I have a lot of people asking "What should we be doing now?"

It might be that they're thinking of running for office. It might be that they want to help push our Texas Legislative Priorities through the legislature. It might be that they want to get ready for departments of the federal government to disappear (like the DOED).

My answer is always the same: plan early.

A discipline you don't often see applied in grassroots organization is project management, but it definitely applies. One of the first things you do in any project is identify your stakeholders.

A stakeholder is someone who can help, hinder, or impact the success of your endeavor. So you begin by making a list of these people - and include groups as well and the leader of those groups.

You're going to need a relationship with these people. Set some time to nurture that relationship.

Also, determine your project's scope. What are the goals? Milestones toward that goal? Timeline for those milestones? How do you measure the success of a milestone? Who is necessary to complete the milestone?

You don't need to complicate the definition of your scope. Here's a somewhat simplified approach to it.

So what does all of this accomplish? For one, it makes you think through what you want to achieve. It helps you pinpoint key dates, connect with the allies you'll need, and helps to breakdown the assumptions you have in what you want to do. Assumptions can kill a project.

"Projects are built on assumptions. Without them, it would be impossible to proceed. But some may lead to unanticipated or even tragic consequences. The root cause of catastrophic failures is often traced to flawed assumptions or poor risk management."

Any level of planning will help you succeed. Project management is a discipline worth your investment and I encourage you to buy a book to discover how it might increase your odds of success.

As they say, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Get started with your planning in the right way. Whatever you aim to accomplish in politics, applying project management can only help you.