# First Principles of Project Planning ## Why Project Planning? 1. Why is this good and key for LE 2. Why do we need a common language 3. What is the key use for this sort of planning? ## What Is A Project? A project is work that needs to be done. That is the essence of a project. It has an end deliverable, which means that you are working to create something - either a tangible product or an effect. All projects can be defined in two ways. [[GOTBook/1. Ready For Final/0 GOTBook Intro#Thinking In Vectors|Fixed Term]] or [[GOTBook/1. Ready For Final/0 GOTBook Intro#Thinking in Loops|Marathon]]. If you have not managed to place your projects in one of the two categories, you have not defined it well enough. ### Fixed Term Fixed Terms could be considered as a sprint. They generally tend to have a defined endpoint, and could include: * Creating a website * Identifying 50 new potential suppliers * Baking a Cake ### Marathons Marathons could be considered as an endless series. The idea that Marathons stem is the fact that it is a repeating set of tasks that you want to do for pretty much forever. A few examples of what can be considered as Marathon projects are: * Sales * Ad Management * Bookkeeping ## Rhythm Rhythm is the timespan upon which a project is tracked. I generally operate on a weekly rhythm for projects, but plan on monthly or quarterly basis. ### Paced (Sprints) A paced rhythm is when you have a certain amount of time available along with a list of tasks that need to be done. Each period you try to complete as much as possible, then reassign and review accordingly. ### Mandated (JFS) A mandated rhythm is when you have a set amount of time to complete something and must send it out into the world at the end of that time. JFS (Just Fucking Ship It) by Amy Hoy is the concept that embodies this idea best. It has to be done on time. Therefore, we will start scrapping anything that makes it take too much time. Many things we conceptualize as a single project are in fact distinct mandated launches followed by a paced optimization. ## Budgets When you are setting a budget for a project, there are only two true categories of resources. Time and Capital - I use Capital instead of “Money” here to include Social Capital in the same category. If you want to set the budget, you need to have a general idea of the amount of time it might take to get things done. In some cases, you can substitute time for money. You can substitute money for time in almost every case by hiring others. Budgeting is key to long term success. It allows us to work on multiple projects at once and efficiently allocate resources to achieve our goals. ### Time Time refers to the actual hours you or your team have to dedicate to a specific project or task. People have a limited amount of time in their day. It includes mandated project deadlines and milestones. ### Money Money allows you to purchase things, including other people's time. ## Human Capital (Budgeting People) ### **Teams** Teams are groups of [[GOTBook/2. Final Edits or Revision/First Principles Project Planning#Roles|roles]] working together on a single [[GOTBook/2. Final Edits or Revision/First Principles Project Planning#What Is A Project|project]]. ### Leads, Coordinators, and Strategists Every team will have an assigned Lead, who is their functional head. They are normally the most senior and experienced team member Most teams also have an assigned Project Manager, often designated by a coordinator or producer role. They make sure that things will be completed on time, that the project is updated in any management tools, and that all work is assigned properly and without delay. Finally, a team may have a strategist or analyst assigned as well. Strategists provide Subject Matter Expertise to the team outside the bounds of the Lead's knowledge. ### Roles Roles pertain to a particular project. They are not titles in the traditional sense, but designations of responsibility. When you first design a project, one of the best things you can try to do is map out the different skill sets involved and categorize them into roles that can be assigned to individuals. In the creation of this document. I employ a separate writer's assistant whose job is to interview me, categorize my thoughts, and to expand and research upon subjects as needed. Thus, I have created a distinct role that I can dedicate resources into, which does include my own bandwidth - because my bandwidth is limited. ### Bandwidth Bandwidth is the idea that people will have limited amounts of time and thought. Therefore, they can only take on so many tasks and take on so many roles. People have a very limited amount of bandwidth. Most cannot handle more than a few roles. The amount of time available often drops by 10-20% per role due to context switching. For example, the freelancer handled all roles: - Business Development - Finding and pitching new clients - Account Management - Onboarding new clients, handling billing and invoicing - Project Management - Developing project plans, timelines, and milestones - Content Creation - Actually doing the work for clients like writing, design, development, etc. As the bandwidth required for each role grows, the freelancer begins delegating these roles to new team members: - Business Development Manager - Focuses solely on lead generation, pitching, and finding new clients. Most mature agencies only have 1-2 people in this role. - Account Coordinator - Handles account management and is the main point of contact for 3-5 clients. Makes sure clients are happy and invoices are paid. Mature agencies typically have a few Account Coordinators, each handling a small group of clients. - Project Manager - Develops project plans and timelines for a group of 3-5 accounts. Most mature agencies have a few dedicated Project Managers, each assigned to a subset of accounts. - Content Creators - The agency hires dedicated writers, designers, developers, and other creatives, each with a specialized skill set. In a mature agency, most creatives have a single focused role. For example, a writer writes content for assigned client accounts, but does not also do design or account work. As the freelancer builds a team, each new hire is focused on a single specialized role. The Business Development Manager develops leads, the Account Coordinator handles specific client accounts, the Project Manager develops timelines for their assigned projects, and the Content Creators focus on their particular skill like writing, design, or development. Most mature companies follow this structure, with each employee having a clearly-defined and focused role so they can become highly specialized experts in their field. ## Estimation Estimation refers to the amount of time it would take to complete a project or task. ### Triple It The simplest way to estimate the time it would take on a project is to take your initial instinct and triple it. Your initial estimate will always be too short. This will create conservative time estimates that are more likely to be accurate or overestimated. It is better to overestimate than to underestimate when it comes to timelines. ### Hours, Points, or Tasks When managing projects and tasks within a team, it is essential to consider the most effective method for measuring progress and assigning work. There are various ways to do this, including tracking hours, using sprint points, or focusing on discrete tasks. Each method has its pros and cons, and the best approach will depend on your team's specific needs and working style. #### Hours/Time Pro/Con **Pros:** 1. Easily understood by both team members and clients. 2. Provides a clear basis for billing clients in agency settings. 3. Allows for accurate time and cost estimation for projects. **Cons:** 1. Can be demotivating for team members if they feel they are being micromanaged. 2. Time-tracking can be seen as an administrative burden. 3. May not be suitable for flexible, creative, or innovative projects where time spent is not directly correlated with value produced. #### Sprint Points/Poker Pro/Con **Pros:** 1. Encourages collaboration and team input in task estimation. 2. Allows for more accurate project planning and resource allocation. 3. Can provide a better measure of the complexity or difficulty of tasks, rather than just time spent. **Cons:** 1. Requires team members to be familiar with the sprint points system and the estimation process. 2. Can be difficult to translate into billable hours for client-facing projects. 3. May lead to confusion or disagreements around point values and estimation accuracy. #### Kanban/Discrete Tasks Pro/Con **Pros:** 1. Provides a clear visual representation of work progress and task status. 2. Can be easily adapted to different team sizes and project types. 3. Encourages a focus on continuous improvement and process efficiency. **Cons:** 1. May not provide a clear basis for billing clients in agency settings. 2. Can be difficult to estimate project timelines or resource allocation without additional planning tools. 3. May lead to a focus on completing tasks quickly, rather than delivering high-quality results. #### Our Path from No time -> Timed -> Points -> Journal 1. **No time:** Initially, the team operates without any formal time tracking or task estimation methods. This approach may work for small teams or projects with a flexible timeline, but it can lead to inefficiencies and difficulties in managing workloads. 2. **Timed:** To improve project planning and client billing, the team introduces time tracking for all tasks. This allows for more accurate cost and resource estimation, but may also create administrative burdens and potential demotivation for team members. 3. **Points:** The team transitions to using sprint points to estimate task complexity and difficulty, rather than just time spent. This encourages collaboration and provides better insight into project progress, but may require additional training and adaptation for team members and clients. 4. **Journal:** Transition to ultraworking ## Mise En Place (Everything in place) Mise En Place is a fantastic project management concept. It refers to the practice of everything being laid out before a chef starts cooking. If you use this within a business, it allows you to start out with a better understanding of what must be done. This will prevent you from making simple mistakes. Good chefs will read the recipes before they start. Similarly, a project manager should know everything that needs to be done. You should know what needs to be done before the project starts with your research and planning. ### Priority, Micro Edition Mise en Place is a Micro-version of prioritization and [[GOTBook/2. Final Edits or Revision/Scenario Planning#Setting Milestones and Goals|goals]] that were mentioned earlier on in the book. The easy way to think about that is with a mandated project of fixed terms. It is vital that you chart out beforehand what parts of the project need to be done in order for it to accomplish its goal and what parts of the project should be done for it to do it best. If something comes up, you can abandon the less important components to get it shipped on time. ### Planning From The Goal You should still plan backwards from your end result. There’s no reason for that to change just because you are planning on a shorter scale now. After all - if a project is estimated at 120 hours, you can’t plan to start just 2 weeks out. ## **Project Loops** 1. Loops set the feedback, faster is better for getting more done 2. Meetings 3. Decisions 4. Work Assignment 5. Review -> Revise -> Plan -> Execute ### Example Recipe: Book ***AI Generated*** 1. Identify your target audience and their pain points: 10 hours 2. Outline the content of the book: 20 hours 3. Write the book: 200 hours (assuming a 50,000-word book, with a writing rate of 250 words per hour) 4. Edit and polish the manuscript: 50 hours 5. Choose a publishing route: 5 hours 6. Design the book cover and format the interior layout: 20 hours 7. Launch a marketing campaign: 40 hours 8. Publish the book and distribute it: 10 hours 9. Engage with readers: Ongoing (10 hours per month, for example) **Total hours estimate for the book project**: 365 hours (excluding ongoing engagement) **Ingredients** 1. Intellectual Property: Expertise in the subject matter 2. Technology: Writing and editing tools, publishing platforms, and distribution channels 3. Service Element: Packaging the knowledge into a book format **Goals** 1. Solve a specific pain or problem for a high-value target audience 2. Provide valuable and actionable insights to the reader 3. Generate revenue through book sales and potentially lead to other opportunities (e.g., speaking engagements, workshops, or consulting services) **Step by Step** 1. Identify your target audience and their pain points 2. Outline the content of the book, focusing on addressing the pain points and providing actionable solutions 3. Write the book, either independently or with the help of a ghostwriter 4. Edit and polish the manuscript, seeking feedback from trusted sources 5. Choose a publishing route (e.g., traditional publishing, self-publishing, or hybrid publishing) 6. Design the book cover and format the interior layout 7. Launch a marketing campaign to promote the book, focusing on reaching the target audience 8. Publish the book and distribute it through various channels (e.g., Amazon, bookstores, or your own website) 9. Engage with readers through social media, events, and other opportunities to build a community around the book ### Example Recipe: Podcast Season ***AI Generated*** 1. Identify your target audience and their pain points: 5 hours 2. Determine the podcast format: 2 hours 3. Plan the content for the podcast season: 10 hours 4. Record the podcast episodes (1 hour per episode, including preparation): 12 hours 5. Edit the episodes (3 hours per episode): 36 hours 6. Choose a podcast hosting platform and upload the episodes: 2 hours 7. Design the podcast cover art and write the show notes (1 hour per episode): 12 hours 8. Launch a marketing campaign: 20 hours 9. Publish the episodes and engage with listeners: Ongoing (5 hours per month, for example) **Total hours estimate for the podcast season**: 99 hours **Ingredients** 1. Intellectual Property: Expertise in the subject matter or industry 2. Technology: Recording equipment, editing software, and podcast hosting platforms 3. Service Element: Packaging the knowledge into engaging podcast episodes **Goals** 1. Address a specific pain or problem for a high-value target audience 2. Provide entertaining and informative content to listeners 3. Build a community around the podcast and potentially monetize it through sponsorships or other means **Step by Step** 1. Identify your target audience and their pain points 2. Determine the podcast format (e.g., solo, interview, or roundtable) 3. Plan the content for the podcast season, focusing on addressing the pain points and providing valuable insights 4. Record the podcast episodes, either independently or with guests 5. Edit the episodes to ensure high-quality audio and content 6. Choose a podcast hosting platform and upload the episodes 7. Design the podcast cover art and write the show notes for each episode 8. Launch a marketing campaign to promote the podcast season, focusing on reaching the target audience 9. Publish the episodes on a consistent schedule and engage with listeners through social media, events, and other opportunities to build a community around the podcast Based on the provided example recipes, I'll estimate the total hours for each project: ## A Sample Weekly/Daily System For Global Teams Managing a global team working in different time zones can be challenging, and the traditional model of standup meetings may not always be practical. Asynchronous standup meetings can be an excellent solution to this. These meetings can be facilitated through a collaborative tool or platform, where team members post updates within a specific timeframe according to their convenience. ### Daily Doing Journal Fill out a [[Doing Journal]] every day at the beginning or end of your day **Journal Question List** 1. Who Is This Journal For?\* 2. When Is This? \[MM/DD/YYYY\] + \[EOD/BOD\]\* 3. What one good thing has happened today? What one good things have you done?\* 4. What is/was your #1 for the day?\* 5. What else did you do or do you plan to do today?\* 6. Were there any issues? Is there anything that can be done to prevent them in the future?\* 7. What deliverable will you work on next? What is the first step?\* 8. What MUST you do tomorrow (if end of day) or today (if start of day)?\* 9. Any other notes for/from Today?\* The Team Journal List includes all the Doing Journal submissions alongside the deliverables linked to specific key results, projects, and proposals. At least one thing should be assigned for every day of the week. ### Weekly Birdseye All teams need a Birdseye with objectives, dashboard, Measured Key Results, and a clear deliverable tracking system. - **_For BD and partnerships teams, this is a Pipeline CRM._** - **_For Content Teams this is a Calendar or Production Queue._** - **_For all other teams, this is the Daily Doing Journal._** We will have a weekly live chat meeting. It will be an hour long MAX. Slack voice chat is my preferred methods. It transcribes so it is actually useful. Before the Meeting ------------------ 1. Go Over Team Dashboard 1. Submit Your L10 Report (Weekly Journal + Dashboard Updates) 1. Objective + Key Results Update For Dashboard 1. What are you grateful for this week? 1. What was your #1 big thing from last week? Did it get done? 1. What are 3 more wins from last week? 1. What mistakes and takeaways do you have from last week? What lessons will you takeaway to your future work? 1. What's your #1 Big Thing for this week? 1. What will your personal reward be for completing it? 1. What are the next 3 things you're doing after that in order? 1. What else MUST you do this week? 2. How will you ensure this week is better than last? 1. Submit any new proposals for discussion 1. Here is the Link: [https://forms.clickup.com/f/26ebd-7049/EG0WI25YBPC4IM0NO7](https://forms.clickup.com/f/26ebd-7049/EG0WI25YBPC4IM0NO7) Meeting Agenda (Run by the Team Lead Over Chat, With Voice During Key Decisions If Needed) --------------------------------------- ### Q&A 1. Respond to proposal in the chat associated with their task with specific questions. 1. At this stage, you may only respond to the proposal with a question. You may not respond to someone elses responses or commentary. 2. You may not voice an opinion at this stage, only ask questions regarding the proposal. 3. You may answer questions related to proposals for which you are lead ### Consideration 1. Respond to proposal in the chat associated with their task. Post in the L10 chat with links to the proposals's tasks in the message 1. At this stage you must provide your final response and opinion regarding each proposal. 2. If you have no response or opinion, you must note that as your response. ### Decisions 1. During this phase each proposal will be reviewed by the Team Lead and either assigned to a lead for final decision or delayed for review until a further date of their choosing. 1. Leads will provide their decision as a specific outcome with the deliverables listed as subtasks underneath 1. IF the decision takes <5minutes to enact, it will be done during the meeting by the lead 1. If the decision otherwise requires no action, then it will be marked down in the meeting chat ### Review 1. Go Over Each Objective and Key Result Not Yet Complete 1. Review Each Key Result Deliverable, ensure a next step is in the Journal and assigned 1. Go Over Each Other Proposal In Progress 2. Review Each Deliverable, ensure a next step is in the Journal and assigned