Friday, March 17, 2006

Plan your work

When students interview people who are working on digitization projects, they learn quickly the importance of planning.  Although preached in the classroom, there is nothing like hearing someone “in the field” talk about the need to plan, plan thoroughly, and plan ahead.  (I know that sounds redundant, but it isn’t.)  Students return to the classroom with the eyes wide open to the fact that not planning can lead to disaster.

There is the old adage – Plan your work and work your plan.  That is true for everything in all areas of our work.  Being haphazard can cause inconsistent results.  Yet we can also over plan, which leads to paralysis.  There is a balance between planning “enough” and planning “too much.”  It is a balance that one those involved can recognize and keep.  

Sometimes the way to stop planning is to take “small steps” and begin to work on the project.  “Dip your toe in and test the waters.”  You may find that the “water is fine” and you can proceed with the work at hand.  If there are problems, then you also have time to stop and fix them.  It is not too late.

Take a moment and look at your workload and your calendar.  Look to see what’s coming up and what is already in the works.  What projects do you have on your plate?  Have you planned how you will carry them out?  Have you done enough planning and are now ready to jump in (or perhaps wade slowly into the project)?  If the answers are “no,” schedule time over the next few days to beginning your planning.  You will be happy that you did.

Technorati tag: Project planning

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