Plans or Planning

In the world of infrastructure asset management, we often find ourselves focused on producing asset plans or strategies to meet a regulatory or other cyclic deadline. While necessary, focusing too much on the output (the plan), as opposed to the process (the planning) can be detrimental to an organisations asset management outcomes over time. A good friend of mine says that in asset-centric organisations we too often hear '𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻' used as a noun rather than a verb.

I believe building asset planning capability can significantly help asset-centric organisations in the following ways:

𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Building planning capability goes beyond meeting immediate needs. It enables organisations to develop a strategic vision for the future, aligning infrastructure/asset planning with broader organisational goals.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Planning capability enables organisations to be more resilient and adaptable to changing conditions, such as technological advancements, regulatory changes, and environmental challenges. If planning is in our DNA and plans remain live and ever-evolving, then thy are ready to deal with change.

𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Effective planning ensures that infrastructure assets are managed in a sustainable manner, considering factors such as lifecycle costs, risk management, and environmental impact.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: A strong planning capability helps in optimizing resources by identifying opportunities for efficiency improvements, cost savings, and better asset utilization.

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Good planning involves engaging stakeholders effectively, ensuring that their needs and concerns are addressed, and fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration.

I've been guilty myself many times of having to 'dust-off' a plan, give something a 'quick update' etc to meet a necessary deadline. Deadlines are important and producing plans to put on display and communicate with stakeholders is necessary. But, we need to find a way to ensure we are building planning capability within all of our asset teams for the future.