No line on the Horizon
Continuing my “music gives me ideas for project management themed articles” I would like to briefly comment on the importance of having a comprehensive and realistic project plan.
There have been many influences for this piece, not the least that I heard a song by U2 recently. It was titled “No line on the Horizon” and was released as the opening track on their 2009 album, by the same name.
Perhaps the first thing to point out is that this track was recorded in one take, while a project plan takes many “takes” to get right and can be a dynamic document, needing refinement through the various stages of the project lifecycle.
As I have mentioned before, there is a wealth of material written on the topic so I will not repeat the obvious. However I think the following simplified statements are worth repeating. The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) states the Project Plan to be “a formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control”. I personally think the Prince2 statement is one that should be remembered and followed. It is, "a statement of how and when a project's objectives are to be achieved, by showing the major products, milestones, activities and resources required on the project."
A comprehensive and realistic plan will have all the above criteria and more actually. But let me focus on realistic. This means taking into account such factors as well defined tasks lists, people skills, dedicated or appropriately allocated resources, complexity and dependencies. With these, the timeline developed will have a higher probability of being realistic.
Over the years I have seen project plans that look complete on paper. That is, they usually look good in Microsoft Project or some other tool, perhaps even on a one page excel spreadsheet, but in reality the devil is in the detail and that detail is often not apparent or missing.
There will be no line on the horizon if the detail is missing.
About the Author:
Michael has over 25 years experience in leadership roles in prominent customer and vendor organizations working in the UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea and Hong Kong in the Airline, Banking, and Telecommunications sectors. The line on his horizon is very clear!
