Should you get help or hire a professional? Test your plan to find out.
Test a plan to find its vulnerabilities. Hire a professional to speed up planning, lead implementation, or do the work.
Action is the key. Yet doing things right is a waste of time if you don't first choose the right things to do.
Good ideas are often acted on without due consideration, and without thinking them through.
"In preparing for battle I have found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable."
General Dwight Eisenhower - supreme commander of the WW2 D-day invasion.
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy"
Helmuth van Moltke - nineteenth-century Prussian military commander.
Business is not the same as a military campaign yet it is certainly competitive. Every business must win the hearts and minds of its intended customers in competition with others intent on doing the same.
Is your plan sound?
Have you tested it?
Test a Plan Instructions
Enter a score between 1 and 10 in the boxes adjacent to each statement.
Score according to the degree of truth in each statement.
Make your score reflect reality.
The data is not recorded so you only have yourself to mislead.
Your total score and a chart showing your strengths and weaknesses will be updated in real-time at the bottom of the page.
What Must Change: 1. I know what will have to have changed and by how much for this plan to be considered a worthwhile initiative. Validation Question Have you quantified or at least estimated the scale of the necessary changes? | |
Will it Work? 2. I know how this plan will deliver the intended changes or required results. Validation Question Have you tested any of the intended actions or measured the impact of any intended changes? | |
Who Must Change? 3. I know who will have to change what they do and how they will have to change what they do for this plan to work. Validation Question Have you discussed the anticipated changes with the people who will have to change what they do? | |
Why They Will Change: 4. I know how those who will have to change will be persuaded or motivated to make and maintain the necessary changes. Validation Question Have you tested or discussed any anticipated instructions or incentives with those who will be impacted? | |
Progress Measurement: 5. I know how to monitor and measure the implementation progress of this plan. Validation Question Have you listed the measurement criteria and determined how the data will be collected, analysed, and communicated? | |
Required Resources: 6. I have estimated the costs of this plan in terms of money, internal time commitments and any other resources that will be necessary and I know how to obtain the necessary resources. Validation Question Have you considered any likely overruns in terms of costs and possible shortfalls in terms of time commitments? | |
Business Case: 7. I have prepared a business case justification that details the costs and anticipated return on the investment over time. Validation Question Is the business case compelling? | |
Support Committed: 8. Others in my organisation who will be impacted by this plan, are in favour of its implementation. Validation Question Have you obtained specific agreements from those affected that they are in favour of the plan and will contribute the resources as required? | |
Actions Identified: 9. This plan includes a detailed step-by-step schedule of assigned actions that will be necessary for implementation. Validation Question Is the plan written and agreed upon by those who must carry out any part of it? | |
Project Management: 10. Someone has been appointed or has accepted responsibility for project management of the plan. Validation Question Has the person who has accepted the project management role agreed on the time frame for completion of the project? | |
| Total Score |
If you scored over 90, could you have been overly optimistic in your assessments? Whatever your score, the chart reflects its strengths and weaknesses. Use the results to strengthen the plan.
To improve a plan consider your score for each statement and what you could do to increase it.
No data entered on this page is recorded so if you want to keep your scores, save the chart to your device. For PC's, right-click on the chart and select save-as. For mobiles, take a screenshot.
If you have found this assessment useful, add a comment below to encourage others.
Are you ready to hire a professional?
What is a professional?
Someone with expertise in the process, situation, and purpose who can help with the forethought, planning, preparation and execution of a plan.
Use this assessment as a framework for testing a plan or selecting a professional to help.
Hire a professional to:
- Complete a plan faster
- Test a plan
- Project manage implementation
- Do the work
If you need to get something done and don't have the time or resources, hire a professional. Telephone +44 (0)1392 851500. We will be pleased to discuss your needs or talk through some options. Alternatively, send an email to custserv@salessense.co.uk for a prompt reply or use the contact form here.
