Planning is so much easier said than done.

You may have learned all the right tools, practiced all the right approaches, and even gained the permission of your supervisor to begin using them, but gaining the audience to start planning will be harder than you think.

Your organization may broadly support the idea of planning and preparation. It may have planning related statements posted on walls, it may be part of every training program, and it may even be part of your values.

You may hear and see things that indicate that you are in an environment that is receptive to the idea of taking the time to plan before doing.

And even with all of that, sometimes you don’t get an audience for planning unless that audience is captive, and unless that audience has suffered from a lack of a plan just enough to listen to what you have to say.

Sometimes people aren’t ready to start planning until they can’t continue doing things the way they have always been done.

So if you’re lucky enough to be in just the right place at just the right time to be granted that moment, you have to be ready. Your team and your organization are counting on you to rise to the occasion.

Make sure that’s part of your plan.