How to Define a Project
How to structure a project commitment when the requirements are vague and incomplete.
Today’s topic is dealing with a poorly-defined project. The quick and dirty tip is don’t commit when you don’t know what you’re committing to. If necessary, commit to figuring out your commitment.
Listener Emma writes:
I am starting in a new job in two weeks’ time. The project the team will be working on is brand new, groundbreaking, and oh-so poorly defined. Is there anything you can suggest for determining the way forward with a poorly-defined project?
Now, I’m sure this has happened to you. You wake up, fully rested, feeling like a million bucks. You stretch and really enjoy the sheets. The shower is on in the background, and that’s kind of odd, since you don’t remember leaving it on. Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. “Who is it?” A muffled voice says, “Room service for the newlyweds!” And you—whose last memory is being single and saying to your friends, “I don’t understand why tequila gets such a bad rap”—say to yourself “Oh my God! What have I done?? … again!”
The thing about commitment is that you only want to commit when you know what you’re committing to. If you’re taking a job and the project is poorly-defined, don’t commit to any specific outcome. That would be as irresponsible as downing tequila shots on a weekend trip to Vegas.
Don’t commit blindly!
You can’t commit to delivering the vague, squishy project on some hard, firm date. But you can commit to defining the project itself. So you say to your new boss, “We have this big, squishy project. Six weeks from today, at the stroke of midnight, when the wolves howl and mothers shutter their doors against the West Wind, I will deliver to you a specific project plan that we can commit to.”
You’ve satisfied your boss by proposing a real deliverable and a real date. And your deliverable is valuable; project plans are key to getting stuff done. And you’ve protected yourself by not agreeing to a result you can’t possibly achieve.
You can do this at any stage of planning, actually. If you have a really big project, you can set a concrete goal for phase one of creating a plan for phase two. Part of phase two will be defining phase three. And so on.
As we’ve already said, you can’t commit to something you don’t know. So now that you’re convinced you should commit to a project plan, let’s review what a project plan is. I know you know, but just in case…
Project plans give an outline of a project.
A project plan lays out the pieces of a project: deliverables, quality levels, time, and resources.
Deliverables are—you guessed it—what the project will deliver. Make your deliverables concrete. If you’re supposed to recommend colors for a new line of ankle warmers, be specific about what you’re delivering. Is it a report? A presentation? A set of sample leg warmers? Which one you choose will make a big difference. And by the way, ankle warmers went out of style two decades ago, so if you have a spare pair, my ankles do get cold. I’m just sayin’.
You want to specify quality levels because quality matters. I’m delivering a podcast, even as you speak. Do you want studio quality? Hilarious humor? Impeccable grammar, a tight script, and delivery worthy of Laurence Olivier? Well, you’re in luck. Cuz that’s what you’re getting. And it takes a lot longer than if I just grabbed a handheld recorder and babbled incoherently for fifteen minutes. In your project definition, state your desired quality level and your minimum acceptable level. That way, you can shoot for the quality you want, but if time or money gets tight, you have some wiggle room.
Time is a list of your major milestones and deadlines. Milestones should be strictly objective, yes/no events. “Report is done” isn’t a milestone, because “done” is too vague. “Report signed off by president of Vice” is a good, specific milestone. Either it’s signed or it isn’t. And if it isn’t, the milestone hasn’t been met.
Lastly, resources are the people, money, and equipment you’ll need to complete the project. Again, you get no points for being vague. “The leg warmer project will require six knitters, three skeins of dyed yarn, a $60,000 budget for Get-it-Done consultants who will call in remotely from a tropical island featuring fruit-flavored beverages. And, of course, a smoothie machine for the tropical island.”
The right project definition might land you on the moon.
An excellent example of a high-level project plan is President Kennedy’s statement that launched the moon program: By the end of the decade, we will put a man on the moon and bring him back safely. In one sentence, we know the deliverable (man on moon), the quality level (bring him back safely), and the timing (end of the decade). All he needed was a budget. The Apollo project succeeded, letting astronauts like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Pete Conrad walk on the moon and return home, only to track moon dust all over their freshly vacuumed carpets (and to think that I just taught you how to keep those clean).
Your project plan should give more detail, but only the detail you can commit to. Remember, for a moon launch, phase one is to study the problem and produce a project plan. That project plan doesn’t have to be for the entire rest of the program; it can plan phase two, which takes the next few steps and then has a planning phase for phase three. And so on.
The West Wind is blowing and my plan now is to get food. Specifically, a Subway veggie patty on flatbread, with all the veggies, banana peppers, and oil and vinegar dressing. Yum! I’m planning to spend under ten dollars and have it fully eaten thirty minutes from now. Once my tummy is full, I’ll figure out what’s next.
This is Stever Robbins. Email questions to getitdone@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email or leave voicemail at 866-WRK-LESS.
Work Less, Do More, and have a Great Life!
RESOURCES:
- https://www.conradawards.org – Pete Conrad “Spirit of Innovation” Award website