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Time Limit podcast • 47 episodes

Why You Need a Plan with J. Scott

J. Scott, founder of 120VC and author of The Irreverent Guide to Project Management, argues to Brett Harned that you always need a plan, whether you call your approach agile, enterprise or blended. He walks through his firm's playbook: a charter whose objectives and scope items become the outline of the work plan, three-step work planning with tasks capped at twelve hours, and cultivating commitments from subject-matter experts so the plan can be defended.

Key takeaways

  • Agile still requires vision, roadmap and backlog planning; using it as an excuse to wing it misses the point.
  • A standard playbook exists for training and quality assurance, but pick only the tools a project needs and break the process if it gets in the way of value.
  • If the client wants to start work before the plan exists, let them, but plan in parallel and only take ownership once there is a plan; without a plan there is no blocker.
  • Break tasks down to no more than three days and twelve hours so every estimate can be explained and defended when an executive wants it sooner.
  • Good commitments are public, active, voluntary, explicit and mission-based; agendas and calendar blocking are the two most overlooked time savers.

About this episode

“The answer to When should you create a plan? is Always.”

There will be times in your career as a project manager when your team or stakeholders want to forego a plan in favor of “just getting work done.” It happens all the time. Some times it works, but let's face it: most times it doesn’t. That's why you always need a plan. In this episode of Time Limit, founder and CEO of project management consultancy 120VC and author of The Irreverent Guide to Project Management, J. Scott, joins the show to talk about planning and estimating, and following a solid method presented in the book for delivering projects on time and under budget every time. If you ever find yourself defending the need for a plan, this episode is for you. If you think you don’t need a plan, this episode is also for you. The conversation covers:

  • How to blend processes successfully
  • The necessity for solid project management training materials
  • When to create a project plan
  • The values of planning in both traditional and Agile methods
  • How to collaborate on project planning
  • Mistakes that PMs make in planning
  • How to get better at estimating
  • Time-saving tips to strengthen your estimates plans stronger

Resources mentioned in this episode:

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