There is a whole host of reasons why programmes need plans, but one of the most important is so often overlooked, and it’s this: You only get two chances to find out whether somebody can deliver a piece of work. The second chance is during delivery itself, by which time it’s too late: If they aren’t capable, you’re already into the quagmire of slippage, re-work and burn-rate. So success depends on the first occasion – the actual planning of the work.
Let’s put that in management-speak: “There is a very high correlation between the ability to plan and the ability to deliver.” Or, as the Scots might say: “If ya cannae plan it, ya probably cannae do it.”
So, as the executive sponsor, how do you make it happen? We always advise a few simple rules:
1. Whoever is doing the work should plan it
Wherever possible, require that the person doing the work should plan the work. If this rule isn’t followed, two bad things happen. The first is that the plan is devoid of the very expertise needed to inform it. Secondly, there isn’t the psychological buy-in and rigour that naturally occurs when the person setting expectations is the same person who will be held to account. Those are both vital ingredients in an executable plan.
2. Plan, then triangulate
Once you’ve got the plan, as the executive sponsor, go and triangulate. Go to the engine room: It’s what we do. Sit with your subject matter expert just for 15 minutes and talk through their bit of the plan, and you’ll get a sense of whether it’s realistic or not. I once did that with a test manager who used the word ‘compressed’ 35 times in 30 minutes to describe a plan. What he was trying to tell me was that his plan had been ludicrously tightly time-boxed for him. I got the message.
3. Don't guess, measure
Don’t let the team estimate or guess about work that can actually be measured. Lots of things on programmes are high volume and repetitive; test scripts are a classic example. Make the team invest time up front to do a few, see how long it takes and factor in that speed will improve with time. Voilà.They’re no longer guessing, they’re measuring. If you really want to drive home the point, give the team a swear box with the largest fines reserved for phrases like ‘feels like’ and ‘should be’.
4. Planning protects people
Sell the team on the benefits of planning. It’s part of your leadership role. Planning protects people. It’s the only mechanism that protects the team from chaos, unrealistic expectations, long working days, the mistakes that accompany them, burnout, and the toxicity that becomes the hallmark of a death-march programme.
5. Train, then plan
And finally, the ‘sharpening the axe’ bit: Train the team to plan, upfront. Training is not a natural act: It needs to be taught. And it’s a bit like sports. If you want them to be a winning team in the planning phase, they need to train as a team, not just turn up and play the fixture. It takes two days to train properly, and the return on investment will outpace any other investment you will make during the programme.
