Now the product team will know exactly what you mean when you say you’re working on the “Sketch” step. I t’s usually the first thing stakeholders will read, and it should act like a Cliff’s-notes version of the whole plan. For example, you could send it to your team so they know exactly what’s required of them (and even customize the checklist for each team member). In the project plan example above, they used a flowchart infographic to work through their productivity plan. In a major time crunch? Each section should identify the risks associated with the work. Some simple projects may only need a flow chart, but others could need diverse visuals across a multipage marketing plan. Share your plan with the team and make sure they read it! Sample project plan example – Section 4: Cost/budget management. Pro Tip: You can change the colors in any of these templates. Doing so will convey that your team has the experience to handle any type of difficult personalities or situation and that you care about the success of the project from the start. Further Reading: Our guide to a successful employee onboarding process, with templates. It’s simple to modify the project plan templates in this blog post with our drag-and-drop online editor. You can build a beautiful project plan in just 10 minutes. Project Plan Outline Template. If you weren’t aware, a deliverable is something tangible that you can show to the rest of the team. Without all of this information, mistakes will be made and delays are guaranteed. If you’re submitting a status update to your stakeholders, however, you may want to include more context. While a project management checklist can be incredibly detailed, it can also provide a more generalized, bird’s eye view of a lengthy process. A project plan is a formal, written document that lists all key project details like milestones, deadlines, sprints or tasks, and owners, in an effort to manage, track, and control a project throughout its lifecycle. Here’s one example of a project plan in a timeline format: A project plan should answer these questions: The problem is, people dive into writing a project plan without understanding its purpose or the importance of its various sections. Will it make sense for this project and for the team? After you’ve put all of that work into creating this important document, you want to make sure that it has actually been reviewed. We have dozen of Gantt chart templates to choose from. montana.edu. Project outline sounds like a summary of how you will accomplish your project proposal or project plan to achieve all project related goals and objectives. Or in some cases, many processes, like in the beautiful project plan below: This project plan example is almost a work of art, but it still gets their point across very effectively. There are a few steps you can take to ensure that your project plan goes down in history for being well-written and on target. You can also use a timeline infographic to plan out your schedule. 4. Take this time to build a simple project plan outline—it doesn't have to have all the details just yet. You can track your project using a flexible chart that’s easy to update, like the chart templates offered by Venngage. It also uses icons to add visual interest and easily identify different stages. It’s also great to utilize the super-smart folks surrounding you to get their input on how the team can complete the tasks at hand without killing the budget and the team’s morale. Although you won’t be able to account for every possible divergence from the project plan before launch, you can outline what your general approach and mitigation strategies will be for common or likely risks. If you’re updating a chart or timeline, it’s a good idea to keep a copy of past iterations. Who will be on the team for this project and what role will they play? For example, this project timeline template outlines that tasks and milestones for each month in a year: While your priority when designing your project plan should be function, finding ways to make your design engaging is still important. This ensures that your client will understand the process, and what each step in the plan means. We hate spam just as much as you do. Same idea here with this project management checklist, except it’s not organized by date. We have thousands of professional templates. Some of them are free; some require a paid plan such as Venngage for Business. This planning process timeline is a high-level overview of building a new hospital, from service offerings to architectural plans. In fact, the negative effects of bad communication on cost and timelines increase as the project progresses. The fact is, a plan is more than dates. It’s common for different people to call a certain thing many names, and that can cause unneeded confusion. That’s why it’s important to not only set your goals, but to also report on your progress throughout the process. Once your team dives into working on a project, there will almost certainly be changes that need to be made to the project plan. Especially when there’s is an approaching due date that needs to be met. Before you embark on any project, it’s a good idea to start with a plan. If you approach it as something more than a dry document and communicate that aspect of it differently to everyone involved, it can and will be seen as integral to your project’s success. This approach will help the managers quickly see what needs to be done next. No matter the length or level of drama, every story is based on a story arc or an outline—or as we call it in the project management world, a project plan. 5. Jump right into your project planning with this accessible pre-formatted template. Or simply email the timeline infographic or instant message it for approval. Plus, it clearly states exactly what this team is working towards with each of their releases. Next, outline the baseline management plans (a communications management plan, quality management plan, etc. Further Reading: Our guide to creating roadmaps for project planning. When you’re first outlining your project timeline, it can be pretty overwhelming. A project timeline template is a versatile way to visualize milestones processes, and goals. There are several ways you can visualize your deadlines and keep everyone on track, as we’ll explore below. With these foundational tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating an impressive–and effective!–project plan. This section should describe, in general terms, the roles and authority of project team members. If they would have just listed all of that information, the relationships between all of it would be lost. TeamGantt, an online project planning tool, gives you the ability to quickly and easily build a project plan using most of the tips listed above, and makes it even easier to adjust using a simple drag and drop feature. Project team members and their roles may also be included. Not sure where to start? Like in this simple project plan template, they include deliverables like a report or a presentation: A lot of the time, simple project plans fail because they don’t list deliverables or the ones they do are too vague. itsc.org. Tips & Skills You’ll Need to Become a Successful Project Manager, How to Write a Good Project Plan in 10 Steps. A bad one is open and never really has an end date in mind. Good design work is consistent, it’s as simple as that. Not looking for a roadmap? You could even print this example off and hang it up in your office so everyone knows exactly what’s going on. Doing that would be like stabbing every single one of your coworkers in the back. For a smaller company, it’s easy to keep track of what everyone is working on. A project plan helps direct efforts and budget, but will usually experience some (if not many) changes as the project moves forward. A slightly advanced version of excel project plan to include notes and timeline. So if you’re not sure where to start, use one of these charts to get the creative juices flowing. Sara McGuire is the Content Marketing Manager at Venngage. This section should contain step 6, “Estimate each task’s costs outputs”. This is especially important if you’re including your project plan in a company newsletter, Slack channel or presentation (whether internal or to external stakeholders)–anywhere people need to understand a project at a glance. It is one of the most important of the processes that make up project management. Earn $200 or more when you refer a friend. Think about how much a simple misspelling distracted you in an email or presentation. For example, a good deliverable is very descriptive and has a due date. Who is the PM, and will he or she be in constant contact with you? Having a solid project plan is your best defense against project chaos. Further Reading: Our complete guide to nonprofit marketing or nonprofit communications. This guide will offer you tips for designing an engaging project plan and a bunch of creative project plan templates to help you along the way. Bold project plan outline. Basically, a plan is There are many different ways you can approach a project, but you should always start with a project plan to outline the objectives and goals that the project contains. At its core, a project plan defines your approach and the process your team will use to manage the project according to scope. This section of the Project Plan is where you outline the overall management approach for the project. Further Reading: Our guide to using Gantt charts for project management. This type of buy-in and communication builds trust on a team and gets people excited about working together to solve a goal. What are the factors or events that are calling for that date? This simple project plan chart has the same objective. This particular type of chart is handy because it allows you to show different timelines that run concurrently with each other, even if their start and ends dates are different. A Next, Now, Later plan can also really help your team out. Running ideas by the team and having an open dialogue about the approach cannot only help you with building a project plan, it’s also a big help in getting everyone to think about the project in the same terms. Pro Tip: Easily switch up the icons in these roadmap templates. Our in-editor icon library has thousands of professional icons. Select any icon in our templates to replace it. Outline Deliverables. Additionally, this consistency can help you quickly distill info to a reader. Who is on the project team, and what role will they play in those deliverables? A project plan is an essential document for keeping a project on track. It’s safe to say that a lot of time will be wasted as they try to figure out where to start. Some simple projects may only need a, , but others could need diverse visuals across a, If you weren’t aware, a deliverable is something tangible that you can show to the rest of the team. All you need is a calendar to check dates. Our guide to marketing plans has in-depth templates to help you plan what strategies will work for you. Our process infographic templates can also come in handy here, if you want to visualize the phases in a project.Â. Further Reading: Our post on case study examples, with templates that work across industries. Otherwise, we are just spinning our wheels and working on things that don’t really matter at that step. Here we’ll look at specific aspects of the planning process in nonprofits. But as your brand grows this becomes almost an impossible task. That said, millennials and Gen X prefer to do their own research online, making newer marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, content and email marketing essential. Well, you could, but the end result will be pretty lackluster. Take this time to build a simple project plan outline—it doesn't have to have all the details just yet. To save time with project planning, create a simple project plan template that you can refer to again and again. The updates are tracked in the top right corner: With Venngage, you can create multiple copies of a design. Detailed step-by-step explaining the structure of plan for Software Implementation with MS Project, using Traffic Light Indicators to manage projects plans, Agile Project Plans in MS Project and Excel. Grid view. Her writing has been published on Marketing Profs, HubSpot, and Content Marketing Institute. Project Plan Templates – MS Word + 10 x Excels Spreadsheets. Each task should have a start and end date. Learn by doing: create a project plan for free. Pro Tip: With highly collaborative project plans, it’s important to make them easily accessible to all team members. In fact, any solid plan should answer these questions: If your plan answers those questions and educates your team and clients on the project logistics, you’re creating a viable, strategic game plan for your project. Nothing is more critical to the success of a project than effective communication, according to a research paper for the Project Management Institute. During this phase, the project team should determine the required resources, calculate a budget and schedule, and prioritize the project. To show only part of the outline (A hierarchical structure for a project that shows the tasks groupings), select from the opened Show window the outline level number up to which you want to view. It’s always free to sign up and use Venngage. Try to make a simple project plan—the more straightforward and easier to read it is, the better.