Last class we learned about the Project Triangle and did an activity where we saw all the aspects of this triangle. The Project Triangle entails three important parts: performance, time, and cost. All of these are very important to a project’s success, but some are given more emphasis depending on the project. Some projects have crucial deadlines or a very strict budget but for all projects, I believe performance is what really matters. Professor Cook had us do an activity that included all three aspects of this triangle. We were given a project to build a skyscraper with marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti. We were given 20 minutes to complete it, which covered the time aspect of the project triangle, a budget (we had a limited amount of marshmallows that we were able to use), and that touched on the cost aspect, and finally the performance part, which was based on how strong, durable and tall the building was. This activity really allowed me to see how vital all three aspects are to a project’s success.
This activity also brought out the discussion of planning and if it is possible to over plan. It got me to think because I always believed that one can never plan enough. I was then reminded of the time my family and I opened up our own restaurant a few years back. We had fixed a date for our grand opening, but were still in the midst of planning. We had yet to finalize the menu items, the seating arrangement, the menu design, etc. Two days before the grand opening, we realized that we were nowhere near ready for the grand opening. We had not received our printed menus, the table and chair coverings, and other minor details were yet to be completed. We were then forced to push the grand opening back three days. Looking back now, I think that we had spent too much time planning for the grand opening and left very little time to execute. For instance, we had spent too much time planning and designing the menu, or the setup of the restaurant, which put us behind schedule. Thankfully in our case, time was not as important as our performance. Fortunately, in the end, the grand opening turned out to be a huge success!
Furthermore, I came across an article on the internet titled “Overplanning Can Kill Your Business Idea,” and it talks about how planning too much can negatively affect your business. Falconer, the author, writes about ways to avoid over planning, and one of them being “Plan Deadlines First.” This would have been a very effective strategy had I implemented it during the planning phase of our family restaurant. We would have kept smaller deadlines leading up to the main deadline, rather than playing it by ear. The article can be viewed at: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/management/overplanning-can-kill-your-business-idea.html.
I was wondering, do any of you think it is possible to “over-plan?” Or can you never plan enough?
I have always thought that it is definitely possible to over-plan. When I think about planning, I always think that there has to be some degree of flexibility in case some conditions are not as originally thought. I feel that if one excessively plans, it is too easy to get caught up in details and lose sight of the big picture. Your experience is also a great example to illustrate my point. As you said, too much time was spent on planning and designing the menu and your set final deadline had to be moved. If your project would have been one where time had been critical and adjustment of the schedule not permitted, performance would definitely have suffered.
I think it is possible to overplan. If a person overplans, then they will leave not time to actually execute their plan and will run into problems. A person or company needs to find a balance in order to succeed, especially in this tight economy.
I think Planning can be over plan. Most often we do that without realizing until at the final point. I found myself wondering why that happens, could it be due to lack of knowledge in planning, controlling and scheduling in Operation Management. Even though your grand opening was a success, I think you could have crashed some of the activities to make it on time if you had taken this class before starting your business.
I believe over-planning can definitely have a negative effect on building a project because you can overlook minor details. I agree with the article, if you were to set deadlines then your projects will run more smoothly and be a huge success.
Over-planning is one of my favorite techniques for procrastinating. I think over-planning is sometimes just a form of postponing the result. This unproductive delay may be due to one’s fear or uncertainty.
I highly agree with your statement that over planning can kill your business idea, when it talks about the problem of Over-Plan or Never Plan Enough, this aging issue will not closed until we accept a truth that human’s cognition strength is incomplete. We can never forecast all scenarios completely while human nature has cast such a truth. The only possible solution should be is “Planning while Doing” where we can fix our plan to address new problem in real time.
To answer your question, it depends on the situation. Sometimes if you over plan, you over think the situation and may mess up and if you do not plan enough, you will be unprepared for a presentation or project. It’s important to also find a balance between the two, just like opening a business or company. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but it’s extremely important to plan enough and be prepared, especially for the basics.
can I use your answer for my assignment?
As a perfectionist, I can definitely relate to your concern. I often you the phrase, “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right;” which will often lead to a superfluous attention to detail, and a very lengthy procedure. Although to answer your question, yes, you definitely can over-plan. As president of a club on campus, and I use a couple techniques to prevent over-planning. For example, I set dead-lines for almost every small task to accomplish a larger project. Also, I use sort of a ‘cost-benefit’ analysis. I weigh the perceived benefit s to our organization, against the expected time spent planning to discern if efforts are better spent elsewhere.