Reduce the mental fatigue

This is what it feels like to manage projects without a plan. It’s overwhelming, stressful, and messy—and it will wear you out.

This is what it feels like to have a well-thought-out plan your entire team can easily collaborate on. Ahhh...isn’t that better?

Leading projects throws you into the pressure cooker.

As a project leader, you’ve got a lot riding on your shoulders—and everyone looks to you for the answers. 

There’s work to accomplish, deadlines to hit, people to please, and emotions to handle—all while keeping goals, roles, direction, priorities, and timing straight. 

One missed step or expectation can turn your project into a confused mess. 

So how do you overcome this? How do you align your team? Build confidence in yourself, bosses, clients, and team members? 

How can everyone feel like they have a real shot at achieving the goal and finishing it on time?

A plan can help you do all of this with ease.

Imagine having peace of mind about your project from the moment it kicks off. It’s totally possible when you start every project with a well-crafted plan. 

A plan brings these benefits to the table:

• Plans minimize stress.
• Plans inspire confidence.
• Plans drive communication.
• Plans unite and focus teams.
• Plans create accountability.
• Plans keep deadlines on track.
• Plans prevent team overload.
• Plans take fear out of change.
• Plans mitigate risk.
• Plans increase profitability.

Without a plan, you’ll never feel fully confident or in control.

You work hard to lead people and projects well, and your bosses, teams, and clients put a lot of trust in you.

You should feel confident everything’s under control. 

But skipping the plan is an open invitation for doubt and confusion to set in. 

Instead of breezing toward the finish line with a sure sense of calm, everyone runs circles around each other trying to make sense of where things are and what comes next. 

And time and money get wasted along the way.

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

• You try to keep all the project details in your head, but can’t answer questions that pop up.
• You spend a lot of time duplicating data in spreadsheets or chasing down status updates from your team. 
• There’s no way for you to keep track of the big picture in the same tool your team uses to manage their daily tasks. 

If so, you’re not alone. 

Nearly everyone leading a project has struggled to keep chaos at bay at some point. But maybe you just never realized how powerful a plan can be. 

Or maybe you tried planning in the past, and things didn’t go well. 

When having a plan doesn’t go as planned

The truth is: Lots of things can get in the way of a successful project plan. Here are a few reasons your attempts to plan may have failed in the past:

• You used a complicated planning tool your team didn’t like or have access to.
• You didn’t have all the information because you didn’t ask the right questions in the beginning.
• You found it hard to accurately estimate the time and effort.
• You didn’t know how to deal with changes or scope creep.
• Your team or stakeholders pushed back because they think plans take too long or are too rigid.

Thankfully, success is as easy as building a plan that serves your people and project best.

All you need is the right kind of plan.

Let’s be clear: When we talk about a plan, we don’t mean a to-do list or backlog of tasks—and not the spreadsheet only you can update either. 

A good plan does a lot more than tally up tasks and divvy out assignments. 

So how do you know you’ve got the right kind of plan?

Let’s break down the 5 key principles of a good plan. 

1. A good plan fits any process—even Agile. 

Good news! Your organization can go Agile and still have a plan. A good plan should be flexible enough to work with your process without sidelining the big picture.

2. A good plan puts people first.

This is where emotions and morale come into play—and your project success hinges on it. People can’t feel overlooked or overworked. If your team is totally over a project, it will absolutely show in their work.

3. A good plan sets clear expectations.

Everyone—yes, everyone—needs to know exactly what’s expected of them when it comes to project tasks, goals, and deadlines.

4. A good plan evolves with the project.

Every project needs a plan—but that plan doesn’t have to be set in stone. Change happens, and a good plan should easily adapt to the project’s needs.

5. A good plan is highly visible. 

People can’t understand the importance of their work if they don’t know how it fits into the project’s big picture. A good plan makes it easy for your team and stakeholders to see the cascading effect that happens if they slip up on a task. This simple visualization motivates everyone to stay on task and on schedule.

End the chaos with our premium trial bundle

The premium trial bundle gives you everything you need to transform how you and your team operate. Get access to premium features—plus free 1:1 coaching—to help you plan and manage projects like a pro.