Step 7:  Milestones

Life does not occur in a linear fashion.  As a result, milestones are a far more useful tool than linear plans.  If you have to reach a specific point by a specific time, then you still maintain the flexibility to use your resources as appropriate, over the course of your project. Starting with your final outcomes, begin to work back to the present from the future.

We have found that one of the best tools to complete your Milestones is a large white board (at least 4’ x 6’) dividing it into multiple segments.  Then, starting with the end point, list what the project needs to look like once complete to be successful.  The categories for this may look very similar to either the intended results, or the key success factors.

After clearly defining the end point, then ask yourself, “What has to already be accomplished by the second last milestone in order to easily achieve the last milestone within the time allotted – i.e. to make it a “Slam Dunk”?”  Then list all of the things that will have had to be achieved for this to be true.

After this, you simply work back to the third last milestone and ask yourself a variation on the same question, “What will have to have been accomplished by this date in order for the next milestone to be a “slam dunk” – i.e. easily achieved?”  Then list all of the things that will have to be accomplished by that milestone to make the achievement of the next one easy. 

You continue to work back from the future toward the present, until you get to the first Milestone (which is often anywhere from a week to a month from right now).

This method of milestone planning “front-end loads” the project, putting more emphasis on what it takes to make the next milestone (or a sub-goal of the project) a “slam dunk”, or easily achievable.

Life is Not Linear

People think that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  Hence they also think that the fastest and most efficient method of goal achievement is to create a linear plan of action.  Yet, life is not linear.

If you take a look back at any project that you accomplished that was longer than 24 hours, you may find (as I did) that the ONLY thing you can predict about projects is that they will not be linear.  There is a very simple explanation for this.

In completing projects, as in life there will be opportunities and threats that emerge over time.  Astute project managers seek to tap the opportunities and to guard against the threats, in order to keep projects from becoming delayed or worse yet, stopped altogether.  The active process of tapping opportunities and avoiding (or extricating yourself from) threats is the very process that ensures that your project will NOT occur linearly.

Yet the only way we are taught to plan is one step leads to the next.

It's Like Learning Ballroom Dancing…

What if we approached planning like we do ballroom dancing?  What do you need to know to be effective with ballroom dancing?

1. Know where you and your partner are relative to the dance floor and other dancers, at all times
2. Have a general goal in mind for which direction you wish to go
3. Learn and understand the dance steps
4. Maintain a level of flexibility, and be prepared to alter your course of direction if you either encounter threats (a bunch of people clumped together) or opportunities (open space allowing enough room for a spin?) along the way.

With this flexible approach to planning, you will find that you enjoy your projects at a whole new level.

Part 5 …      Part 1…        Part 2 …       Part 3…