The Spiral
You will find that it is difficult to resolve all five issues simultaneously. Your issues will be interconnected and each one will affect the others. Only the simplest of projects can be planned in one “pass” through the issues. Often three or more passes are needed for a coherent plan. Your process for addressing all the issues is like a marble spiraling around the mouth of a funnel and addressing one issue after another. Your order for dealing with each issue is not crucial. The order of Needs, Context, Constraints, Budget and Schedule usually works well. Each lap around the issues builds on what has been learned and leads inevitably to the integrated solutions. The first laps are slower and longer because there are many possibilities to consider, but the later laps speed up as you eliminate options and zero in on the limited options that are really good solutions for you.
Four Phases before Occupancy – Planning, Design, Procurement, Implementation
Before you are able to enjoy the end result of your project, you will pass through four phases. You may experience some overlap in these phases, but you will have more control if you take them one at a time and in the sequence Planning – Design – Procurement – Implementation because each phase builds on the decisions you have made in the previous phase. Procurement could also be called Pricing, Bidding, Contracting. You make your final commitments on cost. Implementation is usually construction or remodeling, but it could be installation of new furniture or a system.
Planning vs. Design
There is usually a desire to get to the Design right away. Resist it. Planning comes first because it is about developing an effective strategy. Design is second because it is about creating a solution to fit this strategy. Every design is a solution; and there are many more bad solutions than good solutions for your project. Without first planning, you won’t be clear about what issues the design should address so that you end up with one of the good solutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment