Volunteers can walk away at any time. Staff members cannot.

Volunteers have other things that take up their day. Staff members spend all day working and barely have time for other things.

When planning your next project, remember that volunteers require time. Time spent building relationships with them. Time spent waiting for them to have time to help.

Too many projects try to rush through the work to get to the end. The problem is that we often get so busy doing that we forget to stop and think. We forget to think about what we are building. We forget to think about what is best for the customer. We forget to think about what could happen if something goes wrong.

I’ve learned that some projects are best if they are given more time. Time to emerge from nothing. Time to take shape. Time to think on the next steps. Time to breathe.

Whenever I engage in a new project, I now try to provide more calendar time than work time. This allows for down time by the team, as well as sick time and vacation time for us to rest and refresh.

As you plan your next project, consider adding some extra time throughout the project. I think you’ll find that the project will go that much better.

During a recent Bible study, someone in my group asked, “Is your project in charge of you, or is God in charge of your project?”

What a great question! The difference can be vast:

• When the project is in charge, the blessing comes in the boasting
• When the project is in charge, people matter less than the outcome
• When the project is in charge, doing what is right matters less than just doing.

• When God is in charge of your project, the blessing comes in the seeking
• When God is in charge of your project, people become the most important
• When God is in charge of your project, doing what is right is the only option

Consider every project you are involved or planning and ask, “Who is in charge of this project?”

Project Planning: Getting Started

Project Planning: Use a Big Idea

Project Planning: Identify Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks

Project Planning: Create the Project Plan

Project Planning: Execute the Project Plan

Project Planning: Keep Moving

Project Planning: Finish Strong

My project reviews, derived from a good friend, Rob, can be accomplished during a single meeting, usually an hour in duration. Every team member, along with other leaders and teams that were involved with the project, should attend. Have a large whiteboard or writing pad available, along with plenty of whiteboard pens. Designate a recorder – someone who has nice handwriting – to record notes during the meeting. The recorder, or another attendee, should be given the task of typing in the notes and distributing them after the meeting is complete (don’t type them up during the meeting, as that will be too distracting).

The meeting should operate in three phases:

Phase 1: Identify everything that went right

Go around the room and allow every attendee to express what went right with the project. This may be related to an individual’s performance, the decisions made during the project, or the results of a part of the project. Be specific and be thorough, as you will want to know what worked well so that the process can be repeated for the next project. During all phases, use the rules of brainstorming – no one can be considered wrong.

Phase 2: Identify everything that went wrong

Now, go around the room and identify things that didn’t work out so well. Much like Phase 1, be specific and identify processes that need to be fixed for the next project. Don’t worry about solving the problems in this phase, just identify them.

Phase 3: Identify what will be done better

Finally, for each item identified from phase 2, allow the group to brainstorm on how it can be prevented next time. It may require the elimination of a process, addition of a process, or improvement of an existing process. Follow the patterns of Phase 1 and Phase 2, but be sure that the recorder is tracking each brainstorm idea with each item from Phase 2. This will provide staff and leaders with a traceable path between the brainstorms and what they are intended to fix.

Keep the meeting moving, make it as short as possible, and make sure outspoken attendees don’t dominate the conversation. Make sure everyone has a chance to provide input. Use the results from each phase as a way to learn and improve your project planning methods and make the next project even better.

1. Celebrate with a team lunch at a nice restaurant (no fast food, no pizza)
2. Send a thank you card to each team member’s home, signed by yourself and other leaders/staff
3. Find out from each team member’s friend where they like to hang out and give a gift card (this may require more time to track down, but pays off through a very personalized gift)
4. Create a hand-made gift basket with personalized gifts (again, more time but very personalized)
5. Send flowers or gift basket – bonus points if you include their favorite flower

Whatever you do, make sure to celebrate your successes together as it will build appreciation and good will for those that gave so much time and effort to see the project to completion.

Prioritizing Tasks

Take the time to prioritize tasks throughout the project. Not only will this prevent the project from derailing, it will also ensure that only the highest priority tasks have the attention of your team. As you approach the end of your project, you can add lower priority tasks as time allows, knowing that the most critical tasks have been given focus.

I’ve experienced projects where low priority tasks were given the most attention – those were the projects that were headed toward failure. The only person that can prevent this is the project leader. Keep your team focused, remind your team of the big idea for the project, and stick to it.

The Final Touches

Have you ever seen a project end quickly as it approached a hard deadline? It isn’t always a pretty sight, especially when the team is scrambling to get things done, sacrificing quality to meet the deadline. While not always possible, experience has demonstrated that spending a little more time to get it right will often be rewarded. This extra time is what I call “applying the finishing touches” and often separates a project that looks like it was disorganized from one that looks thought out, managed, and successfully delivered. Make sure what you deliver is neat, organized, and clean. It will give your team, along with those that experience your project first hand, a sense of professionalism.

Leave a Legacy

The project isn’t done when you deliver on the final goals. Often, there will be documentation and training to be done. If part of your project team will be remaining to continue some of the work, then they may need minimal documentation or training practices. Build into your plan the time to train new team members for ongoing project maintenance, along with documentation on operating your project’s deliverables. Don’t let yourself get so focused on deadlines that you forget to leave a proper legacy for others.

Taking these three steps will help ensure your project finishes on a strong note and will demonstrate your ability to lead a project fully from start to finish. Next, we’ll discuss project reviews and rewards as we wrap up this series on project planning.

Handling Roadblocks

The #1 priority for all leaders is to keep the path clear for your team. This means you must:

1. Be aware of what your team is working on today
2. What can get in their way to prevent them from finishing their tasks
3. Identify one or more ways that you can keep the path clear and your team moving

It is your responsibility to watch what is happening and help others to make progress. This means that your time is best spent leading your team through problem areas than doing project-related work. How? By making sure your team has enough volunteers to complete the project without your direct involvement in the day-to-day tasks.

Losing Team Members

Sometimes things don’t work out the way you planned. One of your volunteers may have a family emergency and need to step away from your project. Another team member may find that the project just isn’t the right fit for them. Here is how you can prepare for dealing with this kind of situation:

1. Locate additional volunteers that want to join your team and allow them to pair up with other team members. This provides an additional set of volunteers that you can tap into when you lose a team member due to unforeseen circumstances. It also provides some redundancy should you need extra help sometime during the project
2. Keep task assignments small, so that if you lose a team member you are only losing a small amount of tasks in the short term. This can also provide for an easier transition to a new team member as they only need to take over a small task, not a huge portion of the project
3. Provide time in your project plan to cover these situations. If your project plan doesn’t allow time for losing team members, bad weather, and vacation time by some of your team, then you need to make the project smaller or plan for it take longer.

The Never Ending Project

The most common problem I have encountered with stalled projects is the “never ending project” syndrome. This happens when projects are not focused on outcomes, but rather tasks. It is your responsibility as a project leader to ensure that the tasks you assign are taking your team to the project’s final goal. Otherwise, you are just “doing stuff” rather than making progress. Here are some tips on how to prevent the never ending project syndrome:

1. Make sure your milestones are clear and express a desired goal or outcome. Milestones that are not measurable go nowhere
2. Break tasks down to manageable chunks that provide both “easy wins” along with the tougher challenges
3. Ensure that each task is focused toward the milestone, that it has a purpose, and that others will see the result when it has been completed successfully.

Remember – you are the project leader and you are the one setting the pace for the project. If you keep the path clear, plan ahead for possible lost time, and keep the project focused on the end goal, you’ll see your projects delivered on time and with great success!

Task Breakdown

For the current milestone, you will need to perform a task breakdown. Don’t worry about future milestones yet, as that will be too much detail too soon and only slow you down. Here are the basic steps for performing a task breakdown:

1. Identify the major tasks required to achieve the milestone (this was mostly done during the planning phase, but review and add/remove tasks as needed)
2. Break each major task down into steps that can be accomplished quickly
3. Identify tasks that require more information before they can be assigned
4. Research these tasks or identify others that can help you research them
5. Identify and group tasks that depend upon one another, generating an order to your tasks
6. Assign specific team members to tasks that require their skill set or availability first
7. Assign the remaining tasks, or allow your team members to divide up the tasks themselves if desired

Repeat this process for each milestone. If your milestones are too large, consider breaking them into smaller “mini-milestones” or “iterations” that achieve the original milestone’s goal(s).

Track Progress

As you progress through each milestone, you will need to track completed and remaining tasks. You may want to report your team progress to your leaders or staff on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to keep them informed of any progress.

One step that is absolutely critical to keep your project on track is to check in with your team members occasionally. This can be done in a group setting, as we’ll discuss next, or on an individual basis. Find out what they have been able to accomplish, what remains, and what they may need help or more information to complete.

Project Meetings

Project meetings can either be a great thing or the worst thing your project may encounter. Meetings for the sake of meetings isn’t healthy. Here are some of my personal preferences on conducting successful project meetings:

1. DO use meetings to gather task updates
2. DO review the current milestone, the big idea, and the overall goals you are trying to achieve
3. DO set a time limit for your meetings
4. DO allow for time after the meeting for brainstorming and face-to-face discussions between team members. It is best to allocate an hour for the meeting, using the first half to focus on status, updates, and group-level communication
5. DON’T use meetings to point fingers or spread guilt about a project that is behind
6. DON’T allow meetings to turn into detailed discussions
7. DON’T allow members of your team to speak for more than 2 minutes at a time. Bring a timer if necessary and ask that any detailed discussions wait until after the meeting

A Final Thought on Tracking Your Project

Whatever method(s) you use to execute and track your project, don’t assume that things are getting done. Often, volunteers get busy with other things and might not have time to get your project’s tasks done. If so, allow your communication methods to find these situations early and locate others to assist where possible. The sooner you know, the sooner you can adjust your plan or locate others to help you complete your project.

Writing the Project Plan

Document your big idea, milestones, assumptions, and tasks into the project plan. This plan will be shared with each member of your team, along with other teams and your staff to show your overall direction of your project. It should be used constantly throughout the project as a guide of overall progress and to check your assumptions made at the start of the project.

Keep these tips in mind as you develop your project plan:

1. Keep it simple – don’t get too detailed too early
2. Think it through – make sure you cover all of the high-level details that you and others will need to know (including assumptions you are making or things you don’t know yet)
3. Review it with others – select 1-3 other people disconnected from the project and see if they can understand your project. If not, you may be missing some key milestones, tasks, assumptions, or need to clarify your big idea

Add the Project Strawman

Next, consider building a simple project strawman, which is just a guess at the timeline of your project. Below is an example of a strawman project using a Gantt chart format:

A project strawman is a good idea when you need to make a project proposal, or give other leaders and staff an idea of your project’s overall timeline. Anyone viewing the timeline should be told that it is only an estimate and not to be used as a specific timeline, but it should provide a basic indicator about how long you think the project will take and when each milestone will be achieved.

Keep Your Plan Updated

Your project plan should be treated as a living, breathing guide for your project rather than a one-time thing. If necessary, keep older versions of the plan for comparison, but always keep it updated with new milestone dates, new assumptions, etc. The best way to remind yourself, and your team, of the plan is to keep it posted somewhere within easy review.

One final word about project plans: it is easy to allow a plan to drive your life, rather than organize it. Allow your project to take shape over time as you learn things rather than letting your project plan lead you. As your project progresses, it will become more accurate (and likely more realistic).

Have a project plan that worked for you? Share a link in the comments or drop me a note – I’d love to hear from you!