hierarchy of a results chain Define/formulate a plan including, timeframe, objectives, results, related indicators, outputs and activities Identify Resource needs Identify and formulate planning assumptions Risk Management Stakeholder Assessment At the end of the module participants will have had the opportunity to practice a planning technique to develop a “fog” project. Notes to Instructor: This module is “learn by doing”.

Purpose of Planning Planning provides: A guide for better decision-making A route to achieve results and value Reduced risk and uncertainty Increased trust Information sharing and coordination An opportunity for iterative review and change Speaking Points: Plans provide: Clear statement of objectives Defined time-bound activities to achieve objectives Consistent and logical framework Benchmark to measure performance Examples: Sample Questions: Pose the title of the slide as a question, then reveal following bullets after discussion Ask participants to suggest answers to the title of the slide Notes to Instructor: "no plan survives contact with the enemy"

Words get in the way…can we agree? Activities Output Outcome Result

Words get in the way… Activities Output Outcome Result Outcome Activity Activities Output Outcome Result

Planning You will be learning and applying management techniques to develop your plans: Working Backwards (Merlin Theory) Switching Views (Jo Hari Window) Next Stage (Planning Horizon) You will then see how these management principles coupled with the knowledge you have gained in PRINCE2 will enable you to produce robust plans. Notes to Mentors: The aim here is for the participants to apply the planning principles to the earlier session they have completed. This will achieve the following, a) helping them to see how there is a need to separate the process of planning from “creative” and “analytic”. Producing the Problem Tree was a creative session and using the Planning tool kit after the creative session will enhance the output during the reflective or analytic session and b) apply/use the tool kit The group will be given the task along with key deadlines and will be encouraged to plan their time to meet the deadlines. They can negotiate more time if it is needed to complete steps 1 and 2. The planning technique (sometimes called Merlin Technique) is to work backwards from each result identified in the scoping exercise and then to work back from each of the approaches. Once done, the plan is then continually “re- planned” by getting the participants to look at the project through another view i.e. risk, stakeholder (including Stakeholder Analysis,), communications, resources, how to manage/monitor to ensure the plan is delivered, how to ensure the deliverables are fit for purpose. Finally they will be asked to look at the “1st stage” in more detail which will change their planning horizon from long term to short term introducing a “Plan – Do – Review” approach. At each step along the way, when we ask them to look at a new concept e.g., Risk – we will teach the principles of that topic,.

Planning – Working Backwards Our brains are more powerful then we realise, we can create a vision of the future and describe it and then work backwards to find out what we needed to have done to arrive there. Advantages - Better estimating and a more logical flow of deliverables i.e. Results – Outcomes – Outputs - Activities Disadvantages - Nearly always end up in the past, giving us only four options: Don’t do the project Move the end date De-scope so we can deliver in the timeframe Take Risk, where we can control it Merlin Theory – Smith - Harvard Business School Notes to Mentor: Merlin theory - he has not a magician – but born backwards, his yesterday is our tomorrow, he doesn’t predict the future, he has already seen it. Smith argued in his paper and subsequent books that creating a compelling vision (reference the Assessment/Scoping exercise) enables us to work backwards and be more likely to predict the future path of a project

Planning with Post-it-notes Notes to Instructor: Explain that they are about to start the planning exercise – and show them what it is going to look like

Post-it-Note Planning

Post-it-Note Planning

Planning - Horizon By combining “working backwards” to develop the project plan we then need to plan the next stage in more detail. What is a stage? It is as long as you can maintain control. By planning forward, which we are good at for short term planning, we can determine how long a “stage plan” is. It is when we start taking risk or guessing too much or hoping that something will happen. A stage plan should be 100% guaranteed to work (within tolerance) For deliverables etc that are more than 18months away consider planning for “quarters only”. Notes to Instructor: Remind them at the end of a stage another planning session will be needed to plan the “next Stage

Planning with Post-it-notes Notes to Instructor: Explain that they are about to start the planning exercise – and show them what it is going to look like

Planning with Post-it-notes Notes to Instructor: Explain that they are about to start the planning exercise – and show them what it is going to look like

Planning Exercise Using your chosen Solution Tree/Results Map do the following: Prepare your planning area (paper on the table or on the wall) – you will need to scale it Using your “result” post it notes from the Solution Tree, place them on your planning area and then work backwards. First, by breaking down the results into any interim results and then keep working backwards with any deliverables that may be needed Using your “approaches” post it notes from the modified Solution Tree/Results Map, place them on your planning area and work backwards, ensuring they are aligned with the results that need to be achieved. Note: Keep referring to your Vision as well as the original Problem Tree to check that the solution being developed is fit for purpose. Consider keeping a flip chart of “assumptions” that you make. You have the rest of today and until 10:30 am tomorrow to finish this. Notes to Mentor: Get the teams to create a giant “excel spreadsheet” using the width of a post-it- note mark a grid from left to right – the first 8 – 12 grids will probably be “weeks” in scale – the next 4 – 6 might be two weeks per grid – then the next 6 – 9 might be months and then the rest might me quarters. This is to show them a “planning horizon” it is not possible to plan far in the future very accurate – so plan to different scales. The group will be given the task along with key deadlines and be encouraged to plan their time to meet the deadlines. From this point on it will be difficult to predict exact timings as groups may go at different speeds – timings will need to be adjusted over the remaining programme