Monday, June 23, 2008

What moving can teach you about project management

Moving, especially when downsizing, can teach you valuable lessons in planning and project management. No matter how perfectly or smooth you imagine the move will be, something will inevitably go wrong and you'll have to improvise until you get it right.

Those over at Three Star Leadership wrote an interesting newsletter article sharing how an out-of-state move can teach us valuable lessons in project management.

Planning helps, but it still won't be perfect. "It's far easier to move digital representations of furniture than it is to move furniture." Planning will help you create an overview of how you think it is going to work, but there should be room for adjustment.

Some things you won't find out until you get there. Plan as much as you can, but you may have to adjust your plans after you get to the site or start a project. "No amount of planning can replace actually seeing how that sofa looks across from the fireplace."

It won't be perfect on the first try. "No matter how thoroughly you think things through, you're going to wind up with something different than the original plan." The more you plan, the more things can veer away from the plan. Like we said above in the first lesson, plan for adjustment.

"Sometimes 'good enough' is good enough." So, one painting hangs slightly lower than another, you'll get it right next time. The world is not perfect and anything you plan will probably turn out different than how you imagined it. Try again next time and maybe you're paintings will line up.

When something comes up and throws a wrench in your plans, it's how well you improvise and adjust your plans that will determine if the project (or move) was a success.

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