Sad to be said, 39% of projects fail due to a lack of planning and work plan. Even worse, 85% of managers are unaware of this problem. They believe that their organizations always have effective projects.
Average organizations still made poor project performance. According to the Project Management Institute report, 31% of their project didn’t meet goals at all, 43% needed to be completed within budget, and 48% didn’t finish on time.
Consequently, much time and money are wasted. The report found that 9.9% of every dollar invested is wasted because of poor project planning.
Effective project planning and management are essential to the business’s success. Understanding a work plan and how to create one may help us navigate project management. But why do we still find it wrong?
Why Project Fails? Part of It Is the Lack of a Work Plan
So what is work plan, and what makes it vital? It outlines the goals and guidelines step by step so that the team and the person better understand and achieve the goals. Through work plans, we identify larger objectives and break them down into small achievable tasks.
A project fails if it doesn’t meet the objectives set out in the agreed budget and time. Some projects are also seen as failures if they fail to meet the financial forecast or ROI targets.
Well, there are a couple of reasons behind it. By understanding where the roots of these issues come from, we can tackle all the barriers in the future.
Mismatched values, objectives and clarity.
According to Forbes, 20% of technology projects don’t make money, and 50% need reworking. What’s going on here? Executive leaders in Project Management Institute Report say a lack of clear goals impacts 37% of failures.
Without clear goals, you’ll find that what you’ve done during the project means nothing. So make sure all your team members know where they are going, guided by work planning.
Poor resources and team members.
Taking charge of specific tasks seems okay, but people will drop the ball of managing multiple projects at once. The Project Management Institute survey found that 21% of projects fail because of limited resources. Meanwhile, the root has to do with inadequate resource forecasting. That represents 18% of project failures.
Well, managers, it’s critical to consider all the resources we need, including team resources. Don’t let your teams feel burnt out and disengaged.
In fact, your team is not quite ready.
Even if your project looks well planned, like you sail in sunny weather with the wind on your back, your teams may still be afraid of storms and icebergs looming beneath the surfaces.
According to McKinsey, employees spend almost 20% of the workweek researching and collecting information. Here, it is essential to be aware of each team member’s capacity as our resource.
Solutions? Create an Efficient Work Plan
A work plan provides an overview of the goals and processes so that the team can better understand how to achieve the goals. Through work plans, we determine broad objectives and break them down into small achievable tasks. Here’s the way to get it right:
The Tool
One famous work plan example is what’s known as a Gantt chart. In simple terms, it is a visual representation of tasks planned over time. It shows us what and when the team needs to execute. Gantt’s chart provides:
- Project tasks
- Project dates
- Who’s working on jobs
- The duration of the tasks
- Overlapped and merged tasks
To the left of the table, we have our assignment list, how long it should take, and the start and end dates. Then, each bar on the right side of the chart represents a task, and their points indicate their beginning and end period dates.
The Advice
Here’s how to set up a work plan for your project:
- The first stage of work planning is to determine the goals of your project.
- Next, write an introduction to describe the project’s purpose. Be brief but engaging.
- Goals have to be Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Relevant; and Timely (SMART). Know what to do, the skills and resources required, and the timetable.
- Understand your resources, including people, materials, space, consultants or professionals, and allocation.
- Identify potential barriers and issues that may occur during project execution.
When we launch a project, we must ensure that everyone knows what they are doing and how they are doing it. And the work plan is essential here.
