Going In Prepared: More Time for Planning Could Save Your Project

  PM Network  

Project management is all about planning. It’s as simple as that. Without a well-thought, properly developed plan, no project will ever succeed in meeting the desired scope, time and cost objectives. This is one of the most powerful concepts that today’s project management best practices can teach us.

Understanding the importance of planning is something anybody can learn, either through formal training or real-life project experience. Dealing with unique events that have high degrees of uncertainty—as projects inevitably do—without a proper plan is an instructional (and potentially harsh) way of appreciating the value of planning ahead.

Many people believe that planning is related to a person’s culture and background. Studies and research have been conducted over the years about cultural differences in management and work, chiefly by Geert Hofstede and by Robert J. House, PhD, et al, in the GLOBE study. Their works are recognized as the most respectable sources of information on this subject. Nevertheless, specific studies on project planning and culture are scarce. Papers from Amy Chin Mei Yen (2007) and Ofer Zwikael, PhD, PMP, (2007) are among the very few that have explored the topic.

It’s a common belief that planning culture is related to the geographical climate where it developed. Cultures that developed in regions of …

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