Are Documented Plans a Thing of the Past?

Whether it's a digital transformation project, an EHR project, developing a strategic plan, or a business plan, a well-outlined and documented plan is necessary to set the stage for alignment, effective leadership, shared goals, and future success. If a documented plan doesn't exist, how do you know where you are planning to go, and how will you know if you've arrived? If goals aren't set, how do you determine success?

Without a clearly articulated and documented plan, there is no ‘plan’; there’s an ‘idea.’ There are all kinds of free-floating ideas out there! Some are great, some are inspired, and some are not so great. When an idea is initiated, stakeholders need to understand the difference between an idea and a plan. It’s pretty easy to think something up, but it’s much different to dive in and do the hard work necessary to document the work and figure out how it can or will come to fruition. Taking the time to document the plan and put the pieces together creates a platform for a shared vision, shared goals, and a roadmap that allows everyone to understand the proposed idea(s) in a collective manner. Without a documented plan, there is no common understanding, no accountability, and no common understanding because ‘ideas’ are fluid and can change and evolve at any moment. This can create an environment of chaos and mistrust. Some may consider this as being agile, fluid, or flexible in planning; however, from a project management and change management perspective, some sort of documented plan is required for every successful project or planning effort. This doesn’t mean that a plan can’t change or evolve as every project or plan does; it just means you have a roadmap to better understand where you started, what has changed, and who you may need to communicate with so you can adjust the sails and move forward.

So, what are the twelve key elements of a successful plan?

1. A group of leaders and key stakeholders who have a need to solve a problem, improve a process, or just move the needle forward that can work together to formulate ideas into a plan.

2. A series of collective documented ideas or input from all parties, including a high-level roadmap or sequence of events that must occur to solve the problem and implement the plan.

3. Documented and agreed upon common goals and objectives. Having a clear vision is important.

4. Agreed-upon ‘rules of the road’ or ‘guiding principles,’ something you can hang your hat on and reference when your plan gets off track. (Notice I didn’t say ‘if’ your plan gets off track; every plan goes off track at some point!!)

5. The scope of the project, which may need to be broken out into multiple phases based on available funding, resource requirements, and the amount of change or impact level on the organization.

"Bottom line, you can’t make an idea happen without a plan. Well-documented and socialized plans are required for successful implementation!"

6. Key performance indicators with baseline data obtained pre-live to help us understand how successful the implementation of the change was at defined intervals: three months, six months, and one year post-live.

7. A planned budget that outlines guardrails for the spending required to support the project, a process for managing unbudgeted or contingency funds.

8. Defined governance with business sponsors and key stakeholders that will work collaboratively to lead the change, make key decisions, understand and manage the risks, as well as provide support to the implementation team to achieve a successful implementation.

9. A tactical implementation plan with defined tasks, dependencies, owners, due dates, and status with a targeted overall go-live date that fulfills the pre-defined scope and is in alignment with the high-level roadmap.

10. Human capital that has the appropriate experience and skill sets to drive the tasks and complete the necessary changes to support the project's goals, objectives, scope, and timeline. Throwing “bodies” at a project is never a good idea.

11. A communication and change management plan that helps provide transparency, share common goals and objectives, provide status updates or changes, and engage all key stakeholders in achieving the desired outcomes.

12. Communication, communication, communication.

The bottom line, you can’t make an idea happen without a plan. Well-documented and socialized plans are required for successful implementation!