Project Plan Examples

A project plan is the outcome of the project planning process, where a project manager decides, prioritizes, and assigns the tasks and resources necessary to complete a project. Project plans will name the members of a team, what tools and materials are needed, and what steps must be taken to achieve success. 

How do you use a Project plan?

The size of your project doesn't matter. What matters is your structured approach, resources, and goals in order to succeed. Any project can benefit from using professional Project Management templates. They can be used for any kind of project, and provide intuitive ways to manage your project team. Essential elements of a project plan you shouldn't overlook:

1. Outline of business justification and stakeholder needs
Before starting your project, it is essential to align the project's goals and needs with your team and organization’s. How important is this project to the organizational objectives? How does it tie in with the goals for the year or quarter? What do the involved stakeholders expect?  
These are a few questions you can ask to outline and align the new project with your organization and stakeholder needs.

2. List of requirements and project objectives
Even though a project plan is a living set of documents that is sure to change during the project, it is necessary to set a deliberate course to meet the project objectives. As a project manager, you should analyze the needs of all parties involved in the project and determine the requirements to achieve them. What objectives must the project achieve to be successful? What features and capabilities should the deliverables have? As the project progresses, there may be a need to correct some aspects of your project plan and that’s okay.

3. Project scope statement
The project scope statement is one of the most essential elements of a project plan. It forms a foundation for the rest of the project plan. In the project scope statement, the project manager finalizes and records all project details to get everyone involved on the same page. This statement describes the project and its steps and requirements. It is usually the reference to get agreement and buy-in from external stakeholders involved in the project.

4. List of deliverables and estimated due dates
From the preparation of the project scope statement, you should now have a clearer idea of the deliverables and outcomes to be delivered to complete this project. From there, you should list out what tasks and deliverables each team member is expected to produce and when. A work breakdown structure is typically the best way to achieve this step. You can use a simple list, flow chart, spreadsheet, or Gantt chart to map out all the project work, assign to teammates, set due dates, and mark any dependencies.

5. Detailed project schedule
A common misconception about project plans is that the project plan is the same as the project schedule. The project schedule is simply one of many components of a project plan. In a project schedule, you estimate how long it will take to complete each task while leaving enough room for slack and dependencies. It is a clear calendarization of all required tasks and timelines. It shows the project's duration, who is doing what, and when each task begins and ends.

After downloading this sample template and filling in the blanks, you can easily customize the style, typography, details, and appearance of your Project plan templates. If this isn't the right plan that you are looking for then certainly take a look at the other letters that Bizzlibrary.com has to offer. Start now with this Project Management Templates Kit that enables you to set up projects, tasks, reports, and other files without having to start from scratch every time. For more details, check out this free Project Planner.