Early in my HR career, a mentor saw that I was stressing over what should have been a simple task. “You get one point for developing a project from scratch and two points for building on what has already been done,” he said. I learned that to execute any assignment, look into whether it’s already been done, how was it done, and what stakeholders expect.
Flawless execution of an assignment includes advance consideration or pre-planning of what I call the ‘knowns’, and anticipating potential unknowns. The knowns – (What, When, Where, Why, and How) must be carefully considered, and in detail . A good example is how NASA prepares for missions. Before launch, all steps for success are established, and then the team plans, adjusts, and plans more to execute the mission to the second; and all before blast off. Less likely, but still possible factors that could come into play are also factored in. The steps outlined above are equally useful to general business in project planning. Part of the planning exercise should include input from stakeholders and others with relevant experience.
It was philosopher George Santayana who said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So, after project completion, a Best Practice is to conduct an ‘After-Action Analysis’ or ‘After Incident Review’. Using this process will better prepare you and your organization for a future, similar event – albeit with even better results. Football teams – even in junior high use this same process by reviewing game and practice videos. Assigning responsibility for coordinating an After-Action Analysis might also be used for High-Potential development. Review of existing, related policies before finalizing a project would be a part of pre-planning.
KeystoneHR has a number of related pre-drafted policies and progressive initiatives that may help your operations. In each case, documents are easily modified by adding your own content and logo. Products on our e-commerce site include a brief description and most allow full first page review prior to purchase.
Just a couple of examples:
• Succession Planning: SKU PK5
• Layoffs (WARN) Compliant: SKU PK4
KeystoneHR offers Best Practices focused HR and related policies and documents, training, consultation, and project work. With over 40 years of progressive HR experience in Fortune 500 companies and upper-end LLC’s, our team is poised to help. See our website – KeystoneHR.com. KeystoneHR – Best-in-Class helping Best-in-Class.
