Theme 2 - Planning

What is the planning cycle?

Planning can be thought of as a cycle that prioritises ideas, assesses their relevance and potential, and documents the steps in the work you are going to do.

Ask yourself the following questions to begin the planning cycle:

• What are the problems/needs that this project aims to address?
• What is the goal and how will we reach it?
• What are the required resources and how much will everything cost ?
• What does the project timeline look like?
• How will we check if the project is working and successful?

The best way to start is to work with a notated plan template and put down your ideas. This Improving Project Planning and Practices is comprehensive and practical, and was designed to help people work their way through the planning process.

The Mind Tools site gives comprehensive and useful information on the planning cycle if you would like to read more about it.