The action: When planning a major project, try to spend less than one third of the available time yourself, so that the next level below you has sufficient planning time.
The long form:
“We’re moving offices this week, and have now finalised where your team will sit. Make sure they can keep business running while we relocate.”
“What? Did it take you three months to decide on that? This is barely any time for us to detail our plans.”
It’s not an uncommon scenario. Each management level takes up too much time for their own planning, before coming to the decision the rest of the organisation is waiting for. The result is that each following level is short on time, even though the top layer may feel good about their seemingly bullet-proof plans.
Ideally, you want to give a warning order (a heads-up about the mission) to the subordinate level as soon as possible. But if they are dependent on details or a decision from you, a good rule of thumb from military planning is to always allot two thirds of the total time available to your subordinates.
If you know you will be moving offices in nine weeks’ time, be sure to finalise whatever plans the level below you need within the first three weeks (one third of the planning time). The subordinate level can in turn use two of the remaining six weeks for their planning, allotting four weeks to the next level, etc.
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First Forty 