Project planning is the process of figuring out how to finish a project in a certain amount of time, usually with set stages and resources.
One way to look at project planning is as a series of steps, such as setting measurable goals, figuring out deliverables, making a schedule, and planning tasks.
However, this can be done efficiently through a project planning template. Here are five free project plan templates in excel for your ready reference.
What is project planning with example?
A project planning template is a document, usually, in the form of a Gantt chart, that shows each step that needs to be taken to get from point A to point B. It’s like a road map that shows the project’s phases, the most important tasks and when they start and end, how tasks depend on each other, and important project milestones.
Project Plan Example of a Project
Section 1: Executive Summary of Project Charter
The first section of the sample project plan example covers the Executive Summary of the Project Charter including project constraints and assumptions.
Section 2: Scope management
This section includes what you have detailed in the first step in this article “Breakdown the work “. This includes three subsections:
- Work breakdown structure: Includes defined work package and sub-work packages and their associated breakdown sub levels.
- Deployment plan: Let’s say that the project involves deploying an application to state health partners.
- Change management plan: Let’s say that a development server for your project is administered by another organization that is responsible for installing machine upgrades and there are scheduled outages that will impact your project schedule.
Section 3: Schedule management
This section is about whether you stay on track with the planned schedule. Establish a baseline within the first two weeks of the project and monitor progress against the baseline on a weekly basis.
Section 4: Cost/budget management
This section of the sample project plan example describes the project’s cost management plan or provides a reference to where it is stored.
Section 5: Quality management
This section of the sample project plan example describes the project’s quality management covered in step number two in this article.
Section 6: Resource management
This section contains the description of the resource part.
Section 7: Communication management
It contains communication planning for a different types of communication between different stakeholders and the project team.
Section 8: Risk management
This section contains all risks identified in any element of the project; it mainly contains the Risk Log. The project managers normally maintain a risk log away from the project management plan in a separate document.
Section 9: Issue management
This section contains all issues that surfaced or were detected in any project element; it mainly contains the issue log. The issue log is normally maintained by project managers in a separate document away from the project management plan.
Section 10: Procurement management
Normally this section would include information related to material and human resources that can be procured. Thus, ensuring that the procurement of hardware including computers, development servers, and test servers is planned and managed properly.
Section 11: Compliance-related planning
In this section, you need to insert a list of compliance-related processes that the project team must adhere to in order to meet company compliance policies.
What is project planning template?
A project plan is one of the most important tools for any project manager. Even though it can be tempting to start working on tasks as soon as possible, taking the time to make a plan can save you money and time. Your project is always going to change, so you need a project planning template that can keep up.
Bringing projects to a close is satisfying, but it’s not easy. It’s even harder when more than one team works on the same project.
Do you start sweating just by thinking about it? Here’s the good news: no matter what team you’re on, the project planning template makes it easier to manage projects of any size or complexity while keeping stakeholders informed along the way.
How to use the project plan template?
- Step 1. Enter your project players.
- Step 2. Fill out the nuts and bolts.
- Step 3. Map out your project scope.
- Step 4. Plan your milestones and deadlines.
- Step 5. Include reference materials.
What is project planning tools?
Project planning tools are a set of methods and systems that make sure teams can complete both short-term and long-term projects. Tools for project planning include charts and graphs that can be used to track progress, ways to test and change every day processes that rely on repetition, and other steps that help organisations manage and improve important projects.
The following tools for project implementation, planning, and execution can help your organisation manage an improvement project, test different versions of a project, and keep track of a project’s tasks and parts from the beginning to the end.
Below is the list of some Project Planning Tools.
Gantt chart
A Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows the tasks of a project, when each must take place, how long each will take, and each task’s completion status.
Plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle
The PDCA cycle is a four-step model for carrying out change on both small and large scales.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
It is a crucial tool for determining the progress of the project to ensure that the project is on schedule.
PERT Chart
The Program Evaluation and Review Technique helps in analysing the tasks to complete the project and the time required to complete those tasks
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
It is a process of organizing the team’s work into manageable sections. It is a hierarchical structure of the deliverables needed to complete the project.
Project Documentation
Project documentation is created during the project lifecycle, which involves project scope, schedule, and risk analysis.
What are the 5 stages of project planning?
Stage-1: Setting Goals
Planning is the most important part of managing a project well. Usually, this stage starts with setting goals. The two most common ways to do this are:
- the SMART method (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely)
- the CLEAR method (collaborative, limited, emotional, appreciable, refinable)
Stage -2: Define Scope
At this stage, you will also define the project’s scope. The project scope is a detailed list of all the parts of a project, such as the activities, resources, timelines, deliverables, and boundaries.
Stage -3: Develop Project Plan
Make a project plan and work breakdown schedule. This means figuring out:
- time and cost for project
- roles and responsibilities
- quality
- milestones
- baseline performance measures
- progress checkpoints
- risk and resources for resolving unforeseen issues
Stage -4: Develop a Communication Plan
During this stage, you may also want to make a communication plan and a plan for how to handle risks, especially if you have stakeholders from outside the company.
Stage -5: Develop a Project Control plan.
Project Control plans often happen at the same time as execution, so there is a lot of overlap. They must keep track of how projects are going and how well they are doing, and they have to deal with any problems that come up during day-to-day work.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you figure out.
- if your project is on schedule and budget
- if specific tasks are being completed
- if issues are adequately addressed
During this time, you might have to change plans and resources to keep your project on track.
What are the steps of project planning?
The project plan makes it clear how the project will be run, tracked, controlled, and finished. Inputs for this stage include conceptual proposals, project schedules, resource needs and limits, and measures of success.
During the planning steps of a project, each activity needs to be looked at in detail and set up in a certain way. Following are the eleven steps of project planning, to be performed in set order.
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Overall management planning
- Determine how you will plan and integrate each work area
- Document project management plan
-
Scope Planning
- Determine detailed requirements
- Create the project scope
- Create WBS & WBS directory
- Document scope management plan
-
Schedule Planning
- Determine planning teams
- Define Activities
- Sequence Activities
- Activity Resources
- Activity Duration
- Determine critical path
- Develop Schedule
- Document schedule management plan
-
Cost Planning
- Estimate Costs
- Determine Budget
- Document cost management plan
-
Quality Planning
- Determine quality standard process & matrix
- Create process improvement plan
- Document quality management plan
-
Human Resources Planning
- Determine all roles & responsibilities
- Indicate who will do what work, at which time
- Any special skills are needed to accomplish the project tasks
- Document human resources management plan
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Communication Planning
- Plan communication & stakeholder engagement
- Document communication & stakeholder management plan
-
Risk Planning
- Identify Risks
- Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
- Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
- Plan Risk Responses
- Control Risks
- Document risk management plan
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Go- Back Iteration
- Repeat steps 1 to 8 based on feedback of team’s members and function
-
Procurement Planning
- Assess what to purchase and create procurement documents
- Finalize procurement document
- Document procurement management plan
-
Project Control Planning
- Create change management plan
- Finalise the how to execute and control parts of all management plan
- Develop realistic and final PM plan and performance measure baseline
- Gain formal approval of the plan
- document project control plan
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Hold Kick of Meeting
- Ensure the stakeholder and the project team are on the same page with the scope, goals, budget, timeline, and everything in between
Conclusion
Project planning shows everyone where you are, where you’re heading, and how you’ll get there. Project planning guides the project life cycle regardless of complexity. It saves time, money, and resources, and it boosts stakeholder buy-in and project commitment.
Project planning’s main goal is to optimize tasks, labor, and resources to meet project deliverables. Overall management, scope, schedule, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, procurement, and project control planning are common planning phases.
Project planning is iterative until the project is concluded. Project plans may be altered or abandoned before completion.