“If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else” – Peter ‘Yogi’Berra
“The future is shaped by our actions or inactions, and planning plays an important role” – Ayodele Akingbade
Most of what we do, either as individuals, groups, businesses, large enterprises, organisations or government, some sort of thought about how we go about achieving them is needed. In the process of thinking, we go back and forth many times over, ruminating about the best way to accomplish the set goals. This process is called planning.
Nigerian businesses in general and the government in particular are very deficient in this very essential area of our corporate and national lives and development. A lot of cacophony is made followed by general pandemonium, especially as it relates to the planning and execution of national development and corporations’ strategic plans, which are never strictly followed. If the execution of budgets (spending plans) is to serve as a pointer, the time, effort and resources employed in the preparation and planning are wasted and this makes no sense. Laughable and sloppy planning coupled with poor execution of those plans are one of the principal reasons Nigeria is in a sorry state today. There is sheer incompetence, distortion, deliberate misappropriation and diversion of funds allocated for the execution of such plans. This poor planning and execution culture has led to stunted economic growth, abandoned projects, unplanned neighbourhoods and general under-development. It is from the foregoing that I examine planning from the project planning and management perspective.
Definition
Planning can well be described as thinking about, a step-by-step conception, orderly course of organising and walking through the tasks and activities needed to reach a desired objective and intent. Planning is a roadmap and strategy with a clearly defined milestones and deliverables in realising set goals. The planning process involves the creation, putting together and maintenance of a course of action or document to be followed as closely as possible throughout the lifecycle of what is to be created or achieved. It can also be referred to as an arrangement, an aforethought, setting up or groundwork. The process of planning starts from when objectives are set, to when the plans are implemented and when comparisons are made with what is in the original plan and its effectiveness.
According to the AACEi – The Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International – planning is the identification of the project objectives and the orderly activities necessary to complete the project (the thinking part) and not to be confused with scheduling; the process by which the duration of the project task is applied to the plan. It involves answering the questions: What must be done in the future to reach the project objective? How it will be done? Who will do it? When will it be done? How much will it cost?
Importance of planning:
Planning for anything is of great importance, most especially if it is a worthwhile project. The key to a successful project outcome or endeavour is in the planning. Without planning there is no master plan or blueprint to follow and things are done haphazardly. While there are very few studies conducted to measure the value of planning in relation to its cost, it has been established that corporations and government departments/agencies with excellent planning culture and programmes experience steady growth and development in comparison with those that do not. Projects are undertaken to explore an opportunity and in doing so planning is required. The experience gained and lessons learned from the execution of such projects are always very useful as organisational process assets.
A classical and apt example of the importance of planning is when you compare the Banana Island estate development with the Oniru Estate, separated by about few kilometres of body of water. The physical planning and civil works, aesthetics and general ambience of Banana Island is way better than that of Oniru Estate. Oniru Estate was planned and developed well after Banana Island. If the owners of Oniru Estate had done their homework well in terms of research, planning and value engineering they will by now be reaping better rewards than those of Banana Island.
Another example of proper planning is the widening and reconstruction of the almost 60-mile Houston Texas (Katy TX to Baytown TX) stretch of the freeway (Interstate I-10) that goes from California to Florida, USA, from 8-10 lanes to 18-20 lanes. Being an interstate highway and a very busy one for that matter, it was decided to expand the Houston portion of it because it was foreseen that by the year 2020 the volume of traffic on the road would have tripled. Work was started around 2007 and was completed within 3 years. Not for a day was the freeway shut down, traffic diverted nor were intolerable traffic delays experienced by users of the highway. The planning for the expansion started almost 10 years before execution began and it was near flawless. The depth and quality of proper prior planning will surely produce excellent results.
Project management – planning:
Of the five processes in project management, planning is the most important. As part of a company’s strategic goals or part of the developmental policies of governments, projects are constantly embarked upon.
The planning process starts when the high-level feasibility studies, project assumptions, constraints and the scope/statement of work have been considered and reviewed. This process extends from the conceptual stage through the design stage and all the way to the delivery stages. All these are inputs into the preparation of the project charter and the project plan, especially for EPC projects. During this stage, agreements and contracts with third parties like vendors and sub-contractors are reached and signed. With the project charter in hand, the project manager can now proceed to develop the project management plan. This document describes and entails how the project is going to be executed, monitored, controlled and closed with regard to the scope and the very important areas of the project.
Ayodele Akingbade
