Project Management is an essential part of any project that you start. In any kind of industry-best practices, like CMMI, Six Sigma, and ISO9001, you will hear discussions on how important it is. A Project Manager and his/her team are tasked in ensuring that the project is completed on time and within budget. If not, this could have a negative impact on the project, and possibly cost the company the renewal of the current project or future ones. The Project Plan is the key document that ensures that all major players understand the following main points:
- What is expected of them
- Main milestones and deadlines
- Dependencies
- Limitations
Project Plan Format
The standard format of a project plan are shown below. Remember to modify this according to what is appropriate for your project.
1. Cover Page
The cover page should have:
- Name of the project
- Your company’s name
- Date of issue
- Document revision number
Special Tip: Use page borders and your company’s logo to personalize the cover page. .
2. Signature Page
This ensures that all key players have read and understand what is expected. Special Tip: Get the signatures, especially from your customer. More often than not, they will pretend they had no clue if you don’t.
3. Document Revision History
You would format this page in table format. The headers would be:
- Change number, which starts at one
- Revision Date
- Section/Pages Affected
- Summary of changes
- Initial of person that changed project plan
4. Table of Contents
Special Tip: In Microsoft Word, use styles to create the Table of Contents.
5. Table of Figures/List of Tables
Any drawings, flowcharts, and tables in the project plan should go on this page.
6. Introduction
A two to three -sentence paragraph describing the project.
7. Goals and Objectives
Some people bypass this part, but this is something you might want to reconsider. This will give you and your team desired outcomes that will aid in challenging them to excel in the project. Goals are long-term, while objectives are short-term (12-24 months) tasks that will aid in achieving the goals.
Special Tip: Make sure your goals and objectives are S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, attainable, and timely).
8. Scope
Describe the quantitative assumption of the work plans, budgets, schedules, and expectations. If any work falls out of the defined scope, then the Project Manager must make adjustments, either to the scope or to the actual plan.
9. List of Deliverables
In this section, you should have the main deliverables for the project. If there are secondary ones, list them as an appendix, as well as descriptions for all deliverables, which includes the main ones.
Special Tip: A table can give a brief overview of the deliverables in a well-formatted way. Use it.
10. Milestones
These are the major tasks in the project that have to be accomplished. Have a start and end date for each one.
11. Assumptions
This section is where you would write what you assume will happen in the project.
Special Tip: They should be specific and measurable.
12. Constraints
Describe limitations and deadlines that the project must adhere to.
13. Critical Dependencies
These are related tasks and sub tasks that are dependent on one another. For instance, Task B cannot start unless Task A is completed, or Task B doesn’t finish unless Task A finishes.
14. Quality Management Approach
This section ensures that the customer’s expectations are being met. You should write about:
- How you plan to review the plan to ensure that it is going according to plan – The tools/techniques you will use to measure the progress
- The acceptance criteria for the final work
- Describe the roles and responsibilities of the individuals that will be in charge of monitoring the quality of the project
Special Tip: This is an essential part of a project. Create a separate document that will go into detail called the Quality Management Plan, and reference it in the Project Plan.
15. Project Standards
Identify standards, such as status reporting, meetings, acceptance criteria.
16. Roles & Responsibilities
Define individuals’ roles and responsibilities.
Special Tip: Use a table with headers: roles, description, and responsibilities.
17. Communications
Describe the ways and time individuals will communicate with one another.
18. Appendices
You would put the acronym list, detailed list of deliverables, forms that will be used, contact directory, etc.
Special Tip: Use a program like Microsoft Project to create a Work-Breakdown Structure (WBS) that will aid in creating a pictorial view of the project (i.e., Gantt charts, milestones, dependencies, resources, etc.). It will make it easier on everyone involved.
This will start you off in the right direction to create a functional project plan that will keep your project on-time, within budget that will ensure customer satisfaction.
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