i want it ice cold please!?

cheers!

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

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

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

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

AND THAT WILL MAKE YOU THE BEST TEAM MEMBER

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

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 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

Joel,

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

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

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