#425: Project Planning Mastery: A Step-By-Step For How To Stay Organized

01/13/22 • 35 min

4 Listeners

The Amy Porterfield Show

Follow The Plan. Master The Project.

My team is incredible but I can be reasonable.

We’re not at 100% in everything in our business.

But our project plans...?

They’re pretty dang bulletproof.

So in this episode, I’m walking you through the exact steps of how I create a project plan in my business from conceptualization to completion (and even what we do to make sure the next attempt of that project is 10x easier.)

I’ve laid this episode out like a step-by-step guide to project planning mastery so you can reduce overwhelm in your business and maybe, just maybe, become known as the business owner that smashes deadlines every time with room to spare.

I believe that for you, my friend!

Here’s a glance at this episode...

[06:52] A project plan is a process to bring an idea or concept to life through planning and organization.
[09:43] 1. Identify the main focus of the project plan.
[10:42] 2. Outline the project. Make categories and then break it down into each task. What tasks need to happen to complete the category?
[14:51] 3. Set dates. Identify the most important dates in your plan. Put all the dates in your calendar. Give each task a final due date.
[20:00] 4. Identify key players. If you have a team of one or more, you need to assign each task to the correct person.
[22:49] 5. Finalize the outline and add any details, resources, or SOPs to each task. Your project plan is almost complete. Add descriptions, additional details, and links to SOPs.
[27:13] 6. Final review and check-ins. Take a moment and review your plan from top to bottom. Look at tasks, dates, assignees, and triple check everything to make sure that it's correct.
[29:04] 7. Make a copy. You've done all this hard work, you might as well use it again. Create that copy before you start using it. Have a master template that you can duplicate any time you like.

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Follow The Plan. Master The Project.

My team is incredible but I can be reasonable.

We’re not at 100% in everything in our business.

But our project plans...?

They’re pretty dang bulletproof.

I believe that for you, my friend!

Here’s a glance at this episode...

[06:52] A project plan is a process to bring an idea or concept to life through planning and organization.
[09:43] 1. Identify the main focus of the project plan.
[10:42] 2. Outline the project. Make categories and then break it down into each task. What tasks need to happen to complete the category?
[14:51] 3. Set dates. Identify the most important dates in your plan. Put all the dates in your calendar. Give each task a final due date.
[20:00] 4. Identify key players. If you have a team of one or more, you need to assign each task to the correct person.
[22:49] 5. Finalize the outline and add any details, resources, or SOPs to each task. Your project plan is almost complete. Add descriptions, additional details, and links to SOPs.
[27:13] 6. Final review and check-ins. Take a moment and review your plan from top to bottom. Look at tasks, dates, assignees, and triple check everything to make sure that it's correct.
[29:04] 7. Make a copy. You've done all this hard work, you might as well use it again. Create that copy before you start using it. Have a master template that you can duplicate any time you like.

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!

Previous Episode

#424: 4 Unsexy Skills That Have Made Me A Better Entrepreneur & Leader

1 Recommendations

What I Practice Every Day For Swoon-Worthy Results

What?

You thought entrepreneurship was all glistening social media posts and champagne toasts?

Juuuust kidding.

If you’ve started a business – full time or on the side – you KNOW there are plenty of unglamorous moments.

But in this episode, I’m sharing four very specific skills that you probably wouldn’t list on a Bumble profile...but that will definitely make you a more effective and successful entrepreneur and leader.

Promise.

Things like the ability to leverage. Or being a proactive planner. Or how I’ve learned to be an effective communicator in my business (and what that’s looked like in different situations.)

Sneak away for a few minutes, dive into this shortie episode, and steal the four unsexy business-making traits that I’ve developed inside my business (so you can build them into yours!)

Here’s a glance at this episode...

[03:35] 1. Effective communication skills. In the past, I've shielded myself from negative conversations. I use the Radical Candor method to communicate when something goes wrong.
[06:47] 2. Your ability to leverage. When you leverage you still have a pulse on the project, you're just not doing everything. This is choosing who you want to collaborate with and letting them own it, but they're still doing regular check-ins with you.
[09:37] 3. Be willing to admit when you are wrong. If something's not working in your business, look inward and ask how I can change my communication style or whatever is causing the problem.
[11:42] 4. You have to be a proactive planner. A proactive planner is looking ahead six months or a year. How can you scale or improve the business in the next three years? Check out EOS.

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Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!

Next Episode

#426: 62% Of Top Business Executives Do This & You Should Too!

1 Recommendations

Learn To Trust Your Gut In Business

In this quick episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur.

It’s not having hard conversations.

Not making revenue projections.

Not keeping a tidy to-do list or a pretty project plan.

In this episode, I’m talking about trusting your gut as an entrepreneur. Which is a tall order. We all want to trust our gut... but it’s not always that simple.

Because every day, entrepreneurs...

→ Navigate fear

→ Bear responsibility for the success – or lack of success – in our biz

→ Feel the weight of the effects that our big and small decisions make on others

→ And, if we’re being honest, try hard not to question our own ability

Right?

“Going with your gut” can get muddled and lost between ALL we’ve got going on.

But it’s also a non-negotiable in entrepreneurship.

So after 13 years of running my own online business, I’m sharing how I’ve learned to hone this instinct and stick to my guns...

...including one big mistake I made by hushing my inner nudges and going ahead with a decision anyways.

So give this episode a listen and let my lessons learned be your lessons learned.

Cheers to you, friend, as we learn how to slow down, listen, and trust ourselves.

Here’s a glance at this episode...

[02:35] Should you trust your gut? 62% of top business execs let their gut lead the way and always trust it.
[05:25] There's a significant difference between being too picky and knowing in your gut that it's the wrong choice.
[07:20] Notice what your initial gut feeling is and then notice what happens next. Are you being too picky? Are you really feeling something that you need to pay attention to?
[10:32] After making a decision, start journaling. When doubt starts to creep back in, go back and read about why you made the decision in the first place.
[11:13] If you feel it in your bones and it doesn't work out as planned, it was still meant to be.
[13:25] Being in tune and having the ability to trust yourself puts you on a whole different level. Go with your gut!

Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts

Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Follow now!