Project planning adds value to your business and ensures success without a doubt. But how do you properly plan a project and what strategies can you use to ensure the best results? How do you add planned value to a project?
This article will present you with a few beneficial tips that you can use as a project manager, scrum master, or business owner.
A project plan is a set of steps that a team must take in order to develop and deliver a product. Project plans are made in many industries such as IT, sales, marketing, etc. When you set up a project plan, you need to have several things in mind:
- Project deadline
- Budget
- Employees
- Equipment
These are just a few basic things that project managers need to pay attention to when thinking about developing a project plan. Some companies devote a lot of time to researching and analyzing the potential impact of the projects. This is set up with the expectation that the project investments will boost the organization’s general business position.
Value Of a Project Manager
How can a project manager help a business?
A project manager is a person who organizes projects while taking care of deadlines and budgets. Also, project managers need to take care of their team members and allocate tasks to them according to their skills and the time available.
Project managers have to keep track of all steps of the project development. The best way to keep track of everything is by using time management apps like Easynote which can facilitate your daily work as a project manager.
Project managers and their project planning add value to your business simply by creating the most important strategies. A good project manager can save you time, energy, and money. They are almost like a project backbone- they lead teams, communicate with the stakeholders, define goals, and lead a project until it is finished.
Your business can easily fall apart if your projects are not planned correctly. Budgets might not be distributed well, some teams might have a big workload while other teams might finish their work in a matter of weeks and simply not do anything for the rest of the project’s development. These strategies would ensure a bad reputation and a terrible relationship among your team members.
Value of a Strategy
It is hard to predict the future when you develop strategic plans. Project planning adds value to your business not because it predicts the future but because it prepares you for every possible problem and outcome.
Strategic planning should be remembered by all team members because if it is forgotten, the goals might not be achieved in the end and much confusion may arise. As a project manager or scrum master, your goal is to always keep the strategic plan visible and known.
Additionally, strategic planning should challenge the status quo and open debate. As a project manager, you should avoid strategies that are already known to everybody on your team. There is no need to bring up already established strategies because this may waste your valuable time.
It is important to know that challenges and changes are a normal part of a project plan. There is no need to stress if things do not go the way you planned. Some challenges may be beneficial and others may teach you important things for the future.
This is another way how project planning adds value to your business.
How To Add Planned Value to a Project
Planned Value (PV) is a term that is used in project management that symbolizes the budgeted cost of the work that is scheduled to be finished up to a specific point in time. If you want to add planned value to a project you should follow these steps:
Determine the budgeted cost of each task
It is important to determine the budgeted cost or estimated cost for each task. This will create a safer atmosphere when it comes to your resource distribution.
Define the project scope
One of the most important steps is to define the scope of your project, including the timelines and the tasks that need to be done. This is probably the first step you should take since this determines the overall management of the project.
Set up the schedule
You should set up the project’s schedule that everyone should follow. This will simply calculate how much time you have left for certain tasks and which tasks will not be finished on time. Easynote offers the best scheduling feature that can make your work much easier.
Calculate the Planned Value
You should calculate the planned value for each task and after that, you should sum those amounts up in order to conclude the total Planned Value for your project.
Regular updates
Project managers should update the Planned Value all the time so they can ensure that the value correctly reflects the present status of your project.
Adding Planned Value to your project includes detailed planning and tracking of both project tasks and costs in order to guarantee that the project stays within the agreed budget and stays on schedule.
The Value and Importance of the 7 Cs in Project Planning and Management
You have probably heard about the 7 Cs of project management if this is your area of work. The 7Cs are communication, customers, capabilities, competitors, capital, channels, and coordination.
Here, we will explain why all 7 Cs are important and add value to project planning in your business.
Communication
Being a project manager, you have to constantly work on your communication skills. These skills include being good at conflict minimizing, goal defining, and teaching.
It is important to know how to listen to your team members as well, so you must stay focused when having important discussions. Do not just be there to be there, try to listen to your team and respond to their requests or questions as a friend first.
Try to understand them and then offer your guidance. Also, do not lose your ability to communicate things in a way that is beneficial for the company and the project.
Additionally, communicating with the product owner is critical to your project planning because they will explain to you what they expect and how they envision every bit of the process. Then, you can communicate these ideas with your team. Together, you can find the best way to plan and deliver the product.
Customers
Customers should be seen as your motivation. They are the reason why the product exists in the first place.
Understanding your customers is essential for every project manager. Whether you are targeting an already-known group of customers, or a completely new targeted audience, you have to know how to read them. You should think the way they think in order to deliver the best product.
Your old customers have a lot of experience with the product so they can be your best critics or your inspiration. Additionally, you have to understand that not all of your customers are the same. Some of them might want a different service from others. A satisfied customer is your main goal and the biggest compliment. When you achieve credibility, it is the best wind in the back for your team.
For example, you might open a hair salon that is only offering hair services for women. If there is a demand for hair salons that offer services for both women and men, you need to think about who is your targeted customer, if you will include men, or stick to your original plan. This shapes your project plan and every next step you need to take: from colors to design to employees.
Capabilities
After deciding what your targeted audience is and what your customers want, you should think about your employees and if their skills are enough for your project implementation. They mostly are, but if not, many companies hire new people with a new set of skills and you should plan this into your budget plan.
If your hair salon chooses to do services for men as well, you will have to hire hairdressers who can do men’s haircuts as well.
Some companies use strategic partnering if they are short of compatible staff. Also, freelancers who can work on your projects are a good choice if there is a need for a new set of skills that one person can handle.
This is how project planning adds value to your business and your project plan because deciding if you have the right capabilities or not can save you a lot of trouble later on.
Competitors
Before you start your project plan, you need to look into the competition around you. If you are opening a new hair salon, you should research other hair salons around the area, what their services are, how much they charge, etc.
Your competition should inspire you to do better and this can also change your project plan’s direction.
You can add value to your business just by standing out from your competitors and bringing something new to the market. Your audience will enjoy innovative things and things that can be useful to them.
Try to stay unique and stand out from others while still offering quality services.
Capital
When thinking about capital, you have to carefully look at your project from all sides. Is your already available capital enough for your project or do you need more? If it is enough, it is much easier to move toward the next steps of your project plan.
In case it is not, you need to look at other options as to how to acquire more funds. Will you look into external resources and funding? If you choose to, how much time will you need to acquire them, and how will this affect your deadlines?
Capital is probably the best when solved early because many of the steps depend on your capital.
Channels
A big part of your reach and product recognition is marketing. How will your targeted audience learn about your product and how will you present it to them? Will it be just another hair salon or the best new luxury hair salon in town?
Having a good marketing team is essential for product recognition. They need to get familiar with your product as much as possible and use your ideas in order to attract a certain group of people (your audience). The marketing team will make sure that your product looks the best way possible, is presented the best way possible, and that your product stays relevant. This part is also planned in your project planning and it adds great value to your business.
Coordination
You have to understand the big picture of your project’s goal and you have to try and integrate all the Cs that are mentioned above in order to do that. You should think about your reach, whether it is local or global, and coordinate everything according to that.
Value And Credibility as Your Goal
After implementing all the 7 Cs, you will get a bigger picture of everything that you and your team need to do in order to achieve the desired goal.
Having good time management software is another good idea because apps like Easynote can help you navigate through your tasks, daily meetings, collaboration, and project goals, all from one app. This will save you a lot of valuable time that you can spend on other things and create the best project plan possible.
