Throughout our consulting assignments on Large, Complex Projects in execution phase we’ve encountered too often an astonishing phenomenon: excessively detailed planning, impeding proper update, control and decision-making in the project. In the White Paper: How too much Detailed Planning often Kills Project Success (Why the Budgeting Plan Cannot be Used for Project Execution) [2012-28], we investigate the causes of this phenomenon, why it is so much of a concern and how to overcome this issue.
The planning conundrum: balance required!
Beyond the initial input into resourcing and budgeting, the project plan during project execution ultimately serves to take decisions. To achieve this, it needs to:
- represent effectively, at any time, the execution plan of the project, taking into account any decision regarding changes of plans, new or changed activities or logic,
- and be rigorously updated as to the actual progress of the project tasks.
The scope of work to be done during each reporting period needs thus to be commensurate with the resources available to carry them out. We believe that a maximum of 1,000-2,000 activities for the integrated project schedule is often a maximum even for large projects (this does not preclude to have more detailed schedules for particular departments and activities).
The main issue is often that the very detailed plan done before the start of the execution of the project to cover resourcing and budgeting is not the plan that the project needs for execution. At the beginning of project execution you need to take the time to re-develop your schedule to make it fit for future monitoring and decision-making.
Excessive simplification is the enemy of success. So is excessive complication. Strike the right balance. It is something of an art. Take the time to get the right balance at the beginning of project execution. It is necessary for the success of your project.
Read the White Paper: How too much Detailed Planning often Kills Project Success (Why the Budgeting Plan Cannot be Used for Project Execution) [2012-28], to understand more about this issue which pervades many project organizations.
