• Question: How much do you plan before you do a test try of the project?

    Asked by Onlinegamebeater to Alex, Carmel, Kath, Sean, Steve, Valerie on 13 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Carmel Howe

      Carmel Howe answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      I probably should plan a bit more than I do. I normally have a test run of an experiment and write a rough protocol then gradually improve it each time I run the experiment. It’s hard to plan for every eventuality before starting.
      The risk assessment and a rough operating procedure generally has to be done though before you can start any experiment.

    • Photo: Valerie Bentivegna

      Valerie Bentivegna answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      Hm, it depends on the project. Sometimes I do a test-try before any of the planning, it helps figure out what the problems might be and if there’s a chance that things would work.
      But for most experiments it’s really important to write a plan: how many times I need to repeat the experiment (to make sure it’s really working!), how many samples to test, what to do when,….

    • Photo: Stephen Lang

      Stephen Lang answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      I find that planning within a project is essential, so that things come together when you need them.
      This is especially true when testing things. You have to know what you want to find out from the test, predict results so you can compare them to what actually happens and most importantly, safety planning. To make sure there are no risks of anyone getting hurt.

    • Photo: Alex Moldovan

      Alex Moldovan answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      I plan as much as I can and is reasonable. You need to be flexible and realise that it’s okay to go away from the plan if the project requires it.

    • Photo: Kathryn Thomas

      Kathryn Thomas answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      You can never do enough planning really, I think most of the time I dive in a bit quickly. As they say (The 6 P’s of military planning):
      Perfect Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

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