Project Management

Project Planning Using Canvas

From the Voices on Project Management Blog
by , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Voices on Project Management offers insights, tips, advice and personal stories from project managers in different regions and industries. The goal is to get you thinking, and spark a discussion. So, if you read something that you agree with--or even disagree with--leave a comment.

About this Blog

RSS

View Posts By:

Cameron McGaughy
Lynda Bourne
Kevin Korterud
Conrado Morlan
Peter Tarhanidis
Mario Trentim
Jen Skrabak
David Wakeman
Wanda Curlee
Christian Bisson
Ramiro Rodrigues
Soma Bhattacharya
Emily Luijbregts
Sree Rao
Yasmina Khelifi
Marat Oyvetsky
Lenka Pincot
Jorge Martin Valdes Garciatorres
cyndee miller

Past Contributors:

Rex Holmlin
Vivek Prakash
Dan Goldfischer
Linda Agyapong
Jim De Piante
Siti Hajar Abdul Hamid
Bernadine Douglas
Michael Hatfield
Deanna Landers
Kelley Hunsberger
Taralyn Frasqueri-Molina
Alfonso Bucero Torres
Marian Haus
Shobhna Raghupathy
Peter Taylor
Joanna Newman
Saira Karim
Jess Tayel
Lung-Hung Chou
Rebecca Braglio
Roberto Toledo
Geoff Mattie

Recent Posts

Project 2030: Skills We Need to Cultivate Now

The Technical Program Manager: How to Stay Relevant in 2025

5 Things Your Operational Plan Should Do

5 New Project Guardrails for Adaptive Leaders

The Leader's Voice: Respect It, Protect It, and Use It Properly!

Categories

2020, Adult Development, Agile, Agile, Agile, agile, Agile management, Agile management, Agile;Community;Talent management, Artificial Intelligence, Backlog, Basics, Benefits Realization, Best Practices, BIM, business acumen, Business Analysis, Business Analysis, Business Case, Business Intelligence, Business Transformation, Calculating Project Value, Canvas, Career Development, Career Development, Career Help, Career Help, Career Help, Career Help, Careers, Careers, Careers, Careers, Categories: Career Help, Change Management, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration, Communication, Communication, Communication, Communication, Communications Management, Complexity, Conflict, Conflict Management, Consulting, Continuous Learning, Continuous Learning, Continuous Learning, Continuous Learning, Continuous Learning, Cost Management, COVID-19, Crises, Crisis Management, critical success factors, Cultural Awareness, Culture, Decision Making, Design Thinking, Digital Project Management, Digital Transformation, digital transformation, Digitalisation, Disruption, Diversity, Diversity, Documentation, Earned Value Management, Education, EEWH, Enterprise Risk Management, Escalation management, Estimating, Ethics, execution, Expectations Management, Facilitation, feasibility studies, Future, Future of Project Management, Generational PM, Governance, Government, green building, Growth, Horizontal Development, Human Aspects of PM, Human Aspects of PM, Human Aspects of PM, Human Aspects of PM, Human Aspects of PM, Human Resources, Inclusion, Information Technology, Innovation, Intelligent Building, International, International Development, Internet of Things (IOT), Internet of Things (IoT), IOT, Knowledge, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, lean construction, LEED, Lessons Learned, Lessons learned;Retrospective, Managing for Stakeholders, managing stakeholders as clients, Mentoring, Mentoring, Mentoring, Mentoring, Mentoring, Methodology, Metrics, Micromanagement, Microsoft Project PPM, Motivation, Negotiation, Neuroscience, neuroscience, New Practitioners, Nontraditional Project Management, OKR, Online Learning, opportunity, Organizational Culture, Organizational Project Management, Pandemic, People management, Planing, planning, PM & the Economy, PM History, PM Think About It, PMBOK Guide, PMI, PMI EMEA 2018, PMI EMEA Congress 2017, PMI EMEA Congress 2019, PMI Global Conference 2017, PMI Global Conference 2018, PMI Global Conference 2019, PMI Global Congress 2010 - North America, PMI Global Congress 2011 - EMEA, PMI Global Congress 2011 - North America, PMI Global Congress 2012 - EMEA, PMI Global Congress 2012 - North America, PMI Global Congress 2013 - EMEA, PMI Global Congress 2013 - North America, PMI Global Congress 2014 - EMEA, PMI Global Congress 2014 - North America, PMI GLobal Congress EMEA 2018, PMI PMO Symposium 2012, PMI PMO Symposium 2013, PMI PMO Symposium 2015, PMI PMO Symposium 2016, PMI PMO Symposium 2017, PMI PMO Symposium 2018, PMI Pulse of the Profession, PMO, PMO, pmo, PMO Project Management Office, portfolio, Portfolio Management, Portfolio Management, portfolio management, presentations, Priorities, Probability, Problem Structuring Methods, Process, Procurement Management, profess, Program Management, project, Project Delivery, Project Dependencies, Project Failure, project failure, Project Leadership, Project Management, project management, project management office, Project Planning, project planning, Project Requirements, Project Success, Ransomware, Reflections on the PM Life, Remote, Remote Work, Requirements Management, Research Conference 2010, Researching the Value of Project Management, Resiliency, Risk Management, Risk Management, Risk management, risk management, ROI, Roundtable, Salary Survey, Schedule Management, Scheduling, Scope Management, Scrum, search, SelfLeadership, SelfLeadership, SelfLeadership, SelfLeadership, SelfLeadership, Servant Leadership, Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Knowledge, Social Responsibility, Sponsorship, Stakeholder Management, Stakeholder Management, stakeholder management, Strategy, Strategy, swot, Talent Management, Talent Management, Talent Management, Talent Management, Talent Management, Talent Management Leadership SelfLeadership Collaboration Communication, Taskforce, Teams, Teams in Agile, Teams in Agile, teamwork, Tech, Technical Debt, Technology, TED Talks, The Project Economy, Timeline, Tools, tools, Transformation, transformation, Transition, Trust, Value, Vertical Development, Volunteering, Volunteering #Leadership #SelfLeadership, Volunteering Sharing Knowledge Leadership SelfLeadership Collaboration Trust, VUCA, Women in PM, Women in Project Management

Date

linkedin twitter facebook Request to reuse this  


by Ramiro Rodrigues

Project managers: Are you sometimes looking to make plans faster but without being superficial and therefore riskier to the project?

Developed in the 1980s, design thinking is a structured mental model that seeks the identification of innovative solutions to complex problems. Although the concept has existed for decades, it’s only made its presence known in the corporate environment over the last 10 years.

Swiss business theorist and author Alexander Osterwalder similarly sought to accelerate collaborative reasoning when he introduced the Business Model Canvas. Canvas helps organizations map, discuss, rework and innovate their business model in one image.

But a series of proposals for the use of the Business Model Canvas for various purposes outside of business models has also appeared — including innovation, corporate education, product development, marketing and more.

For project professionals looking at alternatives to developing quicker and more collaborative planning, Canvas may sound like a great option. Of all the proposals that come up for the use of Canvas in a project environment, integrating stakeholders may be the best. Canvas brings stakeholders into the process and will help to minimize resistance and increase collaboration, resulting in a better proposal for planning problems and making the project more aligned to the interests of organizations.

But while the arguments put forward for Canvas all seem positive, there is still a dilemma: Can Canvas fully replace the overall project plan and the planning process? Is it possible to do without a schedule of activities, a detailed cash flow, a matrix of analyzed risks — just to limit ourselves to a few examples?

That is probably too extreme.

The general sense is that the integration of Canvas with specific planning — such as the cost plan and the risk plan — is the most productive and generates the best results.

It may be worth asking your project management office for their thoughts.

Have you ever used a Canvas for your project planning efforts? If so, what tips can you share?


Posted by Ramiro Rodrigues on: October 20, 2017 02:34 PM | Permalink

Comments (17)

Please login or join to subscribe to this item
avatar
Stéphane Parent Self Employed / Semi-retired| Leader Maker Prince Edward Island, Canada
Thank you for bringing Canvas to my attention. I will have to investigate it and see its value.

avatar
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Never heard of Canvas, but willing to investigate its value.

avatar
Sergio Bolívar CEO| Andina Consultando Lima, Lima, Peru
I heard about Canvas and know it is very useful model for entreprenuers to create new business models. And I agree considering it a useful tool for project management initiatives.

avatar
Diogo Simoes Entroncamento, Santarém, Portugal
Never used Canvas, but I am willing to try it.
Tnx for your post

avatar
Alaa Hussein Program Manager| MEMECS Baghdad, Iraq
Interesting, thanks for sharing!

avatar
Helen McCulley Associate Director Project Management| Covis Pharma Zug, Switzerland
Not a tool I had previously come across so thank you for highlighting.
From a very quick Google search this looks a good tool to aid getting to a charter or plan but I agree it does not look as though it would replace more detailed PM tools.
Do you have any experience of using this in projects that you could share? Or any useful templates?

avatar
Marcelo Herdy Project Consultant| JCA Holding TLM Niteroi, Rj, Brazil
Congratulations on the post, Ramiro Rodrigues!
I had used this tool in my last company, and I think the benefits of using Canvas in projects are extraordinary. Especially when your project involves people who are not familiar with project methodologies.
Also, I do not believe Canvas would replace all the other project tools and controls. However, it is excellent to put (and keep during the project) everybody on the same page and create the same image of deliveries and the agreed final product.
Thanks for sharing this post with us.

avatar
Chevine Anderson AVP of Project Management| Vensure Lithonia, Ga, United States
I actively use the canvas to generate consensus amongst stakeholders. In some regards, it acts as a simulated feasibility study that explores many different options available to a Business Analyst and Project Managers to collaborate around with stakeholders. I created a large print-out of the canvas and facilitated groups around it, after a bit of training everyone is able to contribute ideas and buy-in to the output and outcome. If anyone needs any ideas of how to maximize its use, reach out to me.

avatar
Diego Soloperto Project Manager| Navico Carrara, Italia, Italy
We have used something similar from time to time, but not in a structured manner. I think that it's quite a natural solution, meaning that it's maybe closer to employees daily routine than other, more formal, tools

avatar
Carlos Tessore Dr.| RManagement Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
From my experience – Canvas should not replace, project schedule, risk analysis and evaluation, WBS, …
It is a tool that can be used during the process of initiation. From my point of view it is a “high level” document, one of the first, unfortunately most project do not use it. Many failures could be avoiding through the applicaton of this tool.
Once you have the Canvas for the proposal “approved” one can start with the Business Case, Benefit Realization, Feasibility Study and finally the Project Charter.

avatar
Eduin Fernando Valdes Alvarado Project Manager| F y F Fabricamos Futuro Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia
Thanks for sharing

avatar
Shahez Jahagirdar Piping Specilist| Jacobs zate consulting engineers Pune, Maharashatra, India
I have used personal business model canvas for my career development .It helps to visualize and structure your thoughts graphically on canvas .

avatar
Sante Delle-Vergini, PhD Senior Project Manager| Infosys Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Seems to be quite a bit of traction with Canvas.

avatar
Richard Collins Senior Project Manager| Formerly Networking Results Arlington, Tx, United States
Very Interesting. Thank you for sharing!

avatar
Colin Whittaker Senior Project Manager| Intelligent Environments Milton Keynes, Bucks, United Kingdom
That's a great idea! ... I will look to try it.

avatar
Ezara Penning Systems Administrator I| Lincoln Land Community College Springfield, Il, United States
This is very interesting. I have not heard of Canvas before now.

avatar
Adilson Pize CEO and Consultant| Excellence Consultants Caxias Do Sul, Rs, Brazil
Every canvas models related to projects that I know can't replace the project plan. Those canvas normally are strong tools to help in the project conception, supporting a collaborative work to define the project in its initiation. I developed two canvas models, one to Strategic Planning (SPCanvas) and another to align projects to the goals of the strategic planning (PSACanvas). Both are available to download at www.canvasworld.com.br, where you can find a library with several models to different applications. This website is in english and portuguese, like the canvas I developed.

Please Login/Register to leave a comment.

ADVERTISEMENTS

"Karate is a form of martial arts in which people who have had years and years of training can, using only their hands and feet, make some of the worst movies in the history of the world."

- Dave Barry

ADVERTISEMENT

Sponsors