The Best Time

When developing an action plan you must first decide what you are trying to do (the goal), how you are going to do it (the action steps), how long each action step will take (person-hours), when the action step should start and when it should be completed (target dates) and who will perform each of the action steps (scheduling; that is, assigning people to the task).

Another parameter to be considered is the best time to undertake the entire project which in turn will set a target date for project completion. Once the project completion date is set you can then work your way back through the action plan to decide the best time to do each step in terms of impact on customers, employees, suppliers and others.

I'm writing this post because I had a bit of a revelation this morning traveling to an in-house program about 50 miles from home. I went by a landscaping materials company and noticed they paved a good size apron where they now place loam, mulch, wood chips, pebbles and so forth. The facility looked very sharp and I though about how the paving underneath probably made it easier to keep the area neat and clean.

"Hmmm," I thought, "they must have done that over the winter." That thought was quickly followed by another: "Of course they did. They wouldn't do it during their busy season when they are open seven days and have customers to serve." That thought was quickly followed by: "But you can't pave in the winter. So maybe they did it just a few weeks ago as they only recently reopened for the season."

Then came the revelation. I've had to plan special projects of one sort or another throughout much of my career. I think I have a good solid knowledge of project planning methods and techniques. But I can tell you that the best time to undertake a project has been rarely considered in the projects I've had to plan. Nor have I seen a discussion of "best time" (or "most favorable" time) being thoroughly discussed in project planning resources I've used. I can remember an occasional customer telling me to develop an action plan to be done at a certain time due to other considerations such as business seasonality. The other action plans I've done tended to be more need-driven and usually had a parameter of "start it now and get it done as fast as you can. "

So out of all the above rambling, two thoughts on planning I want to share with you today. Unless your project has an "asap" delivery parameter, set your start and complete dates for the overall project by considering the interests of all stakeholders. Ask yourself when is the best time to minimize disruption to our customers? When is the best time to minimize the impact on our daily operations? When is the best time to have adequate staffing for the project? When is the best time to procure materials? Secure the financing? And so forth.

Bear in mind that this process will usually produce conflicting answers. The best time to minimize disruptions for the customer may not be the best time to minimize impact on daily operations. So you'll obviously have to assign values to each stakeholder's interest and then carefully plan to optimize among the competing interests to set your project start and complete dates.

Once you've set your overall project date parameters, you now apply a similar process to many of the action plan steps at the detail level. When is the best time to put an asphalt apron under the bulk materials yard in terms of minimizing disruption to customers? In terms of minimizing disruptions to facility operations? In terms of minimizing extra storage and handling costs for materials temporarily removed from the yard? When is the best time lay asphalt? When is the best time (cost-wise) to have a paving company do the job? And so forth. Again competing interests will have to be maximized. And your best time will also have to be considered in light of the overall project best time; bearing in mind of course that the best time to conduct the action steps of the project may possibly cause you to rethink and possibly reschedule the overall project dates.

About me: Dan Pelley teaches project planning as part of his "Managing for Results" program, one of five programs leading to a Certificate in Supervisory Management. He welcomes your comments on this post. Was it useful for you? You can easily respond via the comments link below.

Copyright © 2009 Daniel W. Pelley
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