The 100 Day Answer

Often the most difficult part of any project is to start. ?Trying to have perfect planning in an imperfect world is impossible and leads to pontification, delay and above all just not starting. A question I often asked when consulting was “how long have you been trying to do this?” The answer was usually 2+ years. ?That’s a lot of lost benefit from not starting. ?Typically where the project was being planned I saw a lot of unrealistic business requirements of the “boil the ocean” type. ?From my experience I would often start with the basic concept and it would naturally increase in complexity as you move along.? Understanding your clients requirements fully (with robust challenge to weed out the non sensical ones) is where you need to start.

In my situation the objective, in a vacuum of perfect planning, is to START, gain momentum and course correct as appropriate. ?In my last post we discussed the importance of prioritisation based on new information. ?

MOMENTUM is often overlooked, but can be a major contributor to overall success. ?In previous roles I increasingly talked about the momentum a project has, perhaps influenced by #simonsinek. ?His short summary on results vs momentum is a masterclass in understanding the difference and impacts of the two - well worth a listen and it’s here somewhere on LinkedIn! ??

As with a lot of projects you see nothing at the start and then you start to see the results emerge slowly and because you have built strong foundations the results will keep on coming.

So this is less about how this project leverages previously learned PM skills and more about how momentum has been created to support BELIEF that this significant and complex project is achievable. ?Incremental gains build confidence in the delivery of the overall project objectives and importantly increase stakeholder belief.

So what have been the additional foundational builds and deliveries creating momentum…

1. Reinforced concrete strip foundations for a 14m retaining wall after the widening of the drive.
2. 3 courses of cement block, with reinforcing bars - 50% completion
3. Geotex lining for behind the wall in preparation for the 2.5 tons of gravel for behind wall drainage.
4. Additional excavation at the rear of the house to restrict water ingress through the thick walls.
5. Clearing gutters and down pipes full of moss and leaves after many years of neglect. Also to relieve water overspilling from the gutters to the ground surrounding the property.
6. Refurbishment of dilapidated door shutters (4 in total) for an opening of approx 3.2m by 2m.
7. Built 3m diameter “holz hausen” to store chopped firewood for drying - this can take 2 years!
8. Commenced the preparation of bays to store building materials (sand, gravel, etc) in a neat, structured fashion - building better infrastructure for future projects.
9. Set up ariel zip line to transport chopped wood from the ‘island’ in the river - removing the stacked up wood in the river deposited from last years floods.
10. Refurbishment of one of the wooden kitchen work surfaces. Pilot, or as some PM’s might say MVP.
11. Dealing with a wasp nest in the chimney
12. Continuing processing the wood from the felled trees.
13. Acquiring additional scaffolding towers building more infrastructure to tackle the lime rendering, chimney pointing and other tasks.

It is hard to convey the scale of some of these challenges and potentially the impact on the bigger picture but I have started to post some of the pictures on Facebook (haven’t managed to start the YouTube channel I mentioned in my first post) which is probably a more appropriate forum than LinkedIn, that visualises the progress. ?Please feel free to join me.

I will continue to post on LinkedIn where I feel there are some aspects of this project that can be leveraged in the business world, such as the importance of momentum.

So what’s next? ?Well not mentioned in the above, is the research and planning that goes into every stage of the project. ?The changing seasons impact the work effort and the priorities… so as it stands:

1. Install 5 new triple glazed doors and windows (just arrived) to replace the ones that are single paned
2. Complete the retaining wall and drainage
3. Stone dressing of the retaining wall
4. Continue to dig out the rear of the property and assess water ingress mitigation
5. Consider a significant gutter system upgrade - dependent on a decision re roof replacement.
6. Build more holz hausen
7. Process the 30+ 3m logs into useable lumber
8. Trial lime mortar on the small barn
9. Plant approximately 100 bushes for a hedge

And of course more planning for:

1. Swapping over the kitchen and the lounge
2. 70m2 of new stone terrace?
3. Installation of up to 15m2 of no dig vegetable garden
4. Refurbishment of the polytunnel
5. Installation of electric fence to protect from deer and wild boar
6. Design the fruit and nut tree planting plan

This is a small fragment of the overall work that needs to be completed and I am regularly asked how long this project will take? ?My standard answer?is 5 years, although I suspect there will never be an end date, however, after 3 years I expect that there will be a significant improvement in the house and the surroundings, plus potentially a little business.

So, get on with some actions and create your own momentum!!