How to Plan Projects the “Natural” Way

As David Allen expressed in “Getting Things Done”, a project is merely a succession of steps to attain a particular aim. For example, finding a new carrier provider is a project, even if it only involves browsing online comparators and signing up.

In the chapter about utilising GTD for complex projects, Allen advises five steps to solve such endeavours. I have summarised the steps a mind-map for you, click here to view in Whimsical.

What projects require more subtle planning? The ones with longer timeframes needed to accomplish the same tasks, those that involve your higher horizons, such as starting an online business or learning a language.

I. Define

The first step for a complex project is to define its purpose and principles. The purpose answers “What are we trying to accomplish here ?” and it is generally easy to jot down the first answers. The principles are constraints you must follow not to go off course. They should complete the sentence “I would give others totally free rein to do this as long as they…”.

II. Envision the Outcome

The second step is outcome visioning. What will the project be like? Will it be a written report, an academic thesis, or an online marketplace?

Side note: The brain operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite objective to achieve, it has the unique ability to guide your unconscious “You” much better than the conscious “You” could. As David Allen puts it, the subconscious “You” supplies the goal by thinking of results. The automatic mechanism delivers the mean.

III. Brainstorm and Mind Map

The third step is brainstorming, where you put all your ideas, sub-projects and constraints that come up to you and your team’s mind when visualising this project. I suggest you place all these ideas into a mind-map, especially if the project involves multiple stakeholders (can it be your employees, managers and customers). You can choose to do it digitally on websites like Whimsical or the manual way, with blank cards. For the latter, write all your ideas. Once jotted down, spread all your cards on the floor and look out for the natural structure that may emerge. Look out for what may be missing.

When brainstorming, put your brain’s analysis and organisation side in the background. Try not to judge, challenge, evaluate, or criticise the elements you come up with, and go for quantity, not quality.

Once you have completed the mind map, it is time to organise the pieces.

IV. Organise

The fourth and final step comprises identifying the significant pieces you came up with during your brainstorming (regardless of whether you used a mind map). You should sort these elements into three categories:

• The components and sub-projects are the organs that make up the project. When grouped into sub-projects, they are the tasks you will tackle to accomplish the overall project.
• Second, the priorities. What must you and your team accomplish before anything else, both within each sub-project and for the project overall?
• Then comes the sequences. Sequences complete the sentence “First, we need to… then…” for each sub-project. For example, the sequence for redesigning a website would be to define what you must implement in the new design before making prototypes and then jotting them into A/B testing.

The three types of sorting are complementary: you need all three of them to organise your project. I suggest using the Natural Planning Method parallel to GTD principles as some reflexes will naturally translate. When planning projects, assign the next actions on a horizontal spectrum (what is next within each of your subprojects?) and a vertical one (what is the next subproject to tackle?)