Planning is important, but it must be a simple, fast and straightforward process.
As a project manager, with many years of experience managing different web based solutions, I strongly recommend using Basecamp, one of the best online project management solutions. A free version for a unique project can be easily setup by going to their site (Basecamp.com). There are many advantages of using this web tool, one of which is its simplicity, result driven and is also ideal for collaboration. I would recommend start planning as you are reading this chapter.
Below I describe the steps required for successful planning in Basecamp. For more details on it please visit the Funky Success site. For the sake of this example, we will take the development of a particular eBook. The process may however be implemented to any other project such as a film, music album, web page development and many others…
- Set your milestones. Those are basically the muse deliverables, including the final product, the site and the marketing. The ideal time should be 30 days for a 50 pages eBook. I recommend writing 1000 words a day (which is fairly simple after a while) and make sure to write everyday to enforce the habit. So at the speed of 2 pages a day, it will still leave you the last couple of days to make revision.
- Set your Task groups. For our eBook creation example the tasks group should be to write the table of contents write the chapters and revised the chapter.
- Set all the Tasks relating to each of the task groups. Make sure to be as precise as possible. For example in our “write the chapters” task groups create the : “Happiness chapter” with the date (March 12), a small description specifying the keywords (flow, positive psychology, now…) and the person who is responsible. I would recommend to do everything by yourself for the first couple of projects, so you understand the complexity of the task and the
- I would recommend focusing the last 5 days on revision. Each day revises a couple of chapters and make sure your muse, your site and marketing is aligned.
Tasks tips
Here are a couple of tasks tips that I would recommend:
- Be as precise as possible. So as soon as you read it you know exactly what to do.
- Ideally each task should take about 45 minutes to an 1 hours, and I wouldn’t recommend tasks to take more then 4 hours (or a funky success day). As you execute the tasks you should divide it into smaller tasks. The objective is to be able to start right away and to know how easy is to complete the given task and not to be overwhelmed by it.
- Focus on the deliverable, the result not the actual implementation. This is especially true, when you start allocating tasks to others.
- Each task should be part of a task group, and relevant to a milestone. So you always keep in mind
The importance of the checklist
You may plan all you want in your mind or discuss it with others, but what I strongly believe in is to write on paper in a checklist way. This will mobilize you to clarify some things and be specific, and will prove that the plans make senses to you but also to a third party. Therefore I would recommend for an external person to have a quick read through it let you know anything that might be confusing.
Planning this way, will make sure that every muse development tasks is a unique checklist. It is either done or not, there is not maybe. The checklist will help you to be on top of everything. It was actually proven again and again, from doctors to pilots, that without a concise checklist for any complex enterprise, it will most likely then not result in forgetting a specific element that will have an direct impact on the success or failure of the project. Having proper planning and checklist system in place will simplify so much of the implementation. Your only concern will be the execution of the specific given tasks, without the need to be thinking about anything else, and having a relax mind knowing that you cover anything.