Project Planning - Art or Science?

 

I am involved with Construction Project Planning for past 30 years since starting the work life. Well! Let’s say I started application of theory of planning, scheduling, monitoring & control; into practice 25 years back, when I became the Planning Engineer after 5 years of site works.

Application of Logic, Numbers & Calculations, Principles, Procedure, Steps, Sequence etc. all falls under Science and hence one would naturally believe that ‘Planning’ is ‘Science’. The same is true about Construction, Surgery, Baking or Cooking. However, mastery in these fields is always referred as learning the ‘Art of Construction’, Art of Cooking’ etc. For that matter, we sometimes exclaim; ‘that Surgeon is an Artist’, or ‘that software engineer is a genius in Art of Coding’ etc.

 

Evidently, mere science is not enough for mastering a trade & these expression tell that ‘Art’ does gets some prominence over ‘acquired knowledge’ or in other words ‘Science’.

 

The major difference between Art and Science is that ‘Art’ deals the matter subjectively, whereas ‘Science’ deals it objectively. The ‘Art’ expresses the knowledge in subjective expressions, whereas the ‘Science’ is acquiring the knowledge, systematically with sufficient evidence, back-up or proof. It does not mean that the knowledge expressed through ‘Art’ is incorrect or faulty rather it is often much more expressive & felt as correct.

 

Construction Project Planning is all about the terms ‘WBS or Work Breakdown Structure’, Deliverables, Activities, Resources, Duration, Sequencing, which all are related to Scheduling. Then there is analysis, corrections, leads & lags, critical path, floats, resource levelling, adjustments to finalize the schedule. We are dealing with numbers, logic, sequence, steps, procedures & one has to acquire this knowledge systematically in an organized way with examples and evidence/proof. This is pure science, however the question is, ‘is it enough to make a great schedule or plan for the Project’?

 

Let’s dig a bit deeper by taking some examples:

 

1. The theory (acquiring knowledge systematically) states that one can define the way he has contemplated to prepare the WBS. WBS can be prepared in several ways based on deliverables viz. from each of the department, each of the teams on engineering types, or sometimes customer oriented. To elaborate on a Residential Tower Project the WBS can be:

a)     Department wise – Engineering, Liaison, Procurement, Execution, Certification & Approvals, Facility Management or Customer Care.

b)     Engineering Team wise – Architectural, Structural, Electro-Mechanical Services, Façade, Finishes, Infrastructure & Landscape, Facility Management

c)     Customer Oriented – Land Acquisition, Municipal Approvals, Plinth Clearance, Construction Clearance, CFO Certificate, Occupation Certificate, Handover, Society Formation, Handover to Society

 

2. Activities are the last level of WBS i.e. keep decomposing till it reaches to sufficiently low level for better monitoring and controlling. We generally get a description that:

a)     Activity duration < 12 to 14 days or > 1 / 2 days

b)     Quantum or work or Value < INR 75000/- (example)

c)   Activity is at lowest level and cannot be split further with another intermediate activity.

 

3. The activities should be sequenced using the logics, which can be as follows:

a)     Hard Logic – Successor Activity cannot start until Predecessor Activity is complete

b)     Soft Logic – Resource constrained logic – Manpower, Machinery, Material etc.

c)   Preferential Logic – Client/Customer/Stakeholder prefers some part earlier than other

 

If you drive down deeper, you will observe that after certain levels of defining everything scientifically there comes a level, where it’s left to your judgment.

1. In case of WBS – It’s a judgment call as to, which type of WBS will suffice the needs of the project, and is easier to explain to various stakeholders from different backgrounds of Engineering, Commercial, Financial, Marketing, Sales, Customer etc.
2. In case of Activity – It’s again a judgment call for what helps in monitoring and control & at the same time not very cumbersome. Easier to explain and report & Understandable through levels of Supervisors to top management.
3. In case of Sequencing – Barring ‘Hard-Logic’ which is pure science, both the ‘Soft-Logic’ and ‘Preferential-Logic’ are based on Judgement, Feeling, Sentiments etc. with little bit of Finance/Accountancy perceptions.

 

In all the 3 examples above, the judgment call is primarily or mostly based on feelings, perceptions, sentiments, ideas, assumptions and imaginations. All these are form of subjective expressions and hence related to ‘Art’.

 

No doubt that one has to learn the science & theory behind the planning without which even the first step would be wrong. Although, initially the approach would remain theoretical in nature but after years of practicing, close observations, regular monitoring, analyzing & gaining valuable experience one would develop some understanding to make these judgment calls. These judgment calls, if taken correctly, would make a huge difference in achieving the project objectives and gaining success.

The only issue is that you can teach science or train someone to be a planner but ‘Art’ has to come from within. Mr. Ramakant Achrekar was batting coach to hundreds, teaching same technique to all, but only ‘Sachin’ mastered the art.

Thus ‘Project Planning’ is science but a ‘Great Project Plan’ definitely needs some art. Nonetheless you have to master the science behind planning, prior to mastering the art behind it.

 

 ADGP                   www.decodingcm.com                        https://decodingcm.blogspot.com