A Plan for People Who Hate Planning

I’ve called it the P Plan for the past eight years.

 

But I have to call it something else.

 

People cringe when I suggest they try my P Plan.

 

But what sounds quite biological is actually quite operationally practical!

 

So what is the P Plan?

 

Simply put, a 1 – 5-year planning guide to help me, and all those working around me, stay together, on target, and on time!

 

In my day-to-day world of deliverables and deadlines, I can’t afford to lead my team from behind. And, my team has to always know where my mind is at any one given time during the production process of a project.

 

So, bam! The P Plan. The not too much drama, not too much hassle, not too much worry, and not too much checking in planning plan that keeps our whole team in sync with the dream, deliverables, and the deadlines. 

 

I believe there are five important stages of any project that need to be mastered: Projection, Planning, Production, Proofing, and Productivity. Each of these stages has unique demands on you and your team. And, if these demands are met on time, each delivers a valuable result.

 

So here is my... P Plan!

 

Projection (Vision Intensive), 1 – 5 years out

• Vision
• Long Range Goal Setting
• Blueprinting

  Informing the Organization

 

Planning (Meeting Intensive), 6 mo. – 1 year out

• Concept Process
• Theme Decisions
• Scheduling
• Production Design
• Gathering Information

  Involving the Organization

 

Production (Creative Intensive), 3 months out

• Preparation
• Execution
• Creation

  Cooperation of the Organization

 

Proofing (Systems Intensive), 3 weeks out to due date

• Report
• Review
• Response
• Retouch

  Trusting the Organization

 

Presentation (Discovery Intensive), Due Date  

• Product Delivery
• Profitability
• Performance (How did we do?)
• Celebration

  Productivity of the Organization

 

See! The P Plan isn’t that bad.  It is nothing to cringe about.

 

Though you may be cringing over what seems to be a lot of organizational coordination, let me say that after the P Plan is set in motion for a project, very few meetings are actually necessary. Why? Because everyone is executing their job in accordance to the direction, deliverables, and deadlines of the P Plan.

 

My team, and many others to whom I taught the P Plan, have found a great deal of success in the P Plan process. You can too. Try it. Stick with it. And watch it work.

 

I think the P Plan is pretty self-explanatory. However, if you have any questions about it, feel free to contact me about it.