Use the Plan and Keep It Alive
Failing to plan is planning to fail. And failing to use the plan after it is developed is just as bad as no planning at all. It never fails to surprise me when I see a project manager move into a ‘fly by the seat of their pants’ approach part way through a project, no longer using their plan. A typical conversation might go as follows:
Me: “So where are we on the project?”
Project Manager: “Um, good, I think…”
Me: “You think? I don’t understand. How are we tracking to schedule and budget?”