tips | Plan-too

Now I’ve built my plan, how do I remember it?

Ian West — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:30:33 +0000

Cards are great tools for stimulating ideas and getting over that awful ‘blank sheet of paper’ moment, but once you have worked out a great plan you need to remember it and it may not be convenient to leave all the cards spread out on the table ( you may want them for other plans, anyway). You can quite simply note down the titles and positions on a sheet of paper then you have a permanent record. If you need to share it, a convenient way is to fill the titles in on a spreadsheet, using the cells to follow the card layout. Another useful technique is to just mark each of the cards with a number in pencil, then you can use this as a shorthand to note the cards’ position or to reconstruct your plan.

I’ve also had people in workshops who have built a plan then photographed it either with a camera or on their mobile phone – another useful technique for groups who want to share the same plan.

My business has some tasks which there are no cards for?

Ian West — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:46:16 +0000

Every business is different and many have specialised tasks they need to build into the plan. That’s not a problem, the card set is designed to be as general as possible to give your plan a flying start – if you feel you need some extra cards – just make them! Some of our sets have blank cards for just this purpose, or you can use the backs of the ‘Tips & Hint’s’ cards or the front and back pack cards. If you still need more make them out of scrap cards, the backs of business cards or post-it notes.

Where do I start?

Ian West — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:17:17 +0000

When building a plan along a timeline, it really doesn’t matter where you start. Decide which way your timeline is going to run, maybe left to right or top to bottom. Choose a card that represents an important topic for you and place it in front of you. Then, if for example your plan is going to run from right to left, start placing things you want to happen before that topic to the left, and those that happen after to the right. Remember nothing is fixed at this time and you can move the cards around until you are happy with the final plan.

Often a lot of things need to happen at the same time, so you plan may have columns crossing the long rows, or even a number of rows running side by side.