Dan Austin 2004 COLLABORATIVE PROJECT PLANNING : Leveraging the Collective Wisdom of the Team Small problems are easy to fix, hard to detect. If you let them develop, they are easy to detect, hard to fix. Machiavelli

Dan Austin 2004 Goals of This Planning Process Decrease time to market Increase likelihood of project success Provide basis for communications Assure effective deployment of resources

Dan Austin 2004 Collaborative Project Plan Provides team and management a work process to move through each phase of NPIS Provides critical path for the project – enhancing resource allocation decision making Provides accountability for resources and timeline Provides clear and agreed upon goals, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities Provides cross functional performance measures for both team and management

Cross Functional Team Use PDMA Study 1998

Dan Austin 2004 Projects Within The Organization Functional Organization Optimize Department Performance Corporate Good Cross Functional Project Teams Optimize Total Business Performance Conflict

Dan Austin 2004  Understand management position or expectation Clarification, not agreement Understand broader business strategy  Get approval to form team Develop goal & scope of project Determine timeline Identify necessary resources  Team report plan to management Starting the Project Right

Dan Austin 2004 Project Planning Sequence 1. Get focused 2. Outline overall plan 3. Define the work 4. Develop the network 5. Optimize the plan 6. Present plan for approval 7. Review and update regularly

Dan Austin 2004 Ingredients For A Planning Session Entire core team Include significant contributors and resources not on the core team Facilitator - perceived as an outsider Off site - minimal distractions, focus on planning effort No management or “on-lookers” Recognized project leader

Dan Austin 2004 Characteristics of Effective Project Leaders Superior communication skills Organized Goal focused and committed Trusted Technically credible High frustration quotient Able to maximize the talents on the team

Dan Austin 2004 What Do You Need To Lead? Authority Power Responsibility

Dan Austin 2004 Define the Roles Team Leader Team Members Functional Management Sponsor Team identifies its needs, then informs and negotiates with management Gain and sustain commitment to the project Create a positive and motivating atmosphere Conduct productive team meetings

Dan Austin 2004 Clarify the goal - Identify the scope - Gain agreement and commitment to common goal Understand the customer - Confirm earlier work on customer needs - Agree whether additional work is needed - Incorporate into assumptions or tasks Identify the assumptions - If changed, plan will need to be reassessed Identify the concerns - Potential barriers to the team attaining their goal - Identify possible sources of conflict Get Focused

Dan Austin 2004 Goals * Agreed to * Committed to Roles * What is my role * What role do my teammates play Procedures * Within the team * As part of the functional organization Relationships * Conflict * Trust Team Problems Diagnostic Model

Dan Austin 2004 Project Goal Does it respond to customer needs Does it focus on winning in the marketplace Does it include all business processes Does the entire team agree & commit to the goal Does the team goal support overall business strategy

Dan Austin 2004 Outline The Overall Plan Project goal and any interim goals Typical milestones (Completion of significant piece of work) Major decision points Communication points Key deliverables Temporary (help structure initial plan)

Dan Austin 2004 Define The Work  Break the project into specific tasks  Describe the activity for each task  Identify who is responsible for each task  Estimate the time required (number of working days)  Estimate the labor content (yourself & others)

Dan Austin 2004 Assessing Timeline Risk ProbDateProbDate.108/14/ /28/04.209/8/ /02/04.309/25/ /17/ /9/ /9/ /16/ /6/05 Not one date, but a probability distribution based on best information available

Dan Austin 2004 Arrange all tasks in a logical sequence Ask “what do I need to start this task?” Look for omissions Connect Post-it® notes with arrows (include milestones) Understand deliverables upstream and downstream D evelop the Network

Dan Austin 2004 The “First Cut” Schedule Expectation Result of planning session

Dan Austin 2004 Can tasks be: –Eliminated? –Changed in sequence? –Performed at the same time as others? Identify the tradeoffs and escalation of risk Optimize the Plan Will additional or other resources alter the schedule? Add ‘gate reviews’ where appropriate

Dan Austin 2004  Information transfer needs to be a continuous flow process rather than a batch process  We must learn to deal with partial information which will be incomplete and may be inaccurate  Rather than batches of information being pushed through phases - we must generate information based on the downstream needs - pull process Fundamental Changes in Information Flow

Dan Austin 2004 Recognizing Risk (Personal and Team) ×Possible sources: –Dealing with partial information –Actions based upon anticipated outcomes –Things change ×Potential Results: –Time delay - rework the tasks –“Wasted” effort –Money spent

Dan Austin 2004 Risk Is Only An Issue If We Set Challenging Goals  The only way to remove all risk is to: over fund make schedule too long make performance standards low We need to select parameters that provide “reasonable” risk, and establish a strategy that allows us to cope with adverse consequences that may follow

Dan Austin 2004 Probability of Success Benefit of Success Probability of Failure Consequences of Failure OPPORTUNITY RISK Crisis

“I would not stay awake all night to earn $100. But I would stay awake all night three nights in a row to keep you from taking $100 from me” Mark Twain

Dan Austin 2004 Program Contract Product launch Field trials Lab personnel Capital $ Actual Target Team Management

Dan Austin 2004 Key Elements For Success Invest the time to develop a collaborative plan – Project aligned with overall business strategy Create a contract between team and mgmt. –Team reports out of bounds situations –Team otherwise free to ‘run to completion’ –Use the plan to manage the project Project focused on total business –Winning in the marketplace

Dan Austin 2004 Collaborative Planning Is Vital Meaningful participation Sense of Involvement Feeling of influence Psychological ownership Commitment This commitment dramatically increases the likelihood of success for your project

Dan Austin 2004 Dan Austin