Developing The Project Plan With The Project Team

How to Build a Project Plan With Your Team (Most PMs Get This Wrong)

🚀 Most project schedules fail before the first date is even typed.
Not because the work is difficult, but because the people involved don’t understand their role in building the plan.

In this episode, I will break down the real reason project schedules collapse and teache eight principles that help project managers build timelines with their team instead of guessing in isolation.

You’ll also hear a real-world story about taking over a project already in flight… and discovering the team thought the project manager builds the entire schedule alone.
(This moment leads perfectly into Principle 1.)

📘 What You’ll Learn Today:
• Why your team doesn’t understand the value of being involved
• How presenting an imperfect draft activates ownership
• Why using PM terminology shuts your team down
• How to start in Excel, not MS Project
• How to eliminate ambiguity in deliverables
• The C.O.R.E. negotiation framework for realistic timelines
• How to align schedule expectations with actual availability
• Why socializing a draft privately prevents leadership escalations

If your schedules constantly get challenged, questioned, or ignored — this episode will change the way you lead planning conversations.

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Stop trying to figure it out alone. Apply for 1:1 coaching and start leading like the project manager your team actually trusts.👉 Apply here: https://pxl.to/edwardcokejr




Chapters
00:00 Introduction: Why Project Schedules Fail
00:21 Taking Over a Project: The Initial Challenge
00:43 Building the Schedule: Team Involvement
02:43 Principle 1: Value of Team Presence
05:26 Principle 2: Presenting a Draft Plan
07:47 Principle 3: Clear Communication
10:50 Principle 4: Using Excel First
12:33 Principle 5: Breaking Down Deliverables
13:47 Principle 6: Structured Negotiation
15:17 Principle 7: Aligning Resource Availability
16:37 Principle 8: Socializing the Draft
17:49 Conclusion: Building Ownership and Alignment