Welcome to the third post in the series on using the phases of Natural Planning for plotting out the course of your projects. In the first post we discussed the “Why” of your project, determining the Purpose of what you are trying to accomplish, and the Principles that will guide you.

In the second post we learned about the importance of Outcome Visioning and some tools for brainstorming. In today’s update I will share a list of questions that you can ask your team (or yourself) in order to prompt your thinking and brainstorming sessions.

The following list is available as a PDF for download here (right click and “Save as”).

Resources

• Whose input do we need?
• Whose input could we use?
• Has anything like this been done before?
• What mistakes can we learn from?
• What successes can we learn from?
• What resources do we have?
• What resources might we need?

Executive issues

• How does this relate to the strategic plan?
• How does it relate to other priorities, directions, goals?
• How will this affect our competitive position?

Administration

• Who’s accountable for this project’s success?
• Lines of communication
• Methods of reporting
• What structures do we need?
• What planning is still likely to be required?
• What re-grouping will we need? How often?
• What people do we need?
• Current staffing?
• Hiring?
• Subcontractors?
• Consultants?
• How do we get involvement?
• What skills are required?
• Who needs to know how to do what?
• What training do we need?
• How do we get it?
• What other communication do we need?
• Who needs to be informed as we go along?
• What policies/procedures affected? What needed?
• What about morale? Fun?
• Staffing?

Finance

• What will this cost?
• How do we get it?
• What might affect the cost?
• Might we need additional $?
• What are the potential payoffs ($)?
• Who signs the checks?

Operations

• What is the timing?
• Hard deadlines?
• What might affect timing?
• Who’s going to do the work?
• How do we ensure complete delivery?

Quality

• How will we monitor our progress?
• How will we know if we’re on course?
• What data do we need, when?
• What reports, to whom, when?

Politics

• Whose buy-in do you need?
• How can you get it?
• Stakeholders - Considerations?
• Board
• Stockholders
• Employees
• Suppliers
• Customers
• Community

Legal

• Issues?
• Regulations?

Space/Facilities/Equipment

• What requires room?
• How do you get it?
• What tools do we need? When?
• Phones
• Computers

Research

• What might you need to know?
• Where can we find/buy it?
• Do we need a consultant?

Public Relations

• Is there value in others knowing about this?
• How do we do that?

Risks

• What could happen?
• Could we handle it?

Creative thinking…

• Who would have concern about the success of this project?
• What would they say, ask, or input, that you haven’t yet?
• What’s the worst idea you can imagine, about doing this project?
• (What is therefore the best idea, which is its opposite?)
• What is the most outrageous thing you can think of, about this project?
• How would a 12-year-old kid relate to this project?
• What would make this project particularly unique?
• What the worst that could happen?
• How could we deal with that?
• What’s the best that could happen?
• Are we ready to deal with that?
• How do we feel about this project?

What would you add? This series will resume on Monday with tactics for organizing the results of your brainstorming session into an actual plan.