When the need for a new project occurs, many people can visualize the end result. However, not many can effectively create the path to get there. 

That’s where project planning comes in.

Project planning is the formal process of outlining the project’s scope and timeline. It creates the path for the team to reach that intended final destination. Learn what it takes to master the ins and outs of planning a project to increase the efficiency of your travelling work crew.  

The Project Lifecycle

Regardless of its size, all projects have a lifecycle. Planning plays a crucial role in that cycle. The five phases of the project lifecycle include:

1. Initiation: The company decides if the project and its goals are feasible and grants permission to proceed
2. Planning: The planners create the roadmap, outlining the strategy and project rollout to achieve the goals
3. Execution: Work crews and teams carry out the tasks outlined in the planning documents
4. Management: Project managers monitor the performance to ensure the project is on pace
5. Review: The team evaluates the work crew’s performance and the project’s overall success 

Though project planning is Phase 2, the preparation project managers take during this step will impact all other phases of the lifecycle. A poorly planned project can complicate the lifecycle in the same way a flat tire complicates a road trip, especially if there’s no spare tire in the car.

What Is Project Planning?

Let’s continue thinking of project planning as a road trip. If the end result is the destination, project planning is the GPS and LodgeLink is your copilot. 

The GPS is responsible for determining the estimated time of arrival (ETA) by assessing routes, traffic patterns, and tolls. Your project planning documents should do the same. 

Effective plans outline the project’s scope, timeline, budget, and risks, and should also define the roles each team member is expected to play. Using the GPS metaphor, it’s easy to split your planning documents into smaller, manageable tasks.

• The scope document is equivalent to the route — it covers the big picture goals but also breaks down specific deliverables per team, just like your GPS visually provides an overview of the route on a map or by each step
• The risk assessment is the equivalent of the traffic patterns — traffic patterns or accidents can easily impact your ETA, just like any unplanned problems can derail the project's timeline
• The budget is the equivalent of the tolls & mileage — knowing how many tolls you’ll pass along the route and how far you’ll be travelling, you can estimate how much money you’ll be spending along the way, similar to how your budget estimates labour, travel, and material costs
• The timeline is equivalent to the ETA — it sets the expectation for when your project should be completed and it’s dependent on the progress/productivity of the project. If unexpected delays or accidents occur, the timeline and ETA are both impacted

When you’re forced to make an unexpected turn, LodgeLink acts as your copilot, providing your work crews with the tools they need to get back to your original route. 

Using LodgeLink’s Duty of Care offering, your crews can easily get in touch with project managers and view up-to-date itinerary details or travel information when you're hit with an unexpected detour.

Why Does Project Planning Matter?

Planning is important to crew project management because it keeps the project on track. Using the project planning documents, team members and project managers can refer to the planning documents at any time to assess their progress and pace.

This helps holds team members accountable. Knowing what they need to complete and how much time is budgeted to do so can help boost productivity because they know what is expected of them. 

Additionally, project planning helps project managers think through what has the potential to go wrong. They must carefully consider risks that could compromise the project’s timeline. 

Using a risk management plan, project managers can take a proactive approach instead of a reactive approach when problems occur. Taking this extra step and putting together a contingency plan can help avoid making major changes to the original plan.

Project Planning in Seven Steps

Ready to start planning your next project? These seven steps can help you outline the path to reach your goals: 

1. Define the project’s purpose

Why is the project necessary? What problems will it solve? Answering these questions can help you clearly identify the goals and objectives of your project and let your crews know what they need to achieve. 

Goals are the overarching business goals that the project hopes to achieve. Objectives are the specific deliverables you’re looking to achieve throughout the project. 

It might also be helpful to describe what metrics will be used to track the performance of those aforementioned goals and objectives. Make sure they are clear and measurable. Goals & objectives that are unclear and unattainable can decrease productivity and push back the timeline.

2. Identify its stakeholders

Who will be working on the project? What role will they play? There are many hands from many teams that are involved in most crew projects, so it’s important to outline your expectations for each team. 

In order to do that, you must first determine who will be involved in the project. Make a list of all internal and external stakeholders who are relevant to the project. When you have that list, explain what objectives each is responsible for completing. 

Using LodgeLink’s crew list features, you no longer have to waste time individually inputting guests on your reservation. When you upload your crew list into our system, simply select the team members on the reservation and their information will auto-populate in the necessary fields. 

Including this information in your project planning documents can help hold your team accountable down the line because expectations are clear. 

When planning crew accommodations for a project that requires workforce travel, the temporary housing, lodging, or hotel company is an important stakeholder.

When you book through LodgeLink’s crew travel platform, you can save time searching for properties and gain immediate access to thousands of quality, affordable properties across Canada and the United States.

3. Define the scope

The scope is one of the most important documents related to project planning. It’s the document that acts as the “sum of all the parts,” outlining both the overarching project goals and distinct deliverables required to get there. 

It’s important because it defines the project for internal and external stakeholders. Internally, your work crews can find an outline to drive their work. 

Externally, it creates a boundary between them and your team; defining the scope can keep the project from growing beyond its intended objective, which could lead to burnout, delays, or overspending.

Here are some other items the scope document should include:

• Timeline (which we’ll talk about next) — When the project should be complete
• Project phases/milestones/project dependencies — Progress markers to help identify the end of one phase and the start of another
• Team responsibilities — What each team is responsible for
• Important contacts — Who to contact in case of an emergency; also who to contact for the type of emergency
• A plan for scope changes — How your team will resolve disruptions as they occur

4. Create a timeline & budget

After your scope document is complete, it’s time to create your timeline and budget. Determine what materials are needed: 

• Will you have to rent equipment? 
• Do you need to find temporary housing? 
• If so, how long will it take and what’s your overall budget?

According to a report published by PM Today, it’s estimated $1 million is wasted every 20 seconds on project management tasks that can be automated. Find automated solutions to manual processes with the help of LodgeLink. Try our cost saving calculator to see how much you can save when you book through LodgeLink. 

When the timeline and budget are complete, add links to them in your scope documents so stakeholders can refer to them when needed. 

LodgeLink’s Duty of Care features can help strengthen communication between travel managers and crew members during times when those risks you planned for (or didn’t) become a reality.

Using Tracking Codes and Payment IDs, Travel Managers can locate, track, and advise team members during an emergency. On the other hand, its two-way communication model can help crew members reach travel managers via phone, email, or SMS. 

6. Share & monitor the plan

Make sure all important parties receive the project planning documents you’ve created.

Make sure you’ve clearly outlined a communication plan. How can work crews reach you/how you’ll reach them?

You could also include how often you plan to reach them. If you’re looking for communication at the start of each step, say that. Create that expectation so everyone feels in the loop.

LodgeLink helps with crew project management by keeping your work crews updated with the latest project information. Using LodgeLink’s platform, crew members can receive up-to-date information and project managers can make changes on the fly as project delays or risks occur.

7. Evaluate the project

Though this doesn’t happen until after the project is complete, it’s an important tool that will be useful for planning future projects. During this step, assess what parts of the project did and didn’t work. Make note of what didn’t to help refine your strategy in the future. 

LodgeLink makes it easy to identify inefficiencies and evaluate your spending with detailed cost breakdowns. See where your team is spending the most money to see how you can streamline your project spending in the future.