Project Planning Tips If You Have Asperger Syndrome
Effective project planning is often difficult for people with Asperger syndrome. It can lead to the following workplace difficulties: not knowing how to start a task, getting stuck in the middle of a project, grossly underestimating how long something will take, finding out too late that important items have been left out, or losing sight of the process. original goal.
There are four basic steps to effective planning:
1. Set a clear goal.
2. Create specific, manageable steps to reach the goal.
3. Organize the time necessary to complete the steps.
4. Gather the necessary materials.
The following planning template has been used by several of my coaching clients for both long-term projects and daily tasks. To show you how it works, I’ve included an example from one of my clients who used the template to plan the writing of a process manual.
planning template
1. Describe the goal or task: Produce an internal process manual.
2. Expiration date: One month
3. Steps and estimated time to complete
Step 1: Diagram of the steps necessary to produce a new product
Estimated time: 2 hours
Step 2: Identify the team(s) responsible for each step
Estimated time: 1 hour
Step 3: Write a draft of the process for your review.
Estimated time: 8 hours
Stage 4: Send the draft to the team leaders, marketing manager, and supervisor for review. Estimated time: 30 minutes to submit/ 1 week for feedback
Step 5: Incorporate comments in the final document
Estimated time: 2 hours
Total estimated time: 13 ½ hours
4. What do I need to complete the task (materials, information, equipment, etc.): Sample process documents from other departments, organizational chart, list of colleagues who will review the document, time with supervisor to review initial outline
5. I will work on this project from: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Mondays and 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays
6. By the halfway point, my goal is to have the following amount of work completed: 60% of the first draft written
7. Actual time to complete:
Step 1: 2 ½ hours
Step 2: 45 minutes
Step 3: 10 hours
Stage 4: 15 minutes/ 2 weeks for all comments
Step 5: 3 ½ hours
Full actual time: 17 hours and 1 extra week for comments
7. If the actual time to complete a step/task took longer than the estimated time, then:
a) What obstacles, if any, were not anticipated? The draft took longer due to unfamiliarity with part of the product development process; team leaders had more changes than I expected; two managers were unable to give me feedback within a week due to travel schedules
b) How can the task be handled differently next time? Allow 20% more time to write the document than I expect; check managers’ travel schedules in advance; make sure I am familiar with all aspects of the development process before starting the project
The planning template can be used for a variety of situations, and individual action steps can be detailed as needed. Save your worksheets and review your progress over time. Pay special attention to how close your estimated times are to your actual times because an accurate estimate is an important part of meeting deadlines.