Your project management plan is the ultimate guide that will lead you through your project lifecycle, from start to finish. A documented project plan will keep you on track and help you to manage any unexpected risks and threats that arise along the way.
With the right approach and strategic planning, you can create an advanced project management plan that sets you up for success and ensures that your project stays on course, no matter what challenges you face.
But remember project planning is the core stage of any project plan…
Project planning is the process of defining the scope and objectives of the project. The action plan to obtain those objectives is also defined in every detail.
It is the most essential part of the project management stages. All critical factors of the project (such as completion time, budget, resources, team, and quality control) are determined in the project planning phase.
Project Plan Template in Excel
A project management plan or project plan is a document that contains the project scope and objectives. It delineates the anticipated approach to achieve the project’s ultimate goal. It answers all major questions about the project,
- What is this project related to?
- Why are we doing this project, Project Goals, Objectives, or Deliverables?
- How are we going to do it?
- When are we going to start?
- How long will each task take?
- How to track project progress?
- Writing a project report
A good project plan will reduce the chances of wasting valuable resources like time and money during the execution of the project plan. It involves considering all aspects of the project from start to finish beforehand.
It includes scheduling tasks based on their dependencies using project management CPM and PERT tools.
Performing risk analysis to predict what might go wrong during the project life cycle and making mitigation strategies to reduce the likelihood of occurrence and impact on a project timeline, performance, and budget.
To make sure to reduce the chance of wasting useful resources it is important to have a sound project plan before starting a simple or complex project.
In the project plan to create any documentation, some are used to track the project or view full status, some for portfolio dashboard, and others for keeping records of financial to other general ledger account details.
It’s very important to understand the template of planning, that has been used over the years.
For Annual customer conversion to Six Sigma assessment, product-based to an employee performance statistics report, Project financial summary to budget/cost estimation. Little things must be kept on record for further reporting at the end of the year.
8 Essential Project Plan Documents for Effective Project Plan Development
Project plan development is a critical phase in project management, laying the foundation for a successful project outcome. Experienced project managers understand the importance of creating a well-structured and comprehensive project plan. In this article, we will explore the key project plan documents that play a pivotal role in developing a robust project plan.
-
Project Charter
The project charter initiates the project and formally authorizes its existence. It serves as a high-level overview of the project, including project objectives, scope, stakeholders, constraints, and the project manager’s authority. A clear project charter ensures alignment on its purpose and objectives among all project participants.
-
Scope Statement
The scope statement defines the project’s boundaries, deliverables, and objectives in detail. It outlines what is included in the project (in-scope) and what is not (out-of-scope). Clear scope documentation prevents scope creep, ensuring that the project remains within its defined boundaries.
-
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical breakdown of the project into manageable work packages, tasks, and subtasks. It provides a visual representation of the project’s components, simplifying planning, responsibility assignment, resource estimation, and progress tracking. A well-constructed WBS is fundamental to effective project planning.
-
Project Schedule
The project schedule outlines the timeline for project activities and tasks, including start and end dates, dependencies, milestones, and resource allocations. Project managers often use tools like Gantt charts to create and communicate the schedule effectively. The schedule helps ensure that project activities proceed on time and in a coordinated manner.
-
Resource Allocation and Management Plan
This document outlines the allocation and management of project resources, including personnel, budget, equipment, and materials. It ensures the efficient and effective use of resources, preventing overallocation or shortages that could impact project progress.
-
Risk Management Plan
The risk management plan documents potential project risks and uncertainties. It outlines strategies for identifying, assessing, mitigating, and planning for risks. This plan helps project managers proactively address and manage risks, reducing the likelihood of unexpected issues derailing the project.
-
Quality Management Plan
The quality management plan defines quality standards, metrics, and processes for meeting project objectives. It outlines how quality will be monitored and validated throughout the project’s lifecycle, promoting a culture of continuous improvement.
-
Communication Plan
Effective communication is crucial for project success. The communication plan defines communication objectives, stakeholders, messages, channels, and communication frequency. It ensures that project stakeholders remain informed and engaged throughout the project.
Project plan development is a meticulous and crucial process in project management. These essential project plan documents provide structure and guidance for creating a comprehensive and effective project plan.
Phase of a Project Plan Development
First of all, you need to understand about different types of templates being used. For the preliminary plan, you required a blank type of document in which you paste your idea of the plan and checklist after getting plan ideas, there is the next process to detail some main features of a plan like through work breakdown structure or just according to basic project management life cycle principles.
Analysis of project planning
In this phase, we identify any prerequisite requirements, identify the team, and finalize the responsibilities of each member within the group.
Survey environment
Verify equipment type, estimation of date, project management documentation templates used tool and reporting representative, assign team leader and manager of the project.
Document summary of plan
List down complete items and procedures to implement in the process, and describe to each member the goal and target to achieve on a particular date. Each and everyone was clear regarding technical terms and facilities during the project plan.
Develop project plan
Microsoft Template for the project which type of tool is required, like using online web-based software for reporting to a team lead like a spreadsheet smart sheet, and Google Docs or using another method.
All are mentioned in this developing plan. Ideas about technology being used and future-projection analysis on it.
Coordinates with clients and stakeholders
In this phase maintain scheduled meetings with stakeholders, marketing plan for clients, meeting with investors, and other people involved in this plan.
Project budgeting
Project budgeting is a critical component of project management that involves identifying, estimating, and allocating resources to ensure a project’s successful completion. This process can be complex, requiring careful planning and monitoring to ensure that the project stays within financial constraints.
By accurately estimating project costs and creating a comprehensive budget plan, project managers can effectively allocate resources and make informed decisions about spending priorities. Regular monitoring of expenses and adjustments to the budget can help identify areas where cost savings can be achieved or where additional resources may be necessary.
How to make an effective project plan in excel template?
There are many reasons to have an effective project plan before starting a project few are,
Saves time
Helps to see every step of the process
Ensures not to forget anything
Before heading to the project management plan stage, it is important to conduct extensive research, choose the best team, and seek reviews from your team.
It takes several iterations to finalize a project plan to make sure there shouldn’t be any questions left unanswered that may affect the performance of the project later.
Starting with important components of a project plan like draft, scope, goals, process, resources, limitations, tasks, milestones, dependencies, deadlines, and stakeholders.
A simple or complex project plan consists of the following components which are known as project plan outline.
- Project Goal and Scope
- Scheduling
- Resources and their allocation
- Risks, Dependencies, Assumptions, and Constraints
- Financial Analysis
- Quality Control Plan
- Stakeholders Approval
For making a project plan template Excel, was widely used later on to be translated to project management tools to make a chart. Basic information should represents,
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- Task Description
- Progress of Tasks
- Task Start and End Date
- Task Duration
- Task Actual Start and End Date
- Task Actual Duration
After project planning, the next stage is to write it in a formal form to present in front of stakeholders. A formal project plan report should have the project management team brief introduction, scope, and objectives of the project, answer tough questions, project plan outline the project.
Advantages of business project plan document template
Significant advantages regarding business perspective not only create business profiles professionally. Make equilibrium in the office regarding multiple tasking project dealing.
These particular plan templates are not only time-saving but also give accurate direction to the project managers, Make sure these templates are not only compatible with Microsoft 2010 format but also excel in 2013 format.
Make a sample and test these Project Plan Template in Excel before implanting it in a finalized manner.
Willia Ohmer thanks for such intentions it will be email soon.