| Effective project planning is often difficult for | | | | 4. What do I need to complete the task |
| individuals with Asperger's Syndrome. It can result | | | | (materials, information, equipment, etc.): Sample |
| in the following workplace difficulties: not knowing | | | | process documents from other departments, |
| how to get started on an assignment, becoming | | | | organizational chart, list of colleagues who will |
| stuck midway through a project, vastly | | | | review document, time with supervisor to review |
| underestimating how long something will take, | | | | initial outline |
| discovering too late that important items have | | | | 5. I will work on this project from: 2:00 - 4:00pm |
| been omitted, or loosing sight of the original goal. | | | | on Mondays and 9:00 - 11:30am on Thursdays |
| There are four basic steps to effective planning: | | | | 6. At the half-way point, my goal is to have the |
| 1. Establish a clear goal. | | | | following amount of work completed: 60% of the |
| 2. Create specific, manageable steps to reach the | | | | first draft written |
| goal. | | | | 7. Actual time to complete: |
| 3. Organize the time needed to complete the | | | | Step 1: 2 ½ hours |
| steps. | | | | Step 2: 45 minutes |
| 4. Assemble required materials. | | | | Step 3: 10 hours |
| The following planning template has been used by | | | | Step 4: 15 minutes/ 2 weeks for all comments |
| several of my coaching clients for both long-term | | | | Step 5: 3 ½ hours |
| projects and daily tasks. To show you how it | | | | Total actual time: 17 hours and 1 extra week for |
| works, I have included an example from one of | | | | comments |
| my clients who used the template to plan the | | | | 7. If the actual time to complete a step/task |
| writing of a process manual. | | | | took longer than the estimated time, then:a) What |
| Planning Template | | | | obstacles, if any, were not anticipated? Draft took |
| 1. Describe the goal or task: Produce an internal | | | | longer due to unfamiliarity with part of the |
| process manual | | | | product development process; team leaders had |
| 2. Due date: One month | | | | more changes than I expected; two managers |
| 3. Steps and estimated time to complete | | | | could not get feedback to me within a week due |
| Step 1: Outline steps required to produce new | | | | to travel schedulesb) How can the task be |
| product | | | | handled differently next time? Allow 20% more |
| Estimated time: 2 hours | | | | time to write the document than I expect; check |
| Step 2: Identify team(s) responsible for each step | | | | managers' travel schedules in advance; make sure |
| Estimated time: 1 hour | | | | that I am familiar with all aspects of the |
| Step 3: Write draft of process for review | | | | development process before beginning project |
| Estimated time: 8 hours | | | | The planning template can be used for a variety |
| Step 4: Send draft to team leaders, marketing | | | | of situations, and individual action steps can be as |
| director and supervisor for review Estimated time: | | | | detailed as needed. Save your work sheets and |
| 30 minutes to send/ 1 week for comments | | | | review your progress over time. Pay particular |
| Step 5: Incorporate feedback into final document | | | | attention to how close your estimated times are |
| Estimated time: 2 hours | | | | to your actual times because accurate estimating |
| Total estimated time: 13 ½ hours | | | | is an important part of meeting deadlines. |