Finalizing the Plan
Finalizing the plan is more than just finalizing the schedule. A plan includes a schedule, but a schedule is not a plan. There are more components to consider.
To finalize your plan, be sure to:
- Anticipate known (and unknown) risks and incorporate project uncertainty into the plan.
- Identify tasks and tools that are needed to manage the process and carry out the project successfully.
- Revise and finalize the baseline and communicate a complete project plan that is solid in its foundation.
Managing Risks
In the following video clip, Vincenti discusses the definition of risk and strategies for navigating project uncertainty.
Watch the following video clips for Vincenti’s further thoughts about the domain of risk in the context of “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” along with an outline of four areas of risk and tips on how to account for uncertainty.
Managing the Project
In addition to identifying risks, it is important to understand how to manage the process of executing the project. In this video clip, Vincenti discusses the management of a project as a machine you can measure, focusing on aspects that you can and cannot control, while also thinking about how the work affects your team.
This understanding positions you to consider ways to respond to various types of situations that may arise through operating principles and/or procedures. The following video focuses on procedures for your project, with instructions on how to document when and how your team will respond to any updates, issues, and/or disagreements.
Revisiting and Finalizing the Project Baseline
At this stage, you are set up to provide a baseline for the procedural level of managing the project. This might mean that you now have a different set of conditions than the one you started with when you initiated your project charter—and that is okay. From here, revise the baseline and conduct another round of approvals with everyone involved. The updated schedule and plan will account for uncertainty.
In the following video clip, Vincenti elaborates on what it means to revise your baseline and how to spot a weak baseline:
Final Thoughts on the Art and Science of Project Management
In the following video clip, Vincenti offers his concluding comments about project management, what it means to be successful in this process, and where your team fits in as a core part of setting up and executing the work effectively to achieve meaningful outcomes.
Toolkit
Download this checklist and mark each box to make sure you are covering the major components of project management.
We welcome you and your team to also check out our synchronous webinar series on Project Management Strategies for Research Team Members, led by facilitator David Vincenti. This series, offered annually, is an opportunity to ask questions, join live discussions, and learn from a Harvard-based research team.
Additional Resource
“Use a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) to Understand Your Risks”
Additional General Project Management Resources
Now that you know how to define the work, create and finalize the plan, you are ready to execute the work of the projects with your team.