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Within the overall narrative this book has undertaken:
We have now come to understand our project's goals and a lot about the team and the environment in which the project will be deployed.
We know our requirements and most of our specifications because we have worked through the technical design process.
There is more heavy lifting awaiting the project manager before we start building and deploying, but we are definitely ready to commence planning. Exhibit 1 presents the flow of the planning process, and restates where we are along the project management continuum.
Exhibit 1: Nine High-Level Planning Steps
Number | Step | Our Status |
---|---|---|
1 | Define target state. | Complete |
2 | Define target state components and processes. | Complete |
3 | Define how these components and processes fit together logically. | Complete |
4 | Define the sequences in which those components and processes are built. | Not started |
5 | Define the sequences in which these components and processes are integrated together. | Not started |
6 | Transform these sequences into blocks of time. | Draft - high-level |
7 | Assign start and end dates to each block. | Draft - high-level |
8 | Assign an owner to each block. | Draft - high-level |
9 | Insert these blocks with sequences intact into a project-calendaring tool. | Not started |
As we start this chapter, we are pretty much done with steps 1, 2, and 3. We probably are in decent shape with steps 6, 7, and 8, although they should be labeled "draft" at this stage (and not just because some detail has yet to be derived and documented). Step 9 is certain to give us all headaches, so we will avoid this one for as long as possible. If you do the math, that means that steps 4 and 5 have yet to be touched, or at least articulated and documented in any meaningful way. Curiously enough, these two items can be best accomplished by using the implementation strategy tool under current scrutiny. To clarify this, let us first revisit the nine planning tasks from another view, as depicted in Exhibit 2.
Exhibit 2: Alternate View of the Nine Planning Tasks
If you have done any detailed project planning (i.e., juggled thousands of tasks), you understand from looking at the two blocks in Exhibit 2 that it is mind-boggling, if not impossible, to travel from the left box of design details to the right box of implementation details in any meaningful, practical, or useful way without a bridging technique of some kind. This is because design and implementation details do not necessarily map to each other, whether they are one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-one. I use the bridge or transforming tool of the implementation strategy to overcome this major disconnect, which, in truth, is far more than a presentation issue. The implementation strategy is largely represented by steps 4 and 5 in our planning table, and the two-headed arrow between the two boxes sitting atop this paragraph.
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