How to attract planners to stay planners????

i want it ice cold please!?



cheers!

Give them some beer and they’ll stay!



Does a planner really need attraction at all to stay as a planner? If you are good in what you are doing, you will attract them instead. This is what I believe, no matter what your profession is!

Greetings of a good day to one and all.



Just want to share some thoughts on this subject.



As to being a planner, it is actually one’s passion towards work of being the thinker, innovator and forecaster of a team. A planner should always seek to be understood as in most cases there maybe only a few among the team who really understands well the effort and importance of the planning aspects. Once you became a planner, you will always be a planner in your work manners and even in your daily living. Planning then becomes habitual within yourself. One thing great of being a planner is that I feel that we are just few in the market place.



As to the team work, frankly speaking, we planners could do nothing much of great importance without the support, ideas, and input of other team members that are prerequisite to our planning tasks. Although we can recommend ideas to the group, but without their solicited advice, our recommendations may just be given a glance and not pondered upon. Therefore, I say that a planner cannot stand to be the best in the team as it is always the technical, procurement and construction group that is in the forefront of the action. We simply support those groups as part of the team.



Finally, may I express that I feel great being a planner for my contributions to our team.



Best regards,

Ferdinand

i think i admire gordon for his decision.



i have been a planner for as long as i can remember, and i have left my job/position for many reasons.



i may not be able to tell you how to attract planners, i may be able to tell what actually drives them away.



1. the project manager (PM) thinks that the planner is god. he simply throws everything to the planner but never provided any support or information for the planner to carry out her job.



2. another reason why they leave is when you have team mates who thinks that you are nothing but a busy body. you don’t do the work, but chases everyone else to do it. the team mates fail to see that teamwork is important and the job of the planner is not to do the job but to chase someone to do it, and make sure that they do it.



3. another factor that makes you want to leave is when the team thinks that you are nothing but a "software" operator.



Charlie has made some really good comments, but in order to be the best team mate, the planner needs the support of his other team mates. holding the cane thinking that you are the best isn’t going to make you the best.

hi guys..



i really like what ive been readin in this forum...



kinda giving me a heads up and at the same time givin me a positive idea on bein a planner..



- more challenges can prepare you for a more efficient way of dealing things upfront and providing positive outcome...



regards,

ian

Gordon,



You agree to a rate cut.



I can’t believe it. But of course I have to believe now since it is you who said so.



I think you are right. Sometimes the rate is not important, but, the challenge to accomplish. Maybe it could be one way to retain planners to stay planners.



Good luck.



Cheers,

Charlie

I think, sadly, it depends on the type of Planners you want to retain. I actually took a rate cut (cue gasps of horror all round) to come on to my current assignment, because i knew the Project was in the cack but, the recovery would be an interesting challenge and the Project team would be receptive to my input.



There, are however, plenty of Planners out there who will happily chase a marginally higher rate even if it means being sat bored doing data entry type work, some of them, ESPECIALLY if it means being sat, bored doing data entry work.



If you want to keep the right kind of planner, encourage them to get as much out of the job as possible, to do the job properly, get involved and contribute. If you pay a p50 rate, but encourage proactive planners, you may find the chaff and the chancers pass you by

Chris,



I believe also that the Planner is never the best member of the team (but he/she is supposed to be - Charlie’s right..always). In some teams (at least in i’ve been with), nobody really believes in a Planner, they look at him or her as a simple tracker (or a bean counter) which can provide them always with the correct information they need. They never thought that the works of a Planner is supposed to be a collective one which need data/inputs from everyone involved, and I would like to emphazise, especially FROM the PROJECT MANAGER! That’s why I said in other thread, that the Planner can be very effective if he/she is the Project Manager! And who’s always to blame?



The team expects too much from the Planner, without realizing or knowing what is supposed to be their part in the Plan! And who’s fault is that when the project go wrong?

Hi Guys,



I found the insights offered by Mike and Dieter very interesting; the situation Dieter outlined demonstrates graphically the need for the project team as a whole to ’buy into’ the plan. It has to become the team’s plan not the planner’s plan and, as Dieter pointed out, sometimes this doesn’t happen. This sort of situation can be absolutely disastrous for the project, but when the Project Manager refuses to allow the planner to do their job properly, there isn’t a lot that can be done.



However, where the planner is integrated into the team and functions as part of that team, the project can really take off. The planner doesn’t have to be the best member of the team, all he or she has to do is provide the necessary information on time, within budget and to the necessary quality standards. This can set the example for the other project team members to do the same.



Chris Oggham

You’re the Best Charlie! by the way, How much the "Best" will costs?

AND THAT WILL MAKE YOU THE BEST TEAM MEMBER

Dieter,



I’ve been in some "Motivational Workshop"



The moderator flag the song by Tina Turner



"YOU’RE SIMPLY IS THE BEST"



It is the best song I always wanted to remember, specially when I’m down and out.



I’M SIMPLY IS THE BEST



PLANNERS ARE SIMPLY IS THE BEST



It will project positive solutions to issues and problems at site, for the simple reason that we are simply is the best.



It will bring out the best in you, in us and to all planners.



Cheers,

Charlie

Charly

Planner surely isn’t the best team member; she/he is an important member of the team. Projects success results of the whole team.

PMs task and responsibility is to lead the project to success within buget and time. Ignoring schedule means disregard time frame and almost 100% running against penalty.

Regards

Dieter

A very simple project control exercise that will give meaning to planner’s activities is to filter:



Activities planned to start but not started and

Activities planned to finish but not finished.



provide this information weekly and monitor daily the whole project team activities



Another important project control exercise is the look ahead schedule, six week look ahead and three months look ahead, variance in planned start/finish dates against projected start/finish dates as per periodic update.



These important project control exercise will give planners sufficeint reason to stay planners.



The only problems for planners to leave planning is that the project leader/manager can not deliver as per schedule so ...



Start of conflict among project team, the blame game will start



but what to do???? we are planners and we have to do our job.



Cheers,

Charlie

Dieter,



It happened to you because the project leader is so dumb on how to use the best functional team member: the planner.



The best way for the project team to retain the planner is to let the planner act like project control specialist.



This is the project exercise control and monitoring. While the planner will find job satisfaction, the other project team member will be intimidated because it is seldom that the other team member will able to deliver as per schedule, planned productivity rate or quality to work.



So the project manager has a choice: retain the planner and antagonize other project team member or kick out the planner and retain the other project team member.



The prudent action of the project manager is to kick out the planne by making life too much miserable for the planner.



Cheers,

Charlie

Hi all

It is an interesting discussion! I like what Mike wrote. Money is very important and a certain level must be kept but there are many more factors. If you go to work just for money, you’re poor. The job must be challenging, in a good team which makes the project finish (hopefully) within targets. In the morning in general I must like to go to work - exceptions are normal of course.

Let me give you a negative example: The PM, from a joint venture partner, refuses to speak directly with the Planner/Scheduler, refuses to let her visit the construction area, poor information on project’s progress, he sees the schedule just to satisfy the customer. Result: with great patience and some emails where later I had to threaten, to withdraw her from the project, I finally had to withdraw her from the project. First I have to care of my team, second: here was a big risk that she would resign. --> It’S not always only the money.

Regards

Dieter

Some project team are scared of the planners.



This is typical for projects with too much delayed.



While the planners will tried hard to push the project to go back on tracks, the project team will resent in the sense that what will it means to them to mitigate a very much delayed project say 6 months delayed.



The project team members are not superman, too much delayed projects will be delayed.



So the blame game will start. and and the most vulnerable team member is the planner. for the reason that the planner did not advise them on the gravity of the situation. even if the planner raise the alarms regarding delays in start and finish of activities, the other team member, specially the operation, will procrastinate because at the end of the day, there is always someone to blame and that someone happens to be the planners.



So what will the planner do????



The planner will leave and will become the project leader or project manager.



That is the end of my little story about planner leaving the planner



Cheers,

Charlie

Hi Tarik



Appart from money planners need to know that they are making a valued contribution to the project.



They need to be involved in problem solving and decision making.



There are any number of threads which discuss how planners are ignored and made to feel outsiders in the team.



You may have picked up some such comments from Andrew Dick.



Keep plannes involved and you will keep planners.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Dear Tarik,



You do need to keep the best 20% by knowing how they are PLANNING to develop their career.



The middle 60% your will need to maintain with the right financial support and continuous development.



The bottom 20% you do not need to keep and make sure that you hire more qualified people each year.



Best,



Samer

Joel,



I suggest you get a young dog (the old saying also applies).

Sorry I could not resist answering.



I have been in the business a long time and it´s all about money.



The companies want to make a profit and they have a budget to work on. If they have tendered badly and they have a bad budget then they pay badly.



This will be largely due to competition and micro macro of the environment and countries.



Also many companies offer the `Permanent Carrot´ which in my opinion is just another disguise to pay badly, but with some frills attached. The usual question to ask when offered permanent position is how many staff members has more than ten and 25 years service, that should give you a good indication of the sincerity of the company.



All companies operate on Hire and fire, and feast and famine basis.



Contracting is the way to go, and for money only.



If you want loyalty get a dog, is the old saying



I bet this will fire up some conversation.



Hey that´s what this site is for

get projects and pay more! how will they stay if there’s nothing to plan?

Hi Tarek

I know im a newbie and i hope you dont mind my input,but some of us who are starting in planning,would relish the chance for a start,and like me,im sure if we were given the chance for career progression,we would give the loyalty and as im ’older’ some of us dont want to keep moving around,stability is good,so maybe sometimes us oldies so to speak arent such a bad idea

Cheers Marc

Tarek

Just a quick reply to your post.



- how we attract planners to stay planners? Project variety, doing the same thing all the time gets very boring.



- how to keep them in the company? Money and career progression



- even for a junior planner we want to make sure that we dont loose him after the training period is done? Career progression



Speaking from past experience.



Regards



Kieran