Lack of mentoring!!!

Stick with it, I am in the same industry as you and a relative newcomer to planning (I have been in my role for nearly three years). My advice would be throw yourself into researching over the web - this is a great site to start - get in peoples faces to find out information without coming across as aggressive and your progression will come.

Cheers mate!

I shall remember that, now i have calmed down slightly!!!!

No problem, planning can be incredibly frustrating to start with, the main sticking point for me is people either want to be involved and tell you how to do everything right down to how to make a cup of tea or they want no involvement what so ever and leave you to drown!! Keep plugging away and the rewards will come, as you have the site experience from engineering you have a better starting block than some people.

James, I understand your frustration. Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. You can approach this two ways. One, the bottom up approach wherein you convene the team to build up a schedule - A good WBS helps here. This way this becomes the TEAM’S schedule. The second way is YOU do the groundwork and you make up the plan and it becomes...the PLAN! Method 1 has worked better for me because you gain consensus right off the bat. Method 2 usually requires tweaking down the line. Don’t be afraid to harass people, it’s part of the fun.

Stephen,

You’re absolutely right, get people involved right from the start and it becomes their plan. As for harassing people, when I was first starting I found this really was necessary as some people think it amusing to try and keep you in the dark. So you have to keep after them, but be polite and pleasant when you were doing it.

One sneaky trick I used to use, was if someone won’t give you the information you needed, go and ask their boss, and tell them why you’re asking. You only have to do that a couple of times before bosses get cranky and people start cooperating.

Chris Oggham

Hi Ian,

Its common to get frustrated initially...
I do have gone from the same phase. But one thing i would like to tell you, as u r new to the planning you have got better prospects to learn and impliment.
Being a new you can communicate openly with u r team, u can ask the doubts consult with seniors and with a time span you can also improve a lot.
N coming yra u ll be proficient with your work.
Cheers,
Abhi

Ian, another hint as to what has worked for me - don’t just keep asking for input. Give them some output - Gantt charts, cost reports, progress reports. Eventually, they realize that it’s circular and that they will only obtain some decent output if they provide decent input to you. This requires two things - Dedication on your part and a policy statement from upper management that "this is the way it’s going to be from now on".

A a Planning Engineer with almost 30 years experience I can tell than the frustration never subsides, but you do learn how to cope with it. Its all about winning the hearts and minds of all members of the project team.
Being new to the profession has the advantage that you can ask stupid questions and get away with it!.
As a Manager of a team of eight Planners I encourage them never to go seeking information with a blank sheet of paper, always prepare a simple draft programme so those in the know have got something to pull to pieces. We also employ the GOYA planning principle, which simply means Get of Your Ar** and got and get the data you need, a proactive approach is essential if you are to make the grade as a Planner.