Tag: Battle plan

Growability Battle Plan

Use This Battle Plan to Manage Projects

Projects have slowly been replacing operations for businesses since the eve of the 20th century. Operations largely deals with the managing of an organization while projects involve performance improvement and changing the organization.

Projects allow for quicker, steadier growth of new products and technologies. To take the most advantage of projects, your organization needs to know how to pivot and manage projects effectively.

Our Growability Model shows you how projects can impact your business.

Listen to EP30 The 12 Step Growability Model Overview™

Forward looking companies see the opportunity in quality project management. This is an often overlooked skill set but can separate you from the competition.

If you’re ready to increase productivity, streamline processes, and improve project outcomes, you need to consider these 3 things from our Growability BATTLE Plan™.

1. organization benefit

What is the overall purpose of this project and is there a direct line to a benefit for the organization? One of the skill sets a manager needs is the ability to discern a Return On Investment (ROI).

Projects are going to cost personnel and resources. You want to get the best bang for resource use and not every project proposed is worthy of investing. This should be the first and most prominent question asked before you even consider pushing the project forward.

2. teams, tools, techniques

Who are the main characters and what are the main tools used for this project? You need to identify a project lead, the supporting team, and every tool, technology, or resource required for completion.

This planning phase of the project should be as precise and salient as possible. After all, this is where you extract the majority of project timelines and costs. The better you are here, the easier it will be to keep the project on a tight timeline and budget.

Project creep is real.

Loosely articulating the resources needed for a project may lead to a slow, creeping increase on those resources if not properly managed or maintained. Before you realize it, your project is beyond time and beyond budget. This didn’t happen overnight.

Incremental or nearly imperceivable changes can modify project timelines, budgets, and resources slightly. But, if the trend continues, you can end up with an inverse ROI. Good project managers need to understand all parts of the project process so they can speak to slight changes.

🚩 A major red flag for an organization is a project lead or manager who cannot answer basic questions about project progress. This includes timeline, budget, personnel, and other resources. If you have this issue, you need to consider alternatives to managing the project.

We cover some strategies to consider here on the podcast where we cover 5 Things You Should Prune from Your Business.

3. End results

How do you know this project succeeded? Take time and attention to identify and properly describe the various KPIs (key performance indicators) and KPDs(key performance determinants) for this project. These are the goals your team are striving to achieve. Improperly or loosely defined KPIs and KPDs can spell disaster for your project.

We cover the best practice for determining KPIs and KPDs in your organization and projects in Episode 47 Key Performance Indicators.

Results reflect expectations. If they don’t, you need to look into the internal and external factors that influenced the project scope and its execution.

The full battle plan

There are more things to consider when managing projects. Contact us to access to our full 6-step Growability BATTLE Plan™.