Many managers do not like planning. Why is that? Well, there are a number of reasons for planning resistance. One major reason is that planning takes time, lots of time. But as a project manager, it's important to understand that a carefully planned out project is much more likely to succeed, and that makes you look good as a project manager. There are other reasons many managers don't like to plan. It requires you to think. Yes, can you believe it? Planning requires thought. It also involves research and documentation, which many managers like to resist as well. No matter the reason for wanting to avoid the planning phase of a project, it is highly encouraged. You may be asking yourself, "Why plan?" There are several good reasons why planning is important, and here are a few of them. Planning can help reduce or even eliminate uncertainty, it can improve efficiency of the project, and you can gain a better understanding of the project objectives, which will give you a basis for monitoring and controlling project work. Let's take a look at what effective planning looks like. Effective planning will be several things. It will be explicit. It's imperative that you be as detailed as possible in your planning stage. The more work you put in here, the less that will need to be devoted during the implementation phase. Consider, as well, that anything implied will be left to interpretation for the person assigned to carry out the task. It needs to be intelligible. Yes, it may seem obvious, but some managers may not realize that your plans may be read and interpreted by all involved parties, from C-suite stakeholders to construction foremen. Your plans must be understandable and comprehensible. It needs to be flexible. While explicit, you also want to build in or allow for change to take place in your plans in the event that a change becomes necessary. You don't want your project plan to be tossed if a small change needs to be implemented. Your planning should be flexible and capable of accepting changes. It needs to be controllable. You plan needs to be something that can be controlled and monitored. If the planning is extreme in any one direction or lacking the necessary controls within it, you and your team will not have the ability to control the plan during its implementation. Next, let's look at some of the fundamentals of planning. If project tasks are clearly defined prior to being performed, much of the work on the project can be preplanned. This will ensure few surprises during the implementation and execution phase of your project. Unexpected tasks or surprises will almost certainly cost your project in time, budget, possibly resources. You will likely encounter some tasks that are not well understand during the planning process. When this occurs, during the actual execution of these tasks, additional knowledge will be gained that will lead to changes in resource allocations, scheduling, and priorities. This is not uncommon. Remember that the more uncertain a task, the greater the amount of information that must be processed in order to ensure effective implementation and performance.