Have you ever hit snooze so many times in the morning that you had to skip the normal routine of taking the bus to work, and order a Lyft instead? Maybe to save additional time, you ditched the breakfast plan to have hot oatmeal, and rather ate a breakfast bar on the way to work.

Both in work and in life, and those spaces in-between, we’re always scheming and maneuvering with time.

Project managers know it’s rarely possible to meet deadlines and still remain within a project’s budget and scope. They’re always looking for ways to tweak a schedule.

Project managers know it’s rarely possible to meet deadlines and still remain within a project’s budget and scope. They’re always looking for ways to tweak a schedule.

To do so, they often utilize the very same strategies we use when we’re running late in the morning: they find a more expensive yet faster option, or they complete two normally sequential tasks at the same time. These two techniques are known in project management as fast tracking and crashing.

Do you want to consistently hit deadlines, or even complete projects ahead of schedule? Then keep these two techniques in your arsenal.

Let’s look into how fast tracking and crashing work, and where they fit in a project planning strategy.

Definitions and Examples

The techniques of crashing and fast tracking reduce the time it takes to complete a project. In order to explain how each works, it’s necessary first to define constraint, schedule compression technique and critical path method.

The Project Management Glossary defines constraint as “a limitation on a project. Among other things, constraints may be financial or based on time or resource availability.”

The triple constraints of any project are its scope, time and cost. Whenever any of these constraints changes, it affects the other two. For example, if you reduce the time it takes to complete a project, either the cost must increase or the scope must decrease.

A schedule compression technique is just like it sounds: it’s a method for decreasing the length of time it takes to complete a project. We compress our morning schedule, for example, when we eat breakfast on the way to work, or when we utilize a faster mode of transportation than usual.

Note that a schedule compression technique simply decreases time; it does not change the scope. The same amount of work is completed, but the project’s duration, or its critical path, is decreased.

What, then, is a critical path method? It’s a process of looking at all the tasks needed to complete a project, and plotting them out sequentially. This method arranges tasks in relation to one another, carefully considering which must be performed ahead of others, and which tasks can be completed at the same time.

The critical path method allows project managers to determine the shortest amount of time needed to complete a project.

With these terms in mind, let’s define the two schedule compression techniques known as fast tracking and crashing.

Fast Tracking Defined

To fast track means to take two sequential activities on a critical path and arrange them parallel to one another. Rather than complete one activity after the other, the two activities are completed at the same time.

The PM Glossary defines fast tracking as: “A schedule compression technique or duration compression technique in which the duration of a critical path is shortened by performing sections of some critical path activities concurrently instead of consecutively.”

Perhaps these activities ideally would be performed sequentially, but fast tracking overlooks this, as well as any dependencies between these two activities, and completes them in parallel.

What is a dependency? It’s a relationship between two activities that determines when one activity can begin.

For example, in the project of decorating a room, the walls must be painted before paintings are hung on the wall. These two tasks are dependent, as one must be completed before the other can begin.

Fast Tracking Example

We fast track things all the time in our day-to-day lives. Sometimes this is also known as multitasking. Let’s say you want to call your sister and cook dinner. Why not do both at the same time?

Consider another example of a web design project. Two tasks might be to design the website and write copy for it. A fast track would be to complete these tasks concurrently rather than sequentially.

Fast tracking becomes more complicated with dependent tasks. Take the two tasks of ironing shirts and washing several loads of laundry. It is possible to do these in parallel, but it requires washing the shirts in the first load, and then ironing the shirts as the additional loads are completed.

Fast tracking doesn’t work when two tasks have hard dependencies. This means that one task must be completed before a second task can begin. For example, two tasks in a construction project could be to install both drywall and electricity. The drywall must be completed before the electricity can be installed.

Crashing Defined

Crashing is a schedule compression technique of using additional resources in order to shorten the duration of an activity. In other words, it’s increasing the cost in order to get something done faster.

The PM Glossary defines crashing as: “A schedule compression technique used to speed up project work by increasing the rate at which critical path activities are completed by adding more resources — usually more personnel or more equipment. Crashing increases project costs, so it is used first on activities that can be sped up at the least additional cost.”

Crashing Example

Let’s say a development team is starting a project that requires a language they have never used before. Rather than going it all alone, the project manager may decide to hire an expert in the language to coach and train the team, and speed up the process.

Crashing carefully considers the relative cost increase of various activities on the critical path in order to determine the thriftiest way to shorten the schedule. For example, if additional labor for one activity is $20 an hour, and for another it’s $10, then the manager fast tracks the second activity, and hires the labor for $10 an hour.

Crashing doesn’t always work. The duration of some projects cannot be compressed by the addition of more resources. To put it humorously, nine women cannot deliver a baby in one month.

Fast tracking and crashing save time, but they come with tradeoffs as well. Let’s look into those next.

The Pros and Cons of Each

Both fast tracking and crashing offer the benefit of shortening a project’s schedule. This is principally why they’re utilized. But what other impacts do these techniques have on the project?

Benefits of Fast Tracking and Crashing

In addition to saving time, both techniques can increase float for activities that are not on the project’s critical path. This means they increase the flexibility of when the activity can be completed.

This additional float decreases a project’s overall risk. By crashing an activity, and completing it in three days rather than five, it reduces the risk that the activity is not complete when it needs to be.

Drawbacks

Fast tracking and crashing negatively impact a project differently, so let’s look at their drawbacks individually.

A downside of crashing, as discussed, is that it increases a project’s cost. In the interest of saving time, a project manager may crash several activities, and cause the project to go over budget.

Fast tracking poses a few more problems than crashing. Not only does it increase a project’s risk, but it also requires more communication and may lead to rework.

How is this? Let’s look at an example to demonstrate the drawbacks of fast tracking.

Say a team is creating a video for a client. It needs to write a script, sew costumes, and hire a cast. Rather than do these activities sequentially, the team decides to save time by doing them all at once.

As it turns out, the team hires a cast that does not fit the costumes. This leads to re-work and additional costs.

In worst case scenarios, fast tracking can backfire and actually increase a project’s overall time.

Crashing or Fast Tracking: Which is Better?

Simply because crashing offers the same benefits with fewer downsides, it’s the preferred technique for schedule compression.

However, the nature of an activity determines which technique to utilize. As explained, crashing doesn’t work with every activity, and sometimes fast tracking is the more suitable option.

Application in Project Planning

Let’s look at some guidelines for knowing when to crash and when to fast track, as well as how to select the activities suitable for these techniques.

When to Crash

When looking for what to crash, focus on the activities on a critical path, as crashing these shorten the project’s duration. Use a network diagram to identify these activities.

Ideally, crash an activity that has the lowest cost for the greatest decrease in time.

However, sometimes in order to reduce the critical path, it’s necessary to select a more expensive activity. Only select this when it’s sure to decrease the critical path.

When to Fast Track

Use a network diagram to identify which tasks to fast track as well. Find sequential tasks without any hard dependencies. Consider what might happen if these two tasks were performed in parallel.

Risks can be defined as uncertainties that matter, and by brainstorming any uncertainties around the two activities, it’s possible to pinpoint any risks that fast tracking might introduce.

If performing the two tasks in parallel doesn’t open the project up to huge risks, then update the network diagram to put the two tasks alongside each other.

In Combination With Other Techniques

As discussed, fast tracking and crashing affect the time, but not the scope, of a project. When exploring ways to tweak a schedule, it’s possible to combine these schedule compression techniques with techniques that impact a project differently. Let’s look at two possibilities.

Scope Reduction

Essentially this means reducing some of the project’s requirements. This is a quick and easy way to shorten a project’s duration.

One obstacle to this method, however, is that the client may need to have all the requirements met, and so won’t agree to it.

Quality Reduction

Another method for shortening a schedule is to decrease the amount of time spent on quality control. For example, a software project might decrease its testing processes. In addition to time, this method also decreases cost.

At the same time, this method introduces high risks, as it increases the likelihood that the team produces a low-quality deliverable.

Powers Combined

Oftentimes, in order for a project to meet a deadline, a project manager combines several techniques.

Let’s take a house remodel, where the owner imposes the hard deadline of living in the house by Christmas. In November, the team still has eight weeks of work, including expanding the deck, painting the living room and installing carpet. The project manager may have a discussion with the client, and come up with a plan to hire more laborers to paint the interior, and scrap the requirement of expanding the deck.

In this example, the project meets its deadline by both reducing the scope and compressing the schedule.

Understanding the possibilities for shortening a schedule, and the tradeoffs of each, allows a project manager to tweak a project in a way that delivers the most value to the client.

Most businesses these days are data-driven. But what happens when the data you need is scattered all over the place? That’s where marketing information management (MIM) comes in.

MIM helps you gather and organize all of your marketing data, so you can make informed decisions about your business.

But implementing MIM can be tricky. There are a lot of things to consider, and if you’re not careful, you can easily make mistakes that will hamstring your efforts.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most common implementation mistakes and how to avoid them. We’ll also talk about the importance of data visualization and how it can help you get the most out of your MIM system.

What is Marketing Information Management?

Marketing information management (MIM) is the process of gathering, analyzing, and storing data related to your marketing efforts.

The goal of MIM is to provide marketers with a single source of truth—a central repository for all their marketing data that they can use to inform their decisions.

MIM includes both qualitative and quantitative data, and it can come from a variety of sources, including market research studies, surveys, customer feedback forms, social media monitoring tools, website analytics platforms, and CRM systems.

Why is marketing information management important?

Marketing information management is important because it gives businesses a way to take back control of their marketing research collection and organization.

In the past, businesses would rely on individual departments to manage their own data, which often led to silos and duplication of effort.

MIM provides a centralized system for gathering and storing data so that it can be accessed and used by anyone in the organization—eliminating silos and ensuring that everyone is working from the same set of data.

The Most Important Marketing Data To Track

Now that you understand the basics of marketing information management, let’s talk about some of the specific data points you should track.

Data point #1 – Your customer journey.

In order to create a great customer experience, you need to understand how your customers interact with your brand—from their first interaction all the way through to purchase and beyond.

Tracking customer journey data will help you identify areas where your customers are getting stuck, so you can make changes to improve the experience.

If your customer journey data is spread out across multiple departments and silos, it will be very difficult to get a complete picture of what’s going on. That’s why it’s important to have a centralized MIM system in place.

Data point #2 – Your marketing channels.

In todays multi-channel world, it’s important to track which channels are performing well and which ones are falling flat.

Are you getting a lot of leads from your website? Do you have ads driving traffic to your website?

By tracking marketing channel data, you can get a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not, so you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

Attribution can be a challenge when you’re working with multiple marketing channels. But with a MIM system in place, you can see how each channel contributes to the customer journey, so you can give credit where it’s due.

Data point #3 – Your website analytics.

Your website is one of your most important marketing tools, so you need to make sure you’re tracking all the relevant data points. This includes things like page views, time on site, bounce rate, and conversion rate.

Why? Because this data can give you insights into how well your website is performing and what changes you need to make to improve the experience for your visitors.

For example, if you see that your website’s bounce rate is high, that could be an indication that your site is not relevant to your audience or that it’s not easy to use.

Data point #4 – Your social media metrics.

Organic website traffic is great, but social media can also be a powerful marketing tool. That’s why it’s important to track your social media metrics, including things like reach, engagement, and clicks.

Social media data can give you insights into what kind of content your audience is interested in, which can help you create more targeted and effective content.

Data point #5 – Your email marketing metrics.

First off, if you aren’t emailing your list regularly, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. But even if you are emailing your list, you need to know which emails are effective.

How do you do this? By tracking email marketing metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate.

Email data can give you insights into what kind of content your audience wants to see, which can help you create more targeted and effective emails.

Data point #6 – Your marketing ROI.

Last but not least, you need to track your marketing ROI. This is the most important metric of all, because it tells you whether or not your marketing efforts are actually paying off.

ROI stands for return on investment, and there are a number of different ways to calculate it.

Essentially, you need to know how much you are spending on marketing and how much revenue it’s generating. If your ROI is positive, that means your marketing efforts are paying off.

If your ROI is negative, that means you’re losing money on your marketing efforts and you need to make some changes.

Most ad platforms have ways to track ROI, but if you’re not using one of those platforms, there are other ways to calculate it.

Common Implementation Mistakes & How to Overcome Them

Now that you know some of the key data points to track with MIM, let’s discuss some of the most common implementation mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake 1. Not Defining Your Goals

Before you start tracking data, you need to know what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts. Otherwise, you won’t be able to measure your success.

Sit down with your team and define your marketing goals. Once you have a clear understanding of what you’re trying to achieve, you can start tracking the right data points.

Mistake 2. Not Collecting All the Data

It’s important to collect data from all your marketing channels, not just a few. Otherwise, you won’t get a complete picture of your marketing efforts.

It’s silly to think that you can just track a few data points and get an accurate picture of your marketing. For example, if you’re only tracking website traffic, you won’t be able to see how your social media campaigns are performing.

The reality is that you need to collect data from all your channels in order to get an accurate picture.

Mistake 3. Not Organizing Your Data

Once you start collecting data, it’s important to organize it in a way that makes sense. Otherwise, you won’t be able to make sense of it.

There are a number of different ways to organize your data, but one of the simplest is to create a spreadsheet with all your data points. This will help you keep track of your data and make it easy to find what you’re looking for.

Mistake 4. Not Visualizing Your Data

Data is meaningless if you can’t understand it. That’s why it’s important to visualize your data in a way that makes sense. Plus, when communicating to shareholders, the Board or other key decision-makers, data visualization is often essential.

One of the best ways to do this is to create charts and graphs. This will help you see patterns and trends in your data, which will be helpful when making decisions about your marketing efforts.

With a simple google search, you can find templates for just about any type of chart or graph.

Mistake 5. Not Making Data-Driven Decisions

Once you have your data organized and visualized, it’s important to start making decisions based on it. Otherwise, your marketing efforts will be ineffective.

For example, if you see that your website traffic is increasing but your conversion rate is staying the same, you might need to make some changes to your website.

On the other hand, if you see that your social media campaigns are generating a lot of leads, you might want to invest more in social media marketing. The key is to let your data guide your decisions so you can make the most effective marketing choices.

6 Tips to implement your marketing information management strategy

Now that you know the importance of MIM and how to avoid common mistakes, let’s discuss how to implement an effective MIM strategy.

TIP # 1. Get everyone on board with using the same system.

If you want your MIM system to be effective, you need to get everyone on board with using it. This means training your team on how to use the system and making sure everyone is using it consistently.

Luckily, there are a number of different MIM software options available, so you should be able to find one that fits your needs.

Especially since remote work has become the new norm, it’s important to have a system in place that everyone can access from anywhere.

TIP # 2. Automate as much as possible.

The more you can automate your MIM system, the better. This will help you save time and ensure that your data is always accurate.

There are a number of different ways to automate your MIM system, but one of the simplest is to use a tool like Zapier. Zapier can help you automatically collect data from all your marketing channels and send it to a central location, like a Google Sheet.

TIP # 3. Use data visualization tools.

As we mentioned earlier, data visualization is one of the most important aspects of MIM. In fact, it’s safe to say that data visualization for marketing is essential for making data-driven decisions.

There are a number of different data visualization tools available, but one of the simplest to use is Google Data Studio. With Data Studio, you can easily create beautiful charts and graphs that will help you understand your data.

Data visualization is important for a number of reasons. First, it helps you understand your data. Second, it helps you communicate your findings to others. And third, it can help you make better decisions about your marketing efforts.

TIP # 4. Make sure your data is organized and easy to find.

If your data is hard to find, you won’t be able to use it effectively. That’s why it’s important to keep it organized in a way that makes sense.

Just imagine if you had to sift through a pile of papers every time you wanted to find a specific piece of data. Not only would it be time-consuming, but it would also be frustrating.

Instead, keep your data organized in a way that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. One way to do this is to create a spreadsheet with all your data points. This will help you keep track of your data and make it easy to find what you’re looking for.

Pro-tip: If you use something like Google sheets, there’s a search feature that makes it even easier to find what you’re looking for.

TIP # 5. Make data-driven decisions.

Once you have your data organized and visualized, it’s important to start making decisions based on it. Otherwise, your marketing efforts will be ineffective.

For example, if you see that your website traffic is increasing but your conversion rate is staying the same, you might need to make some changes to your offer.

Because MIM gives you a bird’s eye view of all your marketing channels, you can make decisions that are based on data rather than gut feeling.

TIP # 6. Review your MIM system regularly to make sure it’s still effective.

Your MIM system won’t be effective forever.

You need to review it regularly to make sure it’s still meeting your needs. This means making changes as necessary and keeping everyone on board with using the system.

There are several signs that your MIM system is no longer effective, including:

• You’re not seeing the results you want from your marketing efforts.
• Your data is inaccurate or out of date.
• Your team is struggling to use the system.
• You’re not making data-driven decisions.

If you see any of these signs, it’s time to make some changes to your MIM system.

What are the unique challenges when gathering marketing information management?

There are a few unique challenges when gathering marketing information management, including:

• Ensuring data accuracy and consistency: With so much data coming from so many different sources, it can be difficult to ensure that it’s all accurate and consistent. This is why it’s important to have a data governance system in place.
• Managing data storage and access: With so much data being collected, you need to have a plan for how it’s all going to be stored and who is going to have access to it. This is where a MIM platform can come in handy.
• Making sense of it all: With so much data, it can be difficult to know where to even begin. This is where data visualization comes in—it can help you make sense of all the data and identify patterns and trends.

Have you and your spouse ever purchased groceries without communicating with one another, and each of you ended up buying a gallon of milk? Supposing you have a large kitchen with two refrigerators, you may not even realize this double purchase. The result is a whole lot of wasted milk.

This example represents the sort of things that easily occurs within a large project or organization. Two departments require the same service, and without realizing it, each signs contracts with the same provider for the exact same service. The business pays double the money, needlessly, for the duration of the contract. Particularly in a rapidly-expanding company, where nothing is centralized and each department looks out for itself, this sort of thing happens all the time.

A process for centralizing the acquisition of goods and services becomes increasingly important as projects become larger, longer and more complex. This centralized planning is known as procurement, and it’s an integral component of any project management plan. Let’s look more at the roles, benefits and strategies of procurement, and see how it functions within a project and organization.

Procurement Defined

Before looking into what procurement means in project management, let’s look at the definition of “procure.”

Procure is a verb that means to bring about or achieve something by care and effort. It goes above and beyond simply “getting” or “acquiring.” Although you may “get” a job or “pick up” some aspirin at the grocery store, you “procure” an employment contract or a prescription for medicine.

Definition of Procurement in Project Management

In project management, then, procurement refers to the methodical and deliberate process of obtaining the goods and services needed to execute and complete a project.

In order to ensure the process is systematized, procurement centralizes this process within one person or department. Procurement looks at the big picture, to understand why various tools are needed and how they affect the entire project. It also carefully considers the risk and costs of particular goods and services.

Procurement has its hands in many different departments. Some of the processes it plays a part in supervising include: purchasing software, improving information technology and hiring consultants, auditors and legal teams.

Examples of Procurement

Here’s an example that demonstrates how procurement works within a project. Say a company is moving to a new office space across town. It needs to safely pack up all of its office furniture, computers and files, and unpack everything at the new location.

A procurement specialist considers the best method for executing this assignment. Does it make more sense to hire a moving company, or to keep the assignment in-house? If it’s determined that hiring out is the best plan, he then considers the various companies who offer the service, considering things like cost, contract options and experience.

The objective is to find a solution that most benefits the company: reduces risk, saves money, and allows the company to best expend its resources. The solution varies depending on the team and the nature of the task.

Note that procurement’s expertise lies in looking at the big picture and connecting dots, not in performing the task itself. For example, a procurement specialist understands how a particular software program fits into the strategy of an overall organization. However, she cannot fix glitches in the software; this is the realm of an IT department.

Benefits of Procurement

The process of procurement benefits a project in significant ways.

Procurement reduces risk because it studies a variety of options, and carefully selects the good or service most likely to help a project achieve its objective.

For example, when an office decides to move to a new location, it opens itself up to a lot of risk. Time is lost and important files may be misplaced and furniture may be damaged. A procurement office carefully selects a process that’s most likely to avert or minimize these risks.

Procurement also saves money. As discussed, rather than each department fending for itself and finding solutions on its own, procurement finds the most economical solution for the entire team.

Procurement’s Role in Project Management

A project cannot commence without determining a method for obtaining goods and services, and so procurement is fundamental to the execution of a project. For this reason, a procurement document is written up in a project’s planning stage.

A procurement document clarifies whether a team outsources or produces something itself. It also outlines the contract and payment method for outsourcing. Most companies have standard methods around suppliers, contractors and payment methods, so these decisions needn’t be made on an individual basis over and over again.

As you can see, procurement is central in project management. It’s not only utilized in projects, either. Many organizations interested in reducing risk and saving money dedicate a department to procurement.

Issues with Procurement

Procurement means weighing a lot of options and considering the best strategy for a particular service or good. Between reimbursement and contracts, let’s look at some options to take into consideration when creating a procurement strategy.

Reimbursement Methods

Reimbursement, unfortunately, isn’t nearly so simple as receiving a quote then writing a check. There are a variety of ways to reimburse contractors. Let’s look at some of the most popular and consider their benefits.

Firm: A firm price means that nothing changes after the initial agreed-upon price. This is best utilized for short-term assignments and is helpful because it eliminates any guesswork.

Fixed Price: A fixed price is similar to firm, except that certain prices change with the market. This method is useful when the prices of goods like fuel or commodities fluctuate rapidly.

Cost Plus Fee: Cost plus fee entails paying all the costs for a job, plus an agreed-upon fee. The contractor demonstrates all the costs with time sheets and receipts. This method precludes a scenario where the project manager wildly overpays for a service.

Target Cost: With target cost, both the project manager and the contractor agree on a target cost, and work together to meet it. If the cost goes over, both sides share the pain, and if it goes under, both benefit. This method encourages both parties to collaborate and aim for the target cost.

Each of these methods provides a singular benefit. When considering reimbursement, procurement collaborates with the contractor, carefully considering the nature of the project to identify the best reimbursement method.

Contract Options

In addition to payment, procurement considers various types of contracts.

Prime or Principal Contracts: This is when the organization hires one contractor to subcontract with other employees. With a prime contract, the project manager cannot directly oversee subcontractors. They can look at the work, but must communicate through the principal contractor.

Hub and Spoke Contracts: Rather than hiring one contractor to oversee subcontractors, with hub and spoke contracts the project manager hires and oversees each tradesman individually. Although this creates more flexibility, it can result in an overwhelming amount of contracts with individual workers.

In sum, procurement takes into careful consideration a variety of options, carefully considering the tradeoffs of each.

Strategies with Procurement

Becoming savvy at the process of procurement is no cinch, as it entails looking at a variety of criteria, both inside and outside the organization. Here are a few strategies for juggling all the balls without allowing any to fall to the ground.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

A procurement team makes decisions that impact all facets of a project, from marketing to finance to IT. It also looks outside the project and communicates with a variety of vendors and contractors.

At the same time, it doesn’t specialize in any of these areas.
Communicating effectively with everyone allows procurement to understand the purpose of various tools, services and supplies, and to receive feedback on the ideal choices to make.

Hire a Procurement Specialist

It takes some time becoming skilled with procurement, and so it’s helpful to hire a specialist who’s comfortable with weighing a variety of criteria and making smart decisions that benefit the project.

Divide the Labor

In order to mitigate risk, it’s best when a variety of professionals contribute to the process of developing a procurement plan.

One method is to have a person with technical know-how identify the work to be done, and find people to do it. A second person develops the contract and oversees the business relationship. And finally a third person oversees the payment process.

In sum, succeeding with procurement is a skill. Effective communication and experience is integral to mastering it.

Procurement Documents

The process of seeking materials and services outside the organization can be distilled into a few simple steps: invite the vendor, request quotes, review the quotes and then reward the contract to the right supplier.

This process is best documented in writing. Let’s review some of the central documents that a project manager (buyer) issues to a vendor or contractor (seller).

• Request for Information (RFI)
  In this first initial document, the buyer seeks to understand what the seller provides. An RFI requests the seller to showcase his services, expertise and capabilities.
• Request for Proposal (RFP)
  When the buyer is satisfied with the seller’s expertise, she issues a second document asking how the seller plans to accomplish the job. The information requested in the RFP includes the company’s experience and the price.
• Request for Quote (RFQ)
  In this request, the buyer requests the seller’s price for the services.
• Invitation for Bid (IFB)
  The buyer at this point is usually considering several vendors. She reaches out to them for bids. Based on the response, the buyer makes a decision on who to award the contract to.
• Letter of Intent (LOI)
  With the letter of intent, the buyer expresses that she’s settled on the seller. It’s not a contract, but a strong indication that the seller can begin preparations for the project.
• Purchase Order (PO)
  In a purchase order, a seller receives the contract and a professional relationship is established.

Although this process varies depending on the situation, following a methodical process with written documents ensures the process is conducted professionally and thoroughly.

Have you ever gone to your favorite diner, expecting your usual bacon, eggs, toast and coffee, and the same friendly banter with your favorite waiter, only to discover that they’d changed the menu and she’d up and quit?

This kind of upset is enough to throw off your entire day. We’re creatures of habit, and lean in on the familiar to create routines and structure our lives.

The workplace is no different. Once we’re settled into a software system and become familiar with a group of colleagues and clients, adapting to change feels like pulling a train off its tracks.

Yet, change chugs on relentlessly, particularly in this age of innovation and technology. Just to remain competitive, organizations constantly need to upgrade systems, improve products and adapt new software into its departments.

If you’re spearheading innovation, resistance to change poses the greatest obstacle to achieving growth. A successful rollout strengthens the culture, and means the company reaps the benefit of the change almost immediately, while an ineffective rollout weakens the culture and results in a stagnant state of zero growth.

Are you wondering how to launch change with success? How to cultivate evangelists who propagate and support a launch, and how to convert the saboteurs who work to derail changes in the workplace? A solution is well within reach, and that’s just what we’re coving in this post.

A Definition of Change Management

Let’s start by clarifying just what “change management” means.

According to Project Management PSI, change management is the “process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required desired business outcome. Change management incorporates the organizational tools that can be utilized to help individuals make successful personal transitions resulting in the adoption of and realization of change.”

At its essence, change management isn’t about rolling out a new system, or moving an office across town. Rather, it’s about achieving the personal transition that empowers people to adopt changes in the workplace. Its focus is on bringing individuals from a current state into a future state.

Changes come in all shapes and sizes. They can be practical, such as moving to a new office or changing office hours. Some changes are technical, such as introducing new software or upgrading systems from manual to automatic. Some changes introduce new product lines and business strategies.

While for some people, a change presents a minor speed bump in the work journey, for others the same change presents a massive, nearly impassable roadblock.

In order to bring individuals past this roadblock, a change cannot be implemented hastily or cursorily. Rather, it needs the full attention of the leadership and a change practitioner. A successful rollout requires strategy and a deliberate plan. Let’s look at some key components to a successful change management plan.

The 5 Stages of a Change Management Plan

When an organization strategizes the rollout of a big change, it’s way more likely to reap the benefits of the change. Rather than fizzle and fall flat, the change empowers individuals and strengthens the company culture.

So what does a strong change management plan entail? Here are the five stages of a successful one.

1. Identify and Communicate the “Why”

Any successful rollout requires buy-in from all the individuals involved. When someone understands the rationale behind a change, and agrees it’s best for the company, he is willing to switch out of autopilot and consciously engage in integrating the change into the company.

How does an organization persuasively communicate the “why”? Generally, a trusted leader plays a pivotal role at this initial stage. Speaking to the audience in their language and articulating how the change benefits them inspires people to get on board.

When determining the approach of these initial communications, consider the culture of the company and its workforce. Are they conformist or individualist? Artistic or technical? Adopting the language to their sensibilities makes the message more receptive.

Also, it can be effective to create buzz in the office around the new tool or innovation several weeks in advance, through hints dropped at meetings or in company emails.

2. Cultivate Desire and Enthusiasm

We’re always telling ourselves a story. And if a change practitioner doesn’t develop and communicate the story behind the change, people create a story, one which may make the change difficult.

The story can make or break the rollout of a change. An aspirational story that invigorates and inspires the team is sure to cultivate evangelists and champions. A confused or muddled story, or one that doesn’t emphasize how the change benefits individuals, is sure to create saboteurs who resist the change.

Disseminating the story not only entails shaping the right message, but also utilizing the right tools. Swag with the story’s key message adds an air of festivity to the change. In a distributed team, tools such as webinars, interactive white boards, meetings and emails all serve to communicate the message.

At this stage, getting upper management on board is key. This allows managers to communicate the benefits of the change directly to employees. Transparency; being clear about the necessity of the change; also increases trust from the team.

3. Train the Team

This is one of the more obvious steps to implementing a change. So clear, in fact, that many change practitioners are inclined to skip the first two stages and jump right to training. However, the first two stages put individuals into the right frame of mind, making them more receptive to training.

During training, people want to understand how their role and responsibilities are impacted by the change. Even a practical transition like moving offices entails significant changes, such as a new key card, a new mailing address, and a new layout to the office.

There are many practicalities to consider with training, including identifying who needs to be trained, developing training resources, gathering the necessary equipment (projectors, whiteboards, screens) and allocating resources for reserving a space.

Reinforcing the learning with interactive quizzes, and singling out “change champions” encourages everyone to excel and helps the leaning “stick.”

4. Implement the Change

Perhaps this stage is self-explanatory. It’s always nice to accompany the implementation of a big change with some fanfare and celebration. This generates enthusiasm and a collaborative spirit that gets people on board.

5. Monitor and Reinforce

A change management plan doesn’t end with the rollout. It’s critical to monitor the change to see how things are going. Establishing feedback loops helps to identify pain points.

Be on the lookout for resistance, and have a plan in place to navigate it, as it’s certain to surface.

In sum, these five steps offer a framework for approaching an institutional change with a strategy and a plan. When executed thoughtfully and diligently, a plan allows for a smooth rollout with few challenges.

4 Tips for Success in Change Management

A change management plan makes the difference between whether or not a software system is adapted, or whether or not employees get on board with a new business strategy. Let’s cover some tips for creating a top-notch plan that’s sure to succeed.

1. Identify Who’s Impacted

Not everyone is impacted similarly with a big change. Some people’s workdays are entirely upended, while others are hardly affected at all. Consider the adoption of new accounting software, for example. The finance and accounting departments are faced with a huge learning curve, while the IT department may not even notice a ripple.

Focus the change management plan on those individuals who are most impacted. Take measures to cushion their transition, to provide them additional support, and to give them allowances during the transition phase.

2. Communicate “What’s in It For Me” (WIFM)

Cultivating desire and enthusiasm behind a change is all about helping people understand how the change benefits them personally.

When people understand that the change isn’t about “achieving growth” in the abstract, but about improving their own work environment and providing them with growth opportunities, they’re far more willing to get past the growing pains and adopt the change into their routines.

3. Plan for Resistance

Individuals impacted by a change generally fall into four categories: the agnostics who don’t care about the change, the evangelists who support it, the dreamers who aren’t aware of it and finally the saboteurs who actively work against the change.

This final category, the saboteur, clearly poses the greatest obstacle to success. A good plan, then, includes strategies for identifying and converting these people.

Listening is key to a “saboteur strategy.” Speaking one-on-one and listening to their concerns, emphatically, creates an open communication channel. Appreciate how the change impacts their workday, and do what you can to ease the pain.

If someone continues to resist the change, it may be necessary to escalate the issue to higher management.

4. Navigate the Transition Phase

A change is about going from a current state into a future state. However, a third state is integral to the process: the “in between” stage.

Rather than simply going live, a successful plan anticipates a transition stage. Some people need quite some time to adapt to a new software system, for example, even after a week of training. Allowing for adjustments and bumps in the road eases people’s struggles with the change.

If you’re a project manager, then you know that estimating the cost is essential to the success of any project.

After all, how can you plan and budget for a project if you don’t have a good sense of how much it’s going to cost?

There are a number of different methods that project managers can use to estimate the cost of a project, but in this blog post, we’re going to focus on one in particular: bottom up estimating.

DEFINED – Bottom Up Estimating

Bottom up estimating is a technique that involves breaking down the work required for a project into smaller, more manageable pieces—known as work packages—and then estimating the cost of each individual work package.

This type of estimate is usually more accurate than other types (such as top-down estimating), but it can be more time-consuming and resource-intensive.

Still, if done correctly, bottom up estimating can give you a much better sense of the true cost of your project—which is why we recommend it.

5 Amazing Benefits of Bottom Up Estimating

Now that we’ve explained the basics of bottom up estimating, let’s take a moment to discuss some of the reasons why you might want to use this type of estimate for your next project.

Benefit #1 – It’s Accurate.

No doubt about it, bottom up estimating is more accurate than top down estimating.

Since you’re breaking the project down into smaller pieces and then estimating the cost of each individual piece, you’re able to account for all the small details and unknowns that can often make top down estimates inaccurate.

Benefit #2 – It Leads to More Efficiency

Another advantage of bottom up estimating is that it often leads to more efficiency. That’s because you’re able to identify inefficiencies early on and then address them before they become a bigger problem.

Benefit #3 – It Forces You To Pay Attention To Detail

As we mentioned before, bottom up estimating is more resource-intensive than top down estimating.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, some people would argue that it’s actually a good thing.

That’s because this type of estimate forces you to pay attention to detail—which can only be a good thing for your project.

Benefit #4 – It Can Help You Make Better Decisions

Bottom up estimating can also help you make better decisions. That’s because you’re able to see the big picture and the small details at the same time.

This type of estimate gives you a complete view of your project—which can be very helpful when it comes time to make decisions.

Benefit #5 – It’s Flexible

Finally, bottom up estimating is flexible. That’s because you can adjust the level of detail (i.e., the number of work packages) to fit your needs.

If you need a more accurate estimate, you can break the project down into more work packages.

Or if you need a quick estimate, you can break the project down into fewer work packages.

The bottom line is that bottom up estimating is a very versatile tool—and one that every project manager should have in their toolkit.

Cons of Bottom Up Estimating

While bottom up estimating has many advantages, it’s not without its drawbacks. In this section, we’ll discuss some of the main drawbacks of using this type of estimate.

CON #1 – It’s Time-Consuming

Do you remember the old adage, “good things come to those who wait?” Well, that’s definitely true when it comes to bottom up estimating.

This type of estimate can be very time-consuming—especially if you’re working on a large project. That’s because you need to take the time to break the project down into smaller work packages and then estimate the cost of each individual work package.

So if you’re working on a tight deadline, bottom up estimating might not be the best option.

CON #2 – It’s Resource-Intensive

As we mentioned before, bottom up estimating is more resource-intensive than top down estimating. That’s because you need to have a good understanding of the project in order to break it down into smaller pieces.

Still, we believe that the benefits of bottom up estimating outweigh the drawbacks. And in the next section, we’ll lay out several benefits in more detail.

CON #3 – It’s Not Always Necessary

Another drawback of bottom up estimating is that it’s not always necessary. In some cases, top down estimating might be just as effective—and a lot less time-consuming.

So before you invest the time and resources into bottom up estimating, make sure it’s really necessary for your project.

When to Use Bottom Up Estimating

Now that we’ve discussed some of the advantages and disadvantages of bottom up estimating, you might be wondering when to use this type of estimate.

In general, we recommend using bottom up estimating when accuracy is more important than speed. That’s because bottom up estimating can be very accurate—but it’s also very time-consuming.

So if you need a quick estimate, top down estimating might be a better option. But if you need a more accurate estimate, bottom up estimating is probably the way to go.

How to Do Bottom Up Estimating: A Step-By-Step Guide

Now that we’ve talked about what bottom up estimating is and why it’s so useful, let’s take a look at how to actually do it. Here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

STEP 1 – Break down your project into smaller work packages.

Big chunks of work can be overwhelming—and difficult to estimate. That’s why the first step in bottom up estimating is to break your project down into smaller work packages.

How? Start by identifying all of the tasks that need to be completed in order to finish your project. Then, group these tasks into smaller work packages.

For example, let’s say you’re working on a website redesign. Some of the tasks you’ll need to complete include wireframing, designing, and coding. These could be grouped into three different work packages:

Wireframing: This work package includes all of the tasks related to creating the wireframes for the new website.

Designing: This work package includes all of the tasks related to designing the new website.

Coding: This work package includes all of the tasks related to coding the new website.

STEP 2 – Create a work breakdown structure.

Once you’ve identified all of the work packages for your project, it’s time to create a work breakdown structure (WBS).

A WBS is a tool that helps you to organize and track the progress of your project. It’s basically a hierarchy of all the work that needs to be done, from the highest level (the project itself) down to the lowest level (individual tasks).

EXAMPLE

Here’s an example of what a WBS might look like for our website redesign project:

I. Website Redesign Project
A. Wireframing
1.) Wireframe 1 -> Page 1 – Homepage
2.) Wireframe 2 -> Page 2 – About Us
3.) Wireframe 3 -> Page 3 – Contact Us

B. Designing
1.) Design 1 -> Page 1 – Homepage
2.) Design 2 -> Page 2 – About Us
3.) Design 3 -> Page 3 – Contact Us

C. Coding
1.) Code 1 -> Page 1 – Homepage
2.) Code 2 -> Page 2 – About Us
3.) Code 3 -> Page 3 – Contact Us

As you can see, the WBS is organized into three levels. The first level is the project itself (website redesign). The second level is the work packages (wireframing, designing, and coding). And the third level is the individual tasks (wireframe 1, wireframe 2, etc.).

STEP 3 – Estimate the effort required for each task.

Now that you have your project broken down into smaller work packages, it’s time to start estimating the effort required for each task.

To do this, you’ll need to consult with the people who will be doing the work. Ask them how long they think it will take to complete each task.

For example, if you’re estimating the time required to design a new homepage, you might ask the designer how long it will take them to create the design. They might say it will take 8 hours.

Once you have an estimate for each task, you can then add up all of the estimates to get an estimate for the work package as a whole.

So, using our example from above, if the design work for the homepage will take 8 hours, and the design work for the About Us page will take 6 hours, then the total estimated effort for the Designing work package will be 14 hours.

STEP 4 – Add up all of the estimates to get an estimate for the entire project.

Once you’ve estimated the effort required for each task, you can then add up all of the estimates to get an estimate for the entire project.

Again, using our example from above, if the total estimated effort for the Wireframe work package is 20 hours, and the total estimated effort for the Designing work package is 14 hours, and the total estimated effort for the Coding work package is 10 hours, then the total estimated effort for the entire project will be 44 hours.

STEP 5 – Add a contingency to account for uncertainty.

As with any estimate, there’s always going to be some uncertainty. Things might take longer than expected, or there might be unforeseen problems that arise.

To account for this, you’ll need to add a contingency to your estimate. A contingency is an amount of time (or money) that’s set aside to deal with unexpected problems.

For example, you might decide to add 10% to your total estimated effort as a contingency. So, using our example from above, the total estimated effort for the project would now be 44 hours + 10% contingency, or 48.4 hours.

The amount of contingency you add will depend on the level of uncertainty surrounding the project. If there’s a lot of uncertainty, you might want to add a larger contingency. If there’s relatively little uncertainty, you might be able to get away with a smaller contingency.

Once you’ve added a contingency, you should have a good estimate for the total effort required to complete the project.

Do you ever decide to take a trip, and suddenly find yourself thinking through every detail, right down to where you’re going to eat meals and what toiletries to pack in your suitcase?

It’s easy to get ahead of ourselves sometimes.

As the Birds sang in their #1 Hit back in 1965, “to everything there is a season.” There’s a time to make broad sweeping generalized plans, and a time to get down into the nitty-gritty.

As a project manager, you probably dread giving vague, evasive answers to clients when they ask about timelines and deliverables. It makes you sound mushy and unreliable. You want to be on top of your game, rather, and promise the client certainty around delivery dates and milestones.

The funny thing about projects, however, is that over-planning can actually lead to mediocre outcomes.

Learning to be open to uncertainty, and to answer questions with the phrase “I don’t know yet” is key to reducing risk and improving outcomes in project management.

In fact, project management even has systems developed around this idea. One is known as rolling wave planning. Want to learn more about it and how to apply to your projects? Then stay tuned, cause that’s what we’re covering in this post.

Rolling Wave Planning Defined

Rolling wave planning entails approaching a project in successive stages, from larger to smaller time frames. With each graduation, the planning becomes increasingly detailed and specified.

Here is the definition from the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide, Sixth Edition:

“Rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while work further in the future is planned at a higher level.”

Let’s look at what this definition looks like in real life.

Step 1: The Big Picture

Imagine you’re assigned a big project that’s slated to last 18 months or more. The key information you have at this point is the project objective, timeline and budget.

Before the project begins, your task is to assess the entire project with a broad overview. You may have notes from a similar project from the past to assist in creating benchmarks around project stages and their duration.

The objective, essentially, is to create a big-picture sketch.

Step 2: The Stage Planning

During the project, as each stage comes onto the horizon, it’s possible to plan out the details with greater specificity.

This more scrutinized planning may well cause adjustments to things like the timeline, deliverables, and the budget.

Step 3: The Nitty-Gritty

After it’s been determined what’s to be accomplished during one stage of a project, it’s then possible to map things out in even greater detail.

Let’s say one stage is forecasted to last three weeks. As each week approaches, the project manager can create a work breakdown structure to plot the sequence of all the tasks for that week.

Depending on the nature of the work, you may want to break work down even further into daily work plans.

As you can see, with rolling wave planning you don’t create one master plan, then dust off your hands and be done with it. Planning happens throughout. The plan is consistently re-evaluated and updated. These various stages of planning look like a series of rolling waves.

It’s very difficult to plan anything three years in advance. Breaking it down into successively smaller bite sized chunks, and looking just one month out is much easier.

Sometimes the planning levels are referred to as Schedule Levels 1, 2 and 3. You may even have a Schedule Level 4 or 5 if this level of detail makes sense for the project.

This form of planning is very similar to agile, and it’s popular in construction projects, and any project really that requires continual changes and adjustments.

Examples of Rolling Wave Planning

We use rolling wave planning in our lives all the time. At some level, it’s intuitive. Let’s look at three scenarios we might encounter in our lives, and consider the certainties and uncertainties for each of them.

A Short-Term Plan

Let’s say you’re planning a weekend bonfire at your home, and it’s just a few days out.

Certainties: The date, the time, the location, the decorations, and a list of people who plan to come.

Uncertainties: The food each person plans to bring, and the music you’ll play at the party.

A Mid-term Plan

Now, let’s say you have a weekend ski trip planned for the upcoming month.

Certainties: The dates, the ski resort and the place you plan to stay.

Uncertainties: The items in your suitcase and the restaurants you’ll dine at for meals.

A Long-Term Plan

Finally, let’s consider a vacation you have planned six months from now.

Certainties: The location of the vacation spot.

Uncertainties: The duration of the trip, the mode of travel (plane or car), the accommodations, the people who are coming on the vacation with you.

As you can see, rolling wave planning is about looking more closely at a plan as things come into view. With each smaller time frame, the plans become more and more specific.

The Benefits of Rolling Wave Planning

Why do project managers utilize rolling wave planning?

One way to appreciate the benefits of this method is to imagine the alternative.

Take a family vacation that’s eight months out. What if you purchased plane tickets, reserved a hotel room, and packed your suitcase with all of your favorite clothes when the vacation is still a half year away?

It’s not difficult to see that this planning could lead to a headache later on. Your work schedule could change during the upcoming months, forcing you to adjust the dates. And you certainly will find yourself digging into your suitcase for some of your favorite t-shirts and jeans.

All of the initial planning was wasted energy.

This silly example demonstrates that many details simply cannot be determined at the start. If you have an 18-month project, it’s tempting to feign certainty and plot everything out on a gantt chart. But from that far out, granular planning is worthless, as so much is certain to change.

Now, let’s look at three clear benefits of rolling wave planning

Saves Time (No Rework)

If you adopt a “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” mantra to project planning, then you do the planning when it’s going to be effective and certain. You can even pull out a gantt chart at this point and it should be reliable.

Whereas if you plan things from too far out, you still don’t know enough about how things are going to roll out to determine the small details.

Reduces Risk

Rolling wave planning increases uncertainty. For example, a project manager using this system openly acknowledges that he or she doesn’t know the details of stage 3 during the middle of stage 1.

However, it reduces risk. A simple definition of risk is that it’s uncertainties that matter. A risk management plan looks at the probability of these uncertainties.

When planning takes place around the actual time these risks might surface, it’s much easier to identify all of the threats and vulnerabilities posed to certain assets, and then put a solid plan in place to either mitigate, avoid, transfer or accept them.

Take a construction project, for example. Inclement weather always poses some level of risk. However, you have no idea of weather patterns at the beginning of an 18-month project. You could find yourself taking all sorts of precautions against something that never happens. Rolling wave planning waits to plan for this risk within a 1-2 week time frame.

Allows for Change

One of the greatest benefits of rolling wave planning is that it allows for changes to occur during a project. Sometimes it’s impossible to know at the onset what a final deliverable may look like, even with a clear set of requirements. Developments during the project, new knowledge and the manifestation of risks serve to alter the final outcome.

When a project manager waits for these bends and curves and is poised to adapt and pivot, it ultimately serves to create a deliverable that solves the client’s problem or meets their needs.

As you can see, rolling wave planning benefits a project in several key ways.

However, the nature of a project determines the level of uncertainty it’s able to assume.

Some projects can have a lot of uncertainty at the beginning, as changes and pivots may not pose a huge risk. However, other projects must lay out clear definite plans at the beginning, as the cost to make changes would be enormous. And so the degree to which a project manager adapts rolling wave planning into a project depends on the nature of the project.

Tools and Methods for Using Rolling Wave Planning

Rolling wave planning means bringing people together at key pivotal moments and creating space to look at all aspects of a project, including risks, issues, constraints, the scope, and any upcoming decisions to make.

Successfully incorporating this method into a project requires a few tools and strategies.

Scrum Ceremonies

The agile method known as scrum has several ceremonies that help to utilize rolling wave planning. They can be adopted by any team.

The first is a sprint planning session. During this session, a team looks at the next small stage (Schedule 3 level), and plots out a specific amount of work for the team to accomplish.

Another is a retrospective. This takes place at the end of a sprint. At a retrospective, the team reflects on the sprint and how everyone worked together, and identifies any improvements to make for the next go-around.

Finally, a daily scrum meeting allows the team to air concerns, identify any significant changes or risks as they surface.

Taken together, these three processes create a system of communication that allows for the on-going planning that’s integral to rolling wave planning.

Gantt Charts

Oftentimes gantt charts get a bad rap, since they’re usually ineffective in long-term planning.

However, when a team has a relatively small stage of work, somewhere between two and six weeks, a gantt chart serves to clearly break down each task, and when it’s to be completed alongside the other tasks.

In the short-term, a gantt chart makes it easy to identify when it’s time to do things like order supplies and recruit staff.

Network Diagrams

A network diagram is another effective way to visually lay out the workflow during a project stage. It quickly identifies potential bottlenecks, and clarifies each task in its relations to other tasks.

In sum, rolling wave planning provides key benefits to a project, but it won’t “just happen.” The right tools and practices allow teams to effectively and thoroughly plan each stage of work at the right time.