Project Planning Week

Speaker and Topic:

·         Lance Rawlins

·         Project planning

Two or three main concepts I learned

-          Why should we even bother to plan?

Ø  To evaluate which is the best way to see a community develop

Ø  To clarify our visions and goals

Ø  To give God a chance to speak

Ø  To optimize the use of resources

Ø  To allocate responsibilities and organize staff efficiently

Ø  To help motivate staff and people that are working with you(and yourself)

Ø  To hear and include others and give ownership

Jesus, in the Bible, planned things out. Although he was led my the spirit he was also practical and planned his events and his ministry.

Personally challenged by:

·         I was challenged by the model the speaker presented as the one we should follow while we are project planning which was the acronym “SMART”:

S--à Specific

Ø  Is it well defined

Ø  Is it clear

Ø  You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother – Albert Einstein

M --à Measurable

Ø  Can y quantify your progress so you can track it?

Ø  Are you able to asses your process

Ø  How will you know when you have reached your goal?

A -à Attainable

Ø  Is your goal within reach

Ø  Is your goal a challenge, but still possible to reach?

Ø  Goals must be achievable. The best goals require you to stretch a bit to achieve them but they are not impossible to achieve.

R --à Realistic/ Relevant

Ø  Is your goal realistic with the resources, knowledge and time that you have?

Ø  Is it in line with your beliefs and values?

Ø  Consistent

T --à Time

Ø  Starting date, deadline and significant milestones

Ø  Do I have enough time to achieve the goal

Ø  Too much time can affect progress/ results

o    

Unanswered questions:

·         The question I had was when the speaker said we had to be ready for a 007, by this he meant we needed to be prepared to drop it all at one point and leave. At first I couldn’t understand this concept, because of the fact that if you commit to something you MUST see it thru, at least that is what I believe. But it was very important to understand that you really must abandon something if God asks you to. We might not understand the reason why He is asking us, but if we are sure and completely certain that is God that is asking us to abandon the project we must be obedient. Otherwise we must stick to our word and fulfill our commitments.

Outreach:

·         I am so excited for my outreach after this week, me and a friend worked really hard on a project plan that included many things that we want to work within our outreach.

·         We are going to be working with a ministry that focuses on street children and speaking into their lives.

·         I know God has a huge plan that He wants me to be a part of, and I cant wait to be there!