The concept of decomposition

In business, decomposition is the division of one large task into several small ones. Achievement of the goal is broken down into subparts, and subparts are divided into simple actions. This makes it easier to execute plans, explain their tasks to employees, keep track of expenses, etc.

The topic of planning and task splitting has been continuously improved and studied for decades. For example, the breakthrough was the work of D. Doran, written back in the 80s.

Why do we need decomposition and what are its advantages?

Decomposition is about plans. Its use forms in the head the way to achieve a specific goal. And this gives a number of advantages:

• The preparation of deadlines and sequence of actions establishes the workflow. The team will be easier to direct, and each employee will understand what specific tasks he must perform.
• Large and abstract goals are a path to mistakes, problems and overwork. A clear and elaborate plan is easier to execute.
  

Want to set a specific goal? Define what you want to accomplish and why a specific goal is important.

• The risks of an abstract business are harder to weigh. You don't know how much money you will have to spend to achieve the goal and how long each step will take. Project decomposition is about doing an analysis that will help evaluate the full picture.
• It will be easier for the business owner to prioritize work.
  

You can decompose a plan to create a business, processes within the company and various tasks.

Making the plan correctly

If you're not experienced in decomposition, here are some actionable tips:

• Watch examples of decomposition of other companies, try to understand into which subparagraphs the overall goal was broken down.

Many companies have a history of their creation, it's best to start there. This will help to adopt a small part of the experience and help to choose a direction for development.

• We try to include force majeure situations and have a financial cushion for a rainy day.
• Set deadlines more than the minimum necessary. If a supplier fails, a landlord doesn't show up for a meeting, or an important employee falls ill, you'll have time to get out of the situation.
  
• Completion of all items in the plan should mean completion of the project.
  

A good set of goals can take days or weeks to prepare, so don't rush it.

Decomposition tools

Businesses have come up with many ways to create detailed plans. Here are just a few of them:

A mind map

Visualizes goals and prioritizes them. There's a main idea (start a business), and there are key tasks (rent space, hire staff, promote a service). There are simple steps to accomplish them. At the end of creating a mental map you will get a tree of goals that you need to achieve one by one. 

When creating a mental map, you can take into account the opinion of employees. In large teams, surveys and questionnaires play an important role.

To-do list

The simplest and easiest way. We write down a certain number of items to achieve the goal, cross them off when accomplished and gradually move on. When forming tasks, you can use brainstorming - analyze all available information, sit down and write several dozen possible plans to find the best items. 

The checklist can be used as a supplement. It works well for setting goals for the day or week. 

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart allows you to estimate the cost of a project, its duration, the number of employees needed, and other parameters. This is a visual illustration of a plan that often consists of 4 parts:

• Time axis.
• Bars, each representing a different task.
• A list of tasks.
• Work Dependencies. For example, an arrow that shows that you can't start a new task until the old one is finished. 

The plus side of the Gantt chart is that it can be used to detail even the largest projects. Other methods of decomposition it is more difficult to achieve this.

Also, the diagram can be supplemented with percentages of completion, key points and useful labels.

And here we teach how to make a competent business plan. We tell you about its importance and usefulness for startups and companies.

Kanban board

This is a workspace divided into time intervals (done, in process, on queue, agreed upon). Each task is represented as cards that move along the timeline. 

The Kanban board can be used not online, but right at the workplace.

PERT chart 

It consists of milestones (numbered circles) and work tasks (arrows) that need to be completed in order to progress through the plan. With the help of such a diagram it is easy to determine what needs to be done to develop the project. The advantage of this methodology is flexibility: you can think of independent tasks that will be performed in parallel or in any sequence.  

PERT is intended for very large and non-linear projects.

SMART methodology

This is another way to decompose objectives. Making a plan should go through 5 steps.

S - specific. An abstract goal differs from a specific goal in the level of certainty. You need to be clear about when the items in the plan will be achieved. Becoming rich is an abstract goal, opening a programming school and recouping your investment in a year is a specific goal. 

M - measurable. The plan should clearly spell out the dates, potential profits and business development costs. For example, you need to increase the number of subscribers in VK by 1000 people in two months. 

A - attainable. The business owner must have not only confidence, but also the necessary skills to achieve the goal. If you set unrealistic goals, it will lead to problems at work, stress and additional expenses.

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R - relevant. The immediate objective should be relevant and useful for the business. Increasing revenue is a good goal, introducing reports useless for statistics is a bad one. 

SMART is a popular methodology that should not be underestimated. It has been given attention by such giants as Forbes and LinkedIn.

T - time based. Allows you to get rid of laziness and coming up with unnecessary items in the plan.

How to competently make a plan for a small business?

To present the plan in the form of a decomposition, you need to follow the following instructions:

• Choose the main goal. It will help to determine the necessary subtasks and will be a reference point.
• Break it down into several components (on average 3-6 pieces). They should not overlap with each other.
  
• Each component of the main goal should be broken down one or two more times. These project items can overlap if it will simplify their implementation. The result should be a hierarchy of 3-4 steps.
  

For convenience, you can apply several decomposition methods at once. A mind map will help to determine the initial goals, and a Gantt chart will reveal each in more detail.

• Conduct an in-depth analysis, during which we check how necessary each item is for business development.
• Some tasks do not need to be done to achieve the goals. Therefore, at the end of the second time we check the problem areas.
  

The plan is ready, it remains to fulfill the project. There is a second method, which helps to form and fulfill complex tasks:

• we give the goal a title;
• we consider the nearest stage and decompose it into several subparagraphs;
  
• execute the resulting plan.
  

Repeat the sequence of actions until the project is completed.

How to decompose with a new team

At the startup or development stage, a business already has a team, but it has not shown itself. It is not clear what quality the work performed will be. Therefore, it is better to try to take into account the human factor, and in the analysis it is desirable to take into account how competent the staff is. 

Decomposition for small business should be plastic - sometimes it is better to change the way certain items are performed. It should not be thought that this breaks the team spirit or devalues the labor of employees. On the contrary, speeding up the completion of tasks will lead to success more quickly. 

How to measure the success of planning

Task decomposition is used to increase profits, and its effectiveness is tested on four points:

• Quantity. We compare how many tasks were completed before and after the preparation of new plans. You can also compare the number of subscribers, revenue, etc.
• Quality. We check how much the average check or the efficiency of specific tasks has increased.
  
• Timing. We look at the speed with which certain processes have become executed.
  
• Achievement of a global goal. In the short term, it is enough to approach it.
  

Success can also be tracked within specific departments.

Use the PxQ formula to test effectiveness. P is the average course cost or average check, Q is the number of checks.

Common Mistakes

Common mistakes are often made by entrepreneurs who have never applied decomposition in their work. Let's break down the possible planning problems..:

Too many goals. Calculating everything down to the last detail wastes time and does not bring results. It is enough to make a hierarchy of 4-5 sub-items.

Poor analysis. The plan will only work if it is based on reliable data. You need to know exactly the amount of costs, potential profits and how much you can repay investments. In this helps statistics, market analysis and advice from experts.

Complete decomposition of a large goal. Projects can be large, taking more than a year to realize. If this is the case, it is better to decompose them in parts. For example, first we break down the first three months of work into subtasks, and then everything else.

Lack of clear wording. Each point should be clear. Otherwise, you may get an undesirable result.

A small number of subtasks can also be harmful, it is important to keep a balance. To do this, competently prioritize. Buying equipment and furniture, for example, can consist of 4 steps: market analysis, contract with the supplier, purchase and check the integrity of the goods, arrangement at the workplace.