Contingency Planning
Contingency Planning
The all-important plan B
Contingency planning is making a plan that takes possible future events and circumstances into account. Contingency planning can also be thought of as making a “plan B”, essentially to make a contingency plan is to have a backup should things go wrong.
Contingency planning is important in research because often times, technology, people and experiments in general can be unpredictable and fixing a mistake or an issue often takes more time if there is no contingency plan in place. By having a backup, you can ensure that your research can move forward without any unnecessary delays.
Tips and tricks for making a contingency plan:
If you are trying a lab protocol for the first time ask for advice from people who have done it before. See if they already have contingency plans in place.
Think carefully about potential problems with your original plan.
Think about alternatives to your original plan
Make sure your plan B is feasible, don’t be afraid to ask for other people’s opinions and advice.
Pinpointing pitfalls
Remember sometimes things don’t go as planned
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
One of the most important parts of a contingency plan is identifying the possible pitfalls of your original plan. This takes knowing and understanding your research at a high level, thinking through/visualizing how your experiments unfold and imagining everything that could possibly go wrong. Talk with others who have done what you are about to do (or at least something similar) and get their insights.
Possible problems
Types of Problems
You will encounter a lot of potential issues in your career but don’t worry most of them have solutions. Typical ones from undergraduate research experiences will include:
Failed experiments
Delays from other people like mentors or collaborators
For wet lab you can have contamination.
Lack of resources
Weeks that are way busier than you had expected they would be and you have no time.
A piece of equipment breaks
The anatomy of a contingency plan
Risk assessment:
What are the potential issues with your original plan? (see lists of potential problems)
How big of a threat do these problems pose?
Example: you need to do data analysis for a data set in the lab. Potential problems include you may not be familiar with the program your lab uses, and the program is older and may not work with your data set.
Identify the biggest threats
Once you have a list of problems figure out which are the biggest threats
What are things that well just set you back a bit and what are things that could derail your project?
Example continued: The first issue likely does not require a contingency plan because it is a minor problem and you can look up how to use the program or ask for help. The second issue is more of a major issue that does require a contingency plan because if you have no program to run your data through you are stuck.
Specify scenarios that would cause you to execute your plan
Figure out when you will need to use your contingency plan.
Example continued: When the lab program fails to work you will need a contingency plan
The response
How will you respond to the problem?
Who do you tell once the problem occurs?
How long will your plan take to execute?
What are possible solutions to the problem or alternatives to the plan?
What are some factors to keep in mind?
Example continued: When the program fails to work for the data set you can tell your PI or whoever is working closely with you on your project. You are hoping to find a solution in less than a week and you do so by looking for alternative programs online and talking to people who research similar data sets. You also try to be mindful of costs of different programs because your lab does not have endless amounts of money.
Reviewing your plan
Once you have a contingency plan go over it to make sure it makes sense and is feasible.
Check with others to get their opinion
Things to note
Not all problems require fully written out contingency plans.
If an issue can be solved by making extra reagent or having extra samples than you can just do that.
Common Issues
Overcomplicating the plan.
Not accounting for expenses
Ignoring or not seeking the input of others
Making assumptions about others’ roles/actions
What to do if you had no contingency plan for a particular event
Don’t panic.
Ask others (i.e. labmates, your PI, classmates or Sybbure mentors) for help
Don’t expect anyone to fix things for you but take people’s advice, don’t make excuses and apologize and fix it.
Once you have fixed the issue make a contingency plan for the future.
Thought Exercise: A contingency plan for picking a mentor
You are looking to join a research lab. You have talked to a couple of potential PI’s but you only liked one of them and you have agreed to join their lab. Unfortunately, a week later you find out the PI has just accepted a position at another University and you will have to find another mentor. The semester has already started and you really need to start research and make progress. This has slowed your project down and you are sensing that your PI is not happy with your progress. Your PI is making excessive demands to meet deadlines. What do you do? If you had made a contingency plan what would have been in it and how could that have helped you now?
References & Further Reading
Michele, et al. “Contingency Planning: ― Developing a Good 'Plan B'.” Leadership Skills From MindTools.com, www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_51.htm.
