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How to write an effective project plan in 6 simple steps

Contributing writer

If you’re a Type A personality, project planning might sound like music to your ears. Setting deadlines, organizing tasks, and creating order out of chaos — what’s not to love?

The reality is that project planning isn’t for everyone. In one survey by Association for Project Management, 76% of project professionals said their main project was a source of stress . Poor planning, unclear responsibilities, and overallocation are often the culprits behind the stress. 

An effective project plan helps teams stay within budget, scope, and schedule, while delivering quality work. In short, it gets you to the finish line without the stress.  

What is a project plan?

A project plan, also known as a work plan, is a blueprint of your project lifecycle. It’s like a roadmap — it clearly outlines how to get from where you are now (the beginning of the project) to where you want to go (the successful completion of the project). 

“A project plan is an action plan outlining how…[to] accomplish project goals,” says Jami Yazdani , certified Project Management Professional (PMP), project coach, project management consultant, and founder of Yazdani Consulting and Facilitation . 

A comprehensive project plan includes the project schedule, project scope, due dates, and deliverables. Writing a good project plan is key for any new, complex project in the pipeline.

Why Are Project Plans Important?

Project plans allow you to visualize your entire project, from beginning to end—and develop a clear strategy to get from point A to point B. Project plans steer stakeholders in the right direction and keep team members accountable with a common baseline.  

Project plans help you stay agile

Projects are bound by what is traditionally called the “iron triangle” of project management . It means that project managers have to work within the three constraints of scope, resources (project budget and teams), and schedule. You cannot make changes to one without impacting the other two.    

Modern-day project management has shifted to a more agile approach, with a focus on quality. This means that resources and schedules remain unchanged but a fixed number of iterations (flexible scope) helps teams deliver better quality and more value. 

A project plan puts this “agile triangle” in place by mapping out resources, schedules, and the number of iterations — sprints if you’re using a Scrum framework and work in progress (WIP) limits if you’re using the Kanban methodology . 

As Yazdani points out, “Project plans help us strategize a path to project success, allowing us to consider the factors that will impact our project, from stakeholders to budget to schedule delays, and plan how to maximize or mitigate these factors.” 

Project plans provide complete visibility

A project plan, when created with a comprehensive project management software , gives you 360-degree visibility throughout the project lifecycle. 

As a project manager, you need a single source of truth on team members and their project tasks, project scope, project objectives, and project timelines. A detailed project plan gives you this visibility and helps teams stay on track.

Project plans also help to get everyone involved on the same page, setting clear expectations around what needs to be accomplished, when, and by who. 

“Project plans create a framework for measuring project progress and success,” says Yazdani. “Project plans set clear expectations for…stakeholders by outlining exactly what…will [be accomplished] and when it will be delivered.”

Project plans boost engagement and productivity

A well-written project plan clarifies how each individual team member’s contributions play into the larger scope of the project and align with company goals. When employees see how their work directly impacts organizational growth, it generates buy-in and drives engagement , which is critical to a project’s success. 

“Project plans provide…teams with purpose and direction,” says Yazdani. “Transparent project plans show team members how their individual tasks and responsibilities contribute to the overall success of the project, encouraging engagement and collaboration.”

How To Write A Project Plan in 6 Steps

Writing a project plan requires, well, planning. Ideally, the seeds for a project plan need to be sowed before internal project sign-off begins. Before that sign-off, conduct capacity planning to estimate the resources you will need and if they’re available for the duration of the project. After all, you want to set your teams up for success with realistic end dates, buffer time to recharge or catch up in case of unexpected delays, and deliver quality work without experiencing burnout .

Based on organizational capacity, you can lay down project timelines and map out scope as well as success metrics, outline tasks, and build a feedback loop into your project plan. Follow these project planning steps to create a winning plan:      

1. Establish Project Scope And Metrics

Defining your project scope is essential to protecting your iron, or agile, triangle from crumbling. Too often, projects are hit with scope creep , causing delays, budget overruns, and anxiety.

“Clearly define your project’s scope or overall purpose,” says Yazdani. “Confirm any project parameters or constraints, like budget, resource availability, and timeline,” says Yazdani.

A project purpose statement is a high-level brief that defines the what, who, and why of the project along with how and when the goal will be accomplished. But just as important as defining your project scope and purpose is defining what metrics you’re going to use to track progress.

“Establish how you will measure success,” says Yazdani. “Are there metrics, performance criteria, or quality standards you need to meet?”

Clearly defining what your project is, the project’s overall purpose, and how you’re going to measure success lays the foundation for the rest of your project plan—so make sure you take the time to define each of these elements from the get-go.

2. Identify Key Project Stakeholders 

Get clarity on the team members you need to bring the project to life. In other words, identify the key stakeholders of the project. 

“List individuals or groups who will be impacted by the project,” says Yazdani. 

In addition to identifying who needs to be involved in the project, think about how they’ll need to be involved—and at what level. Use a tool like Confluence to run a virtual session to clarify roles and responsibilities, and find gaps that need to be filled. 

Let’s say you’re managing a cross-functional project to launch a new marketing campaign that includes team members from your marketing, design, and sales departments. 

When identifying your key stakeholders, you might create different lists based on the responsibility or level of involvement with the project:

• Decision-makers (who will need to provide input at each step of the project)
• Managers (who will be overseeing employees within their department) 
• Creative talent (who will be actually creating the project deliverables for the campaign) from each department. 

Give your project plan an edge by using a Confluence template like the one below to outline roles and responsibilities.

Define roles, discuss responsibilities, and clarify which tasks fall under each teammate’s purview using this Confluence template. 

Getting clarity on who needs to be involved in the project—and how they’re going to be involved—will help guide the rest of the project plan writing process (particularly when it comes to creating and assigning tasks).

3. Outline Deliverables

Now is the time to get granular.

Each project milestone comprises a series of smaller, tangible tasks that your teams need to produce. While a big-picture view keeps teams aligned, you need signposts along the way to guide them on a day-to-day or weekly basis. Create a list of deliverables that will help you achieve the greater vision of the project. 

“What will you create, build, design, produce, accomplish or deliver?” says Yazdani. “Clearly outline your project’s concrete and tangible deliverables or outcomes.” Centralize these deliverables in a Trello board with designated cards for each one, like in the example below, so you keep work moving forward.

Each card on a board represents tasks and ideas and you can move cards across lists to show progress.

Defining the concrete items you need your project to deliver will help you reverse-engineer the things that need to happen to bring those items to life—which is a must before moving on to the next step.

4. Develop Actionable Tasks

Task management is an important component of any project plan because they help employees see what exactly they need to accomplish. Drill down those deliverables into actionable tasks to assign to your team. 

You can use either Confluence or Jira for different task management needs. If you want to track tasks alongside your work, like action items from a meeting or small team projects, it’s best to use Confluence. But if a project has multiple teams and you need insight into workflows, task history, and reporting, Jira makes it easy.      

“Let your deliverables guide the work of the project,” says Yazdani. “Break down each deliverable into smaller and smaller components until you get to an actionable task.” If a major deliverable is a set of content pieces, the smaller actionable tasks would be to create topic ideas, conduct research, and create outlines for each topic.  

Once you’ve broken down all of your deliverables into manageable, assignable subtasks, analyze how each of those tasks interacts with each other. That way, you can plan, prioritize, assign, and add deadlines accordingly.  

“Highlight any dependencies between tasks, such as tasks that can’t be started until another task is complete,” says Yazdani. “List any resources you will need to accomplish these tasks.”

When a task has multiple assignees, you need to streamline the workflow in your project plan. Say the content pieces you outlined need to be edited or peer-reviewed. A couple of articles may need an interview with a subject matter expert. Lay down a stage-by-stage process of each piece of content and pinpoint when each team member comes into play so you prevent bottlenecks and adjust timeframes.     

5. Assign Tasks And Deadlines

Assign tasks to your team and collaborate with employees to set deadlines for each task. When you involve employees in setting workloads and deadlines , you increase ownership and boost the chances of delivering quality work on time.  

After all, you want to move projects forward at a steady pace, but you also want to make sure your teams stay motivated and engaged. So, when writing your project plan, make sure to “set realistic and achievable deadlines for completing tasks and deliverables,” says Yazdani. “Highlight dates that are inflexible and factor in task dependencies. Add in milestones or checkpoints to monitor progress and celebrate successes .”

Use Jira and Confluence to create tasks that live alongside your project plan or meeting agendas.

Once you map out all of your tasks and deadlines, you should have a clear picture of how and when your project is going to come together—and the initial writing process is just about finished.

But that doesn’t mean your project plan is complete! There’s one more key step to the process.

6. Share, Gather Feedback, And Adjust The Project Plan As Necessary

While steps 1 through 5 may make up your initial writing process, if you want your project plan to be as strong and complete as it can be, it’s important to share it with your team—and get their input on how they think it can be improved.

“Share the plan with your project team and key stakeholders, gathering feedback to make adjustments and improvements,” says Yazdani. 

A tool like Confluence helps knowledge flow freely within teams and departments, leading to better teamwork, higher collaboration, and a shared understanding of priorities. Coworkers can use comments, mentions, notifications, and co-editing capabilities to provide and discuss feedback. 

After you gather your team’s feedback —and make any necessary adjustments based on that feedback—you can consider your project plan complete. Hooray! 

But as your project progresses, things may change or evolve—so it’s important to stay flexible and make changes and adjustments as needed.

“Expect to update your plan as you gather more information, encounter changing requirements and delays, and learn from feedback and mistakes,” says Yazdani. “By using your project plan to guide your activities and measure progress, you’ll be able to refine and improve your plan as you move through the project, tweaking tasks and deadlines as deliverables are developed.”

Download a  template to create your project plan and customize it based on your needs.

Example of a simple project plan 

A project plan doesn’t have to be a complicated spreadsheet with multiple tabs and drop-down menus. It’s best to use a project planning tool like Confluence — or at least a project plan template — to make sure you cover every aspect of the project. A simple project plan includes these elements:

• Project name, brief summary, and objective.
• Project players or team members who will drive the project, along with their roles and responsibilities.
• Key outcomes and due dates.
• Project elements, ideally divided into must-have, nice-to-have and not-in-scope categories.
• Milestones, milestone owners, and a project end date.
• Reference material relevant to the project.

Best Practices For Writing Effective Project Plans

A project planning process can quickly turn into a mishmash of goals and tasks that end up in chaos but these best practices can give you a framework to create a project plan that leads to success.

Use Other Project Plans For Inspiration

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel for every new project! Instead, look to other successful project plans for inspiration—and use them as a guide when writing the plan for your project.

“Review templates and plans for similar projects, or for other projects within your organization or industry, to get ideas for structuring and drafting your own plan,” says Yazdani.

To get started, use a Trello project management template and customize it for your project plan by creating unique lists and adding cards under each list.

Build your team’s ideal workflow and mark each stage of the project plan as a list, with cards for each task. 

Get Your Team Involved In The Process

You may be in charge of spearheading the project. But that doesn’t mean that you have to—or even that you should—write the project plan alone. 

“Collaborate with your project team and key stakeholders on crafting a project plan,” says Yazdani. “Input into the project plan supports buy-in to project goals and encourages continued engagement throughout the project.”

With Confluence , you can organize project details in a centralized space and build a project plan collaboratively.

Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of The Good

You may be tempted to write (and rewrite) your project plan until you’ve got every detail mapped out perfectly. But spending too much time trying to get everything “perfect” can actually hold up the project. So don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good—and instead of getting caught up in getting everything perfect from the get-go, stay willing and flexible to adjust your project plan as you move forward.

“Focus on outcomes, not plan perfection,” says Yazdani. “While it would be awesome for the first draft of our plan to require no changes while also inspiring our team and ensuring project success, our goal shouldn’t be a perfect plan. Our goal is a plan that allows us to successfully deliver on project goals. Responsiveness to changing needs and a shifting environment is more important than plan perfection.”

Use the right tools to succeed with your project plan

Writing a project plan, especially if you’re new to the process, can feel overwhelming. But now that you know the exact steps to write one, make sure you have the tools you need to create a strong, cohesive plan from the ground up—and watch your project thrive as a result. 

Atlassian Together can help with project planning and management with a powerful combination of tools that make work flow across teams.

Guide your team to project success with Atlassian Together’s suite of products.

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• Project Management Plan: Samples, Examples & Free Template

Learn how to create a project management plan that actually works and ensures you get your project over the line on time and on budget, with samples and examples.

Table of Contents

What is a project management plan?

What is a project management plan used for, what are the main elements of a project plan, how to write a project management plan, sample project management plan outline, using our project management plan template to build your project plan, project management plan: faq's.

A project management plan is a comprehensive document that outlines how a project will be executed, monitored, controlled and closed. For project managers and their teams, it's the ultimate toolkit for achieving their objectives while managing day-to-day pressures such as time, cost, scope, resourcing and risk. This guide outlines what a project management plan is used for, why it's important , and offers a step-by-step guide on how to make one that actually works.

Your project plan document is where you go deep on the ins, outs, overs, and unders of your project. It's where you break this vision down into the day-to-day execution of your project, covering everything you need to do to reach your project goals.

A detailed project plan will plot out everything from timelines to budget, resourcing to deliverables, and more, giving you a blueprint of what needs to be done (and when) that you can use to guide — and assess — your project.

The key components of a project management plan are:

Project Objectives

Scope Statement

Schedule Management

Cost Management

Resource Management

Communication Plan

Stakeholder Management

Procurement Management

Closure Criteria

Project Organization

Ready to get down to business? Here are 5 key things you need to do when writing a project plan.

1. Identify the baselines for your project

Before you begin writing a project plan, you need to make sure you have the basics down. Start by identifying the baselines for the project’s scope, schedule and cost, as the rest of your project planning will need to fit in around those constraints.

As mentioned above, these baselines should already be roughly outlined in your project charter — but here’s where you really start to map them out and create accurate estimates. And the more detailed, the better, because these are what you’ll be using for comparison to measure how your project performs.

2. Identify your project dependencies

Or in other words, ask yourself: what needs to happen before this other thing can happen? Identifying your project dependencies at the outset of your project means you can plan your timelines more efficiently, spot potential blockers, and ensure that you avoid unnecessary delays.

3. Identify project stakeholders

You’ll already have done the groundwork for this in your stakeholder analysis, but as you flesh out your project management plan and think through the phases of your project in more detail, you’ll likely start to find more project stakeholders at each phase.

Now is also a good time to go deeper on which stakeholders need to be informed and involved at which stages, for a more comprehensive stakeholder management plan you can use at each phase of your project.

4. Identify project milestones

What are the key markers of your project’s progress? It can be a concrete deliverable, the end of a phase in a stage-gate process — whatever milestones make sense to you, breaking your project down into manageable chunks, each with a defined goal, helps to keep the team motivated, allows you to celebrate each achievement, and signposts how the overall progress is coming along.  Learn more about using Milestones here .

5. Identify who’s responsible for what

Once you start to get a big-picture understanding of the work that’s needed and the resources you have to complete it, you can start deciding who should do what. Giving each item an owner is essential to getting things done. No more “oh, was I supposed to do that?” — once you identify who’s responsible for what, you can ensure accountability and transparency.

The 5 Stages of Team Development

All teams develop according to some natural patterns and using that knowledge, you can offer some guidance to build the kind of team that communicates well and finds better ways to collaborate and achieve the goals you’ve established. Here’s what you need to know.

Now let's go through a sample project plan. In the below example, we highlight the main sections of the plan and what needs to be included in each one to set your project up for success.

Section 1: Executive summary

The executive summary offers a concise overview of the entire project. It includes key highlights such as the project's purpose, objectives, scope, timeline, budget, and major stakeholders. It's often the first section stakeholders read to get a high-level understanding of the project.

Section 2: Project introduction

This section sets the stage by providing context and background information about the project. It explains why the project is being undertaken and introduces the main objectives and scope of the project.

Section 3: Project objectives

Here, the project's specific goals and objectives are outlined in detail. Objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to provide clarity and guidance.

Section 4: Project scope

The scope section defines what is included and excluded from the project. It helps prevent scope creep by establishing clear boundaries and also mentions any assumptions and constraints that may affect the project.

Section 5: Schedule management

This section details the project's timeline, including milestones and deadlines. It breaks down the project into tasks and identifies task dependencies. Often, visual representations like Gantt charts are used for clarity.

Section 6: Cost management

Here, the project budget is presented, including cost estimates for various project components. It may also outline cost control measures to ensure the project stays within budget.

Section 7: Quality management

This section focuses on the quality standards and objectives for the project. It describes quality control and assurance processes, as well as any inspection and testing procedures that will be implemented.

Project management template

Save time on setup without sacrificing attention to detail. With our project management template, you can quickly create project management plans that help you complete your project on time and on budget.

Try our project plan template

Section 8: Resource management

In this section, the project team is introduced, and roles and responsibilities are defined. It addresses resource allocation, scheduling, and, if applicable, procurement needs.

Section 9: Risk management

The risk management section identifies potential risks and uncertainties that could impact the project. It discusses risk assessment, prioritization, and mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of these risks.

Section 10: Communication plan

The communication plan outlines how project information will be shared with stakeholders and team members. It specifies communication methods, frequency, and reporting channels to ensure effective communication throughout the project.

Section 11: Stakeholder management

This section lists project stakeholders and analyzes their interests, influence, and expectations. It also outlines strategies for engaging and managing these stakeholders to ensure their needs are addressed.

Section 12: Procurement management

If procurement of goods or services is involved, this section explains the procurement strategy, vendor selection criteria, and how contracts will be managed.

Section 13: Change management

Change management procedures are detailed here, including how changes to the project scope, schedule, or other aspects will be requested, evaluated, approved, and communicated.

Section 14: Closure criteria

Criteria for determining when the project is complete and ready for closure are specified in this section. It may also include plans for project handover and post-project evaluation.

Section 15: Project organization

This section describes the project team's structure, roles, and responsibilities, ensuring everyone understands their positions and reporting lines. It may also mention external stakeholders and their roles if applicable.

Once you’ve documented your project management plan, bring it to life with a project management tool that will help you to stay on track, keep your team accountable, and promote transparency.

Here are 3 ways you can use Teamwork.com to supercharge your project management plan.

Add your supporting documentation to Teamwork Spaces

Use the Teamwork.com and Teamwork Spaces integration to link a project in Teamwork.com with a space in Teamwork Spaces, so your important project documents are only ever a click away.

Some documents you might want to add in addition to your project charter and project management plan include:

Scoping documents

Risk assessments

Change management plans

SOPs for important project processes

List of stakeholders and their roles

Outline of approval processes

Communications management plan

Any other best practices documentation or supporting info as necessary

You can even embed task lists into your pages and mark tasks as complete right from Teamwork Spaces, so you can keep work flowing without even needing to switch tabs.

Start adding your Milestones

Break down your work into Milestones and task lists that are going to help you reach them. With Teamwork.com, you can assign an owner to each Milestone, map out your Milestone due dates and see them represented in the project calendar, and even get a full change history for milestones so you can track any edits.

Visualize your task dependencies with a Gantt chart

Gantt chart-style views are a useful way to get a visual representation of your tasks and their dependencies, allowing for better scheduling and resourcing. In Teamwork.com, you can drag and drop to quickly rearrange your project schedule , without throwing everything out of order or straying off-plan.

Remember: software should support the way you work, not dictate it. So regardless of methodology or team type, create a project plan that works for you and your team — and find a tool that helps you put it into action.

Use our project plan template

Now that you know how to create a project management plan that actually works, you’re ready to implement using our team management software . To help you get up and running quickly, we’ve created a ready to use project plan template . Our project template will help you quickly create project plans that ensure all of your projects are completed on time and on budget

What is a project management plan template?

A project management plan template is a pre-designed framework that provides a structured format for creating a project management plan. It serves as a starting point for project managers and teams to develop their specific project plans, saving time and ensuring that key project management components are properly addressed.

How can a template help you build a great project management plan?

A template can help you build a great project management plan by saving time, ensuring comprehensive coverage of project management aspects, and incorporating industry best practices and visual aids for clarity. They also support collaboration, version control, and customization to fit the unique needs of each project, making them a valuable tool for project managers in achieving successful project outcomes.

What is the main purpose of a project management plan?

The main purpose of a project management plan is to provide a comprehensive and structured roadmap for successfully executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing a project. It serves as a central document that outlines project objectives, scope, schedule, budget, quality standards, resource allocation, risk management strategies, and communication approaches.

What tools do I need to help manage a project plan?

To effectively manage a project plan, you'll need a set of tools and software that cover various aspects of project management. These include project management software, communication and collaboration platforms, file and document management solutions, time and task tracking apps, and budgeting and financial management tools.

What steps are involved in the project planning process?

The steps involved in the project planning process include defining specific project objectives and scope, identifying deliverables and key milestones, budgets, risk assessment and quality control measures. It should also include a communication plan and stakeholder engagement strategies.

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• What is a project stakeholder?
• What is a project charter and why do I need one?

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How to Create a Realistic Project Plan with Templates & Examples

As a project manager, a huge part of your role is to write project plans that help you keep projects on track. But that’s not all a project plan should do. 

A project plan is arguably the most important document you’ll create for a project. At its core, a plan should communicate your project approach and the process your team will use to manage the project according to scope.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can develop a rock-solid planning process that guides your team and projects to success.

What is a project plan?

Project plan example: what to include, why you should always write a project plan, 5 steps to an effective project planning process, how to create a project plan in teamgantt, free project plan templates.

A project plan is a document that maps out the tasks, effort, timing, and resources needed to meet project goals within a predefined scope. It’s often presented in the form of a gantt chart because it’s easy to visualize the project timeline and ensure work stays on track.

Any solid project management plan should answer the following questions:

• What are the major deliverables?
• How will we get to those deliverables and the deadline?
• Who’s on the project team, and what role will they play in those deliverables?
• Which stakeholders need to provide feedback on deliverables, and when?
• When will the team meet milestones?

A project plan communicates this information in a simple, straightforward way so everyone clearly understands the objectives and how they contribute to project success. It may also be accompanied by other planning documents, such as a project charter , risk assessment , or communication plan .

While no two project plans are alike, they all share the same common building blocks. Be sure to include the following components in any project plan you create:

• Project tasks : A detailed list of work to be done organized by project phase, process step, or work group
• Project schedule : A visual timeline of task start dates, durations, and deadlines, with clear progress indicators
• Key milestones : Major events, dates, decisions, and deliverables used for tracking forward progress
• Dependencies : A line connecting tasks that need to happen in a certain order
• Resources : Assignments that indicate the person or team responsible for completing a task

Here’s a simple example of what a project plan looks like with these basic elements highlighted:

Some people don’t understand the power of a good project plan. If you feel pressured to skip the plan and jump right into the work, remind your team and stakeholders that having a plan benefits everyone by making it easier to:

• Build consensus before work begins : A detailed project plan ensures everyone has a clear understanding of—and agrees on—the overall process, scope, staffing, and even communications from the outset. That goes a long way in keeping project confusion and pop-up requests from gumming up the works.
• Avoid scheduling conflicts : Project plans enable you to organize tasks so it’s clear who's responsible for what and when. If your team is juggling multiple projects, you can cross-reference other plans to see who’s available to take on new work before committing to a timeline.
• Monitor project goals and scope : When new tasks creep in, it’s easy to lose sight of the original objectives. Spelling out the work you need to complete in a time-based plan keeps project goals front and center so you can ensure project scope stays intact.  ‍
• Hold your team and stakeholders accountable : A good project plan sets expectations around the process and pacing you'll follow each step of the way. When plans are shared with teams and stakeholders, it keeps folks honest about what is—or isn’t—happening and forces you to resolve issues in a timely way.

Easy drag and drop features with templates for faster scheduling. Plan a project in minutes, collaborate easily as a team, and switch to calendar and list views in a single click.

Poor planning can lead to some pretty ugly consequences—from missed deadlines and budget overages to team burnout and client frustration. That’s why it’s important to establish a solid process you can use to plan any project. 

Planning a project doesn’t have to be difficult. These basic project planning steps can help you write a plan that’s both realistic and on target.

• Start with project discovery & definition
• Draft a rough outline of your plan
• Formalize your project management plan
• Present & confirm your plan
• Execute your plan & adjust as needed

Step 1: Start with project discovery and definition

A project plan is more than a dry document with dates. It’s the story of your project, and you don’t want it to be a tall tale! So make sure you know all the facts before you start creating a project plan.

Understand the project scope and value

Understanding the ins and outs of the project will help you determine the best process and identify any snags that might get in the way of success. Conduct your own research to dig deeper on:

• Project goals and outcomes
• Partnerships and outlying dependencies
• Potential issues and risks

Review the scope of work , and dive into any documents or communications relevant to the project (maybe an RFP or notes from sales calls or client meetings). Be thorough in your research to uncover critical project details, and ask thoughtful questions before you commit to anything. 

Interview key stakeholders

If you want to dazzle stakeholders with a stellar project delivery, you’ve got to know how they work and what they expect. Schedule time with your main project contact, and ask them some tough questions about process, organizational politics, and general risks before creating a project plan. 

This will give project stakeholders confidence that your team has the experience to handle any difficult personality or situation. It also shows you care about the success of the project from the start.

Be sure to discuss these things with your stakeholders:

• Product ownership and the decision-making process
• Stakeholder interest/involvement levels
• Key outages, meetings, deadlines, and driving factors
• Related or similar projects, goals, and outcomes
• The best way to communicate with partners and stakeholders

See a list of sample interview questions to ask stakeholders so you can develop better project plans.

Get to know your team

The last step in the research phase is to take time to learn more about the people who’ll be responsible for the work. Sit down with your team and get to know their:

• Collaboration and communication styles
• Availability and workload

Understanding these basics about your team will help you craft a thoughtful plan that takes their work styles and bandwidth into consideration. After all, a happy team delivers better projects.

Step 2: Draft a rough outline of your plan

Now that you’ve gathered the basic project details, the next step is to knock out a rough draft of your plan. Take some time to think about the discussions you had in the pre-planning phase and the approach your team might take to meet the project goals.

Sketch out the main components of your project plan

Sit down with a pen and paper (or a whiteboard), and outline how the project should work at a high level. Be sure you have a calendar close by to check dates.

If you’re at a loss for where to begin, start with the who, what, when, and how of the project. A first outline can be very rough and might look something like a work breakdown structure . Make sure your project outline includes the following components:

• Deliverables and the tasks required to create them
• Your client’s approval process
• Timeframes associated with tasks/deliverables
• Ideas on resources needed for tasks/deliverables
• A list of the assumptions you’re making in the plan
• A list of absolutes as they relate to the project budget and/or deadlines

Considering these elements will help you avoid surprises—or at least minimize them. And remember, you’re doing this as a draft so you can use it as a conversation-starter for your team. It’s not final yet!

Get input from your team on process, effort, and timing

You don’t want to put yourself or your team in an awkward position by not coming to a consensus on the approach before presenting it to your client. That's why a project manager can’t be the only one writing a project plan.

Once you’ve created a basic project outline, take those rough ideas and considerations to your team. This enables you to invite discussion about what might work rather than simply dictating a process. After all, every project must begin with clear communication of the project goals and the effort required to meet them. 

Be sure to get input from your team on how they can complete the tasks at hand without killing the budget and the team’s morale. As a project manager, you can decide on Agile vs. Waterfall approaches , but when it comes down to it, you need to know that the team can realistically execute the plan.

You can also use this review time to question your own thinking and push the team to take a new approach to the work. For example, if you’re working on a digital product, could designers start creating visual concepts while the wireframes are being developed? Or can you have two resources working on the same task at once?

Running ideas by the team and having an open dialogue about the approach not only helps you build a more accurate project plan. It gets everyone thinking about the project in the same terms. This type of buy-in and communication builds trust and gets people excited about working together to solve a goal. It can work wonders for the greater good of your team and project.

Step 3: Formalize your project management plan

You should feel comfortable enough at this point to put together a rock-solid project schedule using whatever tool works for you. 

Build out a detailed project schedule that’s easy to read

Any good online project planning tool will help you formalize your thoughts and lay them out in a consistent, visual format that’s easy to follow and track. (Ahem, TeamGantt works nicely for a lot of happy customers. ) 

Make sure tasks have clear start and end dates so there’s no question when work needs to happen to hit project deadlines. Organize work into phases, and use labels and/or color-coding to improve scannability. The easier your project plan is to understand at a glance, the better!

See how to create a project plan in TeamGantt

Consider how your team likes to work

Be as flexible as possible when it comes to how your project plan is presented. There's no absolute when it comes to how to format your plan as long as you and your team understand what goes into one.

Remember, people absorb information differently. While you might be partial to a gantt chart, others might prefer to view tasks in a list, calendar, or even a kanban board. You can make all of those variations work if you’ve taken the steps to create a solid plan.

For example, here’s an Agile project plan we built that lists each sprint as its own task group with milestones for sprint planning and deployment.

And here’s what that same project plan looks like if you turn it into a kanban board in TeamGantt. Simply click the Board tab and set up your columns so your team can manage their daily workflows more easily.

If your team currently prefers spreadsheets and isn’t quite ready to use TeamGantt yet, try our free Excel gantt chart template .

Step 4: Present and confirm your plan

You’re almost finished! Now it’s time to do your due diligence. It’s easy to throw stuff in a plan, but you have to make sure you get it right.

Run your final plan by your internal team

Your team needs to know the reality of your plan as it stands after you’ve built it out in TeamGantt. And you want to be sure they’re comfortable committing to the details. If they don’t, things will quickly fall apart!

Always review your final plan with your team before delivering it to stakeholders. Why? Because things like dates and tasks—and even assignments—will shift as you formalize the rough sketch of your plan. 

Here are a few things you’ll want to discuss with your team as you review the final plan together:

• Review times
• Team work times
• Dependencies
• Time off, meetings, and milestones
• The final deadline
• Any assumptions you’ve made
• Major changes since your last talk

There’s nothing more embarrassing than delivering a plan with an error or a promise you can’t keep. Taking a few minutes to get buy-in from your team will give everyone peace of mind about your plan.

Review your project plan with stakeholders

Once you’ve confirmed the plan with your team and have their full sign-off, you’re ready to share your project plan with stakeholders . 

When delivering your project plan, make sure you provide an executive summary. This might come in the form of a project brief . A short recap of the overall methodology, resources, assumptions, deadlines, and related review times will help you convey what the plan means to the project and everyone involved.

Project plans can be daunting, so schedule time to present your project plan to stakeholders at a high level. Here are some things you’ll want to point out about your plan during this review:

• Overall process and pacing
• Major deliverables and timing
• The time they’ll have to review deliverables
• Overall timing for task groups or phases
• How far off you are from the deadline
• Wiggle room on the final deadline

If a stakeholder is interested in the day-to-day details, feel free to walk them through the plan line by line. Otherwise, start by explaining overall sections or phases, and be sure to come back to your plan at intervals throughout the project to remind them of tasks, next steps, and overall progress.

Step 5: Execute your plan and adjust as needed

Some projects are smooth and easy to manage, and others are a complete nightmare that wake you up at 3 a.m. every other night. Thankfully, having a solid project plan is your best defense against project chaos once work gets underway.

Keep in mind that project plans are living documents. Projects change constantly, and someone has to stay on top of—and document—that change. Remember to:

• Update your plan regularly as work progresses and things change
• Communicate changes to your team, partners, and stakeholders
• Monitor and communicate risks as your project evolves

Ready to plan your project in TeamGantt? Follow these easy steps to build a plan that’s structured well and includes the elements you need for project success.

1. Enter your basic project details.

To create a new project plan in TeamGantt, click the New Project button in the upper right corner of the My Projects screen. Then enter your project name and start date, and select the days of the week you want to include in your plan. Click Create New Project to move on to the next step.

2. List out your project tasks and milestones.

Now the real planning fun begins! Enter all the different tasks it will take to get the job done. If there are any key meetings, deliverable deadlines, or approvals, add those as milestones in your project plan.

3. Organize tasks into subgroups. 

Scrolling through one long list of tasks can be mind-numbing, even to the best of us. Break tasks down into phases or sections to ensure your project plan is easy to read and understand. 

4. Add task durations and milestone dates to the project timeline.

A visual project plan makes it easy to see exactly what needs to get done by when. Make sure every task has a start and end date so nothing falls through the cracks. TeamGantt’s drag and drop feature makes this planning step quick and easy.

5. Connect related tasks with dependencies.

Adding dependencies between tasks ensures work gets done in the right order and also helps you plan for delay risks. If your plan shifts and you need to move tasks around, dependencies speed up the process.

6. Assign responsible team members to tasks.

That way there’s no confusion about who’s doing what, and your team can update and manage their daily tasks . Don’t forget to check team availability along the way to avoid overloading anyone with too much work.

7. Use the RACI chart to define task roles more clearly.

This feature takes accountability one step further by letting you assign more specific roles to each task: Responsible , Accountable , Consulted , and Informed . Learn how RACI charts work and what each role means.

8. Add hourly estimates and/or points to each task. 

This makes it easy to see the lift each task involves at a glance. Including hourly estimates in your project plan also enables you to manage workloads and track overages more accurately.

9. Color-code tasks for better scannability.

You can use colors to categorize tasks by project phase, priority, department, or team member—whatever makes visual sense to you and your team.

10. Add notes to clarify tasks or spell out important details.

There’s no such thing as too much information if it means your team has what they need to deliver quality work on time. Use the Notes section of your Discussion tab to enter any pertinent details your team will find helpful.

11. Upload important documents to the project.

This ensures project files are accessible to everyone in a centralized hub.  For example, you might attach your creative brief to the project so your content and design teams have clear direction for completing their deliverables.

If you’re planning a project for the first time or taking on a totally new type of project, you might be struggling to get your plan off the ground. We created a simple project management plan template to help you get started.

TeamGantt gives you the ability to quickly and easily build and adjust your plan using drag and drop scheduling. Plus, it comes with customizable views to fit every team member’s work style. 

Try our basic project plan template for free!

Looking for more specific project plan examples to jumpstart your process? Use these project planning templates to generate ideas and save time building out your plan:

• Construction project plan template
• Event planning template
• Strategic marketing plan template
• Tactical marketing plan template
• Software development plan template
• Video production schedule template
• Website project plan template

Plan your next project in minutes

Discover just how easy project planning can be with TeamGantt. Create your first gantt chart for free!

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Blog Marketing What is a Project Management Plan and How to Create One

What is a Project Management Plan and How to Create One

Written by: Midori Nediger Dec 11, 2023

Have you ever been part of a project that didn’t go as planned?

It doesn’t feel good.

Wasted time, wasted resources. It’s pretty frustrating for everyone involved.

That’s why it’s so important to create a comprehensive project management plan   before your project gets off the ground.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to create and design a successful project management plan.

We’ll also showcase easy-to-customize project plan templates you can create today with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor. Let’s get started!

  Click to jump ahead:

What is a project management plan?

How do you write a project management plan, project management plan templates and examples, what is the importance of a project management plan, what should a project management plan include, 5 key tips for creating a project management plan, project management plan best practices, common mistakes to avoid when creating a project management plan.

A project management plan is a formal document that defines how a project is going to be carried out by outlining the scope, goals, budget, timeline and deliverables of a project. Its crucial role lies in ensuring the project stays on course.

You write a project plan  during the project planning stage of the  project life cycle , and it must be approved by stakeholders before a project can move on the execution stage.

If some of these terms are new to you, you can get up to speed with this post on project management terms . 

This means your project plan must be engaging, organized, and thorough enough to gain the support of your stakeholders.

Further Reading : New to project management? Read our blog post on the 4 stages of the project life cycle .

To write a successful project management plan, follow these 5 steps below to create an effective plan that serves as a valuable tool for project management:

1. Highlight the key elements of your project plan in an executive summary  

An executive summary is a brief description of the key contents of a project management plan .

I t’s usually the first thing stakeholders will read, and it should act like a Cliff’s-notes version of the whole plan.

It might touch on a project’s value proposition, goals, deliverables, and important milestones, but it has to be concise (it is a summary, after all). First, make sure you develop a proof of concept .

In this example, an executive summary can be broken into columns to contrast the existing problem with the project solution:

The two-column format with clear headers helps break up the information, making it extremely easy to read at a glance.

Here’s another example of a project management plan executive summary. This one visually highlights key takeaways with big fonts and helpful icons:

In this case, the highlighted facts and figures are particularly easy to scan (which is sure to make your stakeholders happy).

But your executive summary won’t always be so simple.

For larger projects, your executive summary will be longer and more detailed.

This project management plan template has a text-heavy executive summary, though the bold headers and different background colors keep it from looking overwhelming:

It’s also a good idea to divide it up into sections, with a dedicated header for each section:

Regardless of how you organize your executive summary, it should give your stakeholders a preview of what’s to come in the rest of the project management plan.

2. Plot your project schedule visually with a Gantt chart

A carefully planned project schedule is key to the success of any project. Without one, your project will likely crumble into a mess of missed deadlines, poor team management, and scope creep.

Luckily, project planning tools like Gantt charts and project timelines make creating your project schedule easy. You can visually plot each project task, add major milestones, then look for any dependencies or conflicts that you haven’t accounted for.

For example, this Gantt chart template outlines high-level project activities over the course of an entire quarter, with tasks color-coded by team:

A high-level roadmap like the one above is probably sufficient for your project management plan. Every team will be able to refer back to this timeline throughout the project to make sure they’re on track.

But before project kickoff , you’ll need to dig in and break down project responsibilities by individual team member, like in this Gantt chart example:

In the later execution and monitoring phases of the project, you’ll thank yourself for creating a detailed visual roadmap that you can track and adjust as things change.

You can also use a project management tool to keep your team organized.

Further Reading:   Our post featuring  Gantt chart examples  and more tips on how to use them for project management.

3. Clarify the structure of your project team with a team org chart

One of the hardest aspects of project planning is assembling a team and aligning them to the project vision.

And aligning your team is all about communication–communicating the project goals, communicating stakeholder requests, communicating the rationale behind big decisions…the list goes on.

This is where good project documentation is crucial! You need to create documents that your team and your stakeholders can access when they have questions or need guidance.

One easy thing to document visually is the structure of your team, with an organizational chart like this one:

In an organizational chart you should include some basic information like team hierarchy and team member contact information. That way your stakeholders have all of the information they need at their fingertips.

But in addition to that, you can indicate the high-level responsibilities of each team member and the channels of communication within the team (so your team knows exactly what they’re accountable for).

Here’s another simple organizational structure template that you can use as a starting point:

Create an organizational chart with our organizational chart maker .

4. Organize project risk factors in a risk breakdown structure

A big part of project planning is identifying the factors that are likely to derail your project, and coming up with plans and process to deal with those factors. This is generally referred to as risk management .

The first step in coming up with a risk management plan is to list all of the factors at play, which is where a risk breakdown structure comes in handy. A risk breakdown structure is a hierarchical representation of project risks, organized by category.

This risk breakdown structure template, for example, shows project risk broken down into technical risk, management risk, and external risk:

Once you’ve constructed your risk breakdown structure, you’ll be ready to do a deep dive into each risk (to assess and plan for any triggers and outcomes).

Streamline your workflow with business process management software .

5. Plan ahead: create project status reports to communicate progress to stakeholders

As I mentioned earlier, communication is fundamental in any project.

But even so, something that’s often overlooked by project managers is a communication management plan–a plan for how the project team is going to communicate with project stakeholders . Too often, project communication defaults to ad-hoc emails or last-minute meetings.

You can avoid this by planning ahead. Start with a project kickoff meeting and include a project status report template as part of your communication plan.

Here’s an example of a simple project status report that you might send to stakeholders on a weekly basis:

This type of report is invaluable for communicating updates on project progress. It shows what you’ve accomplished in a clear, consistent format, which can help flag issues before they arise, build trust with your stakeholders , and makes it easy to reflect on project performance once you’ve reached your goals.

You might also want to include a broader status report for bigger updates on a monthly or quarterly basis, like this one:

The above template allows you to inform stakeholders of more major updates like new budget requirements, revised completion dates, and project performance ratings.

You can even include visualization of up-to-date project milestones, like this example below:

Want more tips on creating visuals to enhance your communications? Read our visual communication guide for businesses . 

A project management plan is probably the most important deliverable your stakeholders will receive from you (besides the project itself).

It holds all of the information that stakeholders will use to determine whether your project moves forward or gets kicked to the curb.

That’s why it’s a good idea to start with a project management plan template. Using a template can help you organize your information logically and ensure it’s engaging enough to hold your stakeholders’ attention.

Construction project management plan template

Time is money, especially with construction projects. Having a construction plan template brings order to the chaos.

Instead of staring at a messy pile of construction stuff, you’ve got a plan that breaks everything down into bite-sized pieces.

And let’s not forget the paperwork. Construction projects have rules and regulations to follow. Your project plan helps you stay on the right side of the law with all the necessary documentation and compliance measures.

Start with a meticulous project overview, like in the second page of this template:

Though you may think this project will be similar to others you’ve done in the past, it’s important to nail the details.

This will also help you understand the scope of work so you can estimate costs properly and arrive at a quote that’s neither too high or low. Ontario Construction News has great advice on this process.

Simple project management plan template

This simple project management plan template that clearly lays out all of the information your stakeholders will need:

Simple project management communication plan template

A key part of project management is making sure everyone’s in the loop. A project communication plan ensures everyone knows how, where, who and when the team will communicate during the course of the project. Also construction scheduling is a critical aspect of the project management plan as it helps to ensure that all necessary tasks are completed within the allocated time frame and budget.

The key is to figure out what kind of communications is valuable to stakeholders and what is simply overwhelming and won’t lead to better decisions.

This template clearly outlines all of these factors to help manage expectations and eliminate confusion about what will get communicated and when:

Commercial development project plan template

The below project management plan template is simple and minimal, but still uses a unique layout and simple visuals to create an easy-to-read, scannable project overview.

This template is perfect for building or construction management , or any technical projects:

When picking a project plan template, look for one that’s flexible enough to accommodate any changes your stakeholders might request before they’ll approve the project. You never know what might change in the early planning stages of the project! You can also use  project management tools  to help you with your planning!

A well-developed project management plan sets the foundation for a successful project by providing a roadmap that guides the project team toward successful project completion. A good project management plan can ensure that:

• Project objectives and goals are clearly defined and understood
• Project scope is effectively managed
• Resources are allocated efficiently to maximize productivity and minimize waste
• Risks are identified, assessed and mitigated
• Project tasks and activities are well-organized and executed in a timely manner.
• Communication among team members , stakeholders and project sponsors is effective and transparent
• Changes to the project are properly evaluated, approved and implemented
• Lessons learned and best practices are documented for future reference and improvement
• Stakeholders are engaged and satisfied with the project outcomes
• The project is delivered within the specified timeline, budget and quality standards

Before you start assembling your own plan, you should be familiar with the main components of a typical project plan .

A project management plan should include the following sections:

• Executive summary: A short description of the contents of the report
• Project scope & deliverables: An outline of the boundaries of the project, and a description of how the project will be broken down into measurable deliverables
• Project schedule: A high-level view of project tasks and milestones ( Gantt charts are handy for this)
• Project resources: The budget, personnel, and other resources required to meet project goals
• Risk and issue management plan: A list of factors that could derail the project and a plan for how issues will be identified, addressed, and controlled
• Communication management plan: A plan for how team and stakeholder communication will be handled over the course of the project
• Cost and quality management plan: This section encompasses the project’s budget, cost estimation, and cost control mechanisms. It also includes quality assurance testing and control measures as well as any testing or verification activities to be performed.

Basically, a project plan should tell stakeholders what needs to get done, how it will get done, and when it will get done.

That said, one size doesn’t fit all. Every project management plan must be tailored to the specific industry and circumstances of the project. You can use a project management app for smoother project planning.

For example, this marketing plan looks client facing. It is tailored to sell the client on the agency:

Whereas this commercial development plan focuses on specific objectives and a detailed timeline:

With those basics out of the way, let’s get into how to write a project management plan that’s as engaging as it is professional.

Further Reading : If you’re looking to create a proposal, read our in-depth business proposal guide. Then try our job proposal templates or business proposal templates .  

Before diving into creating a project management plan, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the project objectives and the expectations of stakeholders involved.

Without a firm grasp of these fundamental elements, your project may face significant challenges or fail to deliver the desired outcomes.

Here are key points to consider when creating a project management plan:

• Project Objectives: Clearly understand the project objectives and what you want to achieve. Identify the desired outcomes, deliverables and the purpose of the project.
• Scope of the Project: Determine the boundaries and extent of the project. Define what is included and excluded to ensure clarity and prevent scope creep .
• Stakeholders: Identify all stakeholders who will be impacted by or have an interest in the project. Understand their needs, expectations and level of involvement.
• Resources: Assess the resources required to execute the project successfully. This includes human resources, budget, equipment and materials. Determine their availability and allocation.
• Risks and Constraints: Identify potential risks, uncertainties and constraints that may affect the project. Understand the challenges, limitations and potential obstacles that need to be addressed.

Now that you have these key areas identified, let’s get started with creating your project plan.

Before you dive in, remember: a clear and adaptable plan is crucial for project success. Here are some best practices to keep your project plan on track:

• Use headers, columns and highlights to make your executive summary easy to read
• Plot your project schedule with a Gantt chart (with tasks color-coded by department or team member)
• Use visuals like organizational charts and risk breakdown structures to communicate across your team and with stakeholders
• Pick a flexible template that you can update to align with stakeholder requests

Creating a solid project management plan is crucial for setting your project up for success. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Lack of clear goals: Don’t just have a vague idea of what you want to achieve. Define clear, SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) for your project. That way, everyone will be on the same page and it’ll be easier to measure progress effectively.
• Unrealistic timelines: Be optimistic, but also realistic. Don’t underestimate the time required for tasks. Factor in potential delays and buffer time when creating your project schedule.
• Scope creep: New requirements mid-project can affect deadlines and budgets. Plan the project clearly upfront, and take into consideration any changes that might come up.
• Poor communication: Communication is key throughout the project lifecycle. Regularly update stakeholders, team members and clients on progress, roadblocks and changes.
• Ignoring risks: Things don’t always go according to plan. Identify potential risks upfront and have a mitigation strategy in place for each one.
• Not involving stakeholders: Get key stakeholders involved early on. This helps manage everyone’s expectations and that you have the buy-in you need for success.
• Neglecting resource constraints: Don’t overload your team or underestimate the resources needed. Carefully consider the skills, time and budget available when planning your project.
• Micromanaging: Trust your team! Delegate tasks effectively and give them the autonomy they need to do their jobs.
• Failing to document: Keep good records. Document project decisions, plans and communication. This helps maintain transparency and ensures everyone has access to the latest information.
• Not adapting to change: Be prepared to adapt your plan as needed. Projects are rarely static, so be flexible and willing to adjust your approach based on new information or developments.

So, that’s the scoop on project management plans! I hope this piece will help you to avoid confusion, keep expectations in check and be ready to tackle any bumps for your upcoming projects.

If you ever need a revision, just follow the steps we talked about, use those best practices and you’ll have a plan that sets your project up for a win. Just remember, even the best plans need some tweaking sometimes. Be flexible and adjust as needed and you’re good to go!

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Project Plan Examples: How to Write an Effective Plan (2024)

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Key takeaways

• A project plan is a vital document in project management that outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule.
• Effective project planning enhances resource management, mitigates risks, and improves project implementation and success.
• Project plans can vary in format, such as Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Gantt charts, and mind maps for brainstorming.

Jan. 8, 2024: Irene Casucian reviewed the information on this page for accuracy, refined the page layout, and added elements to improve the visual flow of information. She also created a downloadable project plan template.

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What is a project plan.

A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it contributes to the overall goal.

A project plan is the tangible output of the second phase of project management , project planning . This phase involves identifying and arranging each task necessary to cover the project’s scope, achieve deliverables, and meet the project’s goals. A comprehensive project plan developed in this phase is instrumental in tracking dependencies, staying updated on the status, and maintaining productivity throughout the project.

What are the key elements of an effective project plan?

A well-prepared project plan requires several key elements that will outline the project’s goals and define the stakeholders ‘ individual roles. Incorporating these key elements into a project plan is essential for effective project management and a higher success rate.

How do you create a project plan?

Step 1: define the project’s overall goals and objectives.

Identifying your project’s overall objectives and goals will help you measure the project’s success and keep your team aligned with the overarching mission. In this step, you should determine the desired outcome of your project that would represent its success.

By clearly understanding what the project aims to accomplish, project managers and teams can better identify the necessary tasks and establish the project scope . 

When defining your project goals, apply the SMART standards for a solid foundation. Make your objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This approach guarantees a clear, focused, and actionable framework for your project.

Step 2: Establish the project’s success criteria

To measure success effectively, align your success criteria with the project’s key deliverables and outcomes, and make sure they are based on its intended result. Confirm that these criteria are quantifiable and accurately reflect the impact and value your project aims to deliver. Such alignment is essential for accurately assessing the project’s performance and its effectiveness in achieving the intended results.

Step 3: Identify project milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables

To identify project milestones, break the project down into key tasks and outcomes and specify significant progress points or phase completions as milestones. Consider dependencies when establishing a realistic workflow. Additionally, identify potential risks that can impact task completion and define deliverables clearly as measurable results expected from each project phase.

Step 4: Assign roles and responsibilities to the team and stakeholders

Your project’s stakeholders include any individuals or groups related to the project. To assess if someone is a stakeholder in a project, determine how much they influence, impact, or have an interest in the project’s outcome. Consider if their involvement is direct, if the project’s results affect them, or if they can influence the project’s direction or success.

Examples of stakeholder groups include:

• Team members.
• Departments.
• Project sponsors.
• Contractors.

Once you have determined your stakeholders, you can define their roles and responsibilities. This can help you structure your project team, identify members who are directly responsible for its success, and make sure they are assigned the correct tasks to carry out the project appropriately.

When assigning roles and responsibilities, utilize a RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to clarify the involvement of each stakeholder in the project. This provides clear communication and accountability and prevents overlaps or gaps in responsibilities.

Step 5: Create a schedule and set a timeline

Creating a schedule and timeline for each task can provide visibility into the execution process and keep each team member productive.

Consider how much time is required to complete each task necessary for your project milestones. You can even break down tasks into smaller subtasks to make them more manageable. However, be mindful of factors that can cause delays such as:

• Resource limitations.
• Task dependencies.
• Unforeseen risks.

When creating a project schedule, visual tools like Gantt charts and Kanban boards help you map out task dependencies and timelines. A useful project management tool you can use for this step is Trello. Trello offers an intuitive platform for creating Kanban boards. It allows easy visualization and management of tasks through customizable columns and cards for streamlined project workflow.

Step 6: Establish an estimated project budget

To generate an estimated project budget, you must consider all of the necessary project resources, including personnel, labor, materials, and equipment. Establishing a project budget will help you make wise spending decisions throughout the project execution phase to avoid overspending. 

Step 7: Plan for communication and collaboration

A communication plan should show how information is shared among stakeholders. For instance, in a software development project, the communication plan might specify that the development team shares a beta version of the software with the client for feedback every two weeks. It’s a systematic approach to making sure that the client receives consistent updates about the project’s progress. Having a communication plan in place will also outline the channels of communication and frequency to all necessary parties. 

Leverage collaboration tools , such as Slack , that integrate with your project management software to receive real-time updates and interactions among team members and stakeholders. 

Step 8: Document the project plan

Compile all related planning information and documentation as you plan your project. Some of these vital documents include: 

• Stakeholder analysis.
• Feasibility study .
• Business case.
• Work breakdown structure .

Having these reports in one place will serve as a reference during the project’s execution.

Utilize a centralized digital platform, like Sharepoint , where stakeholders can store, update, and access all project documentation. This approach serves as a reliable reference and streamlines the management and tracking of the project’s progress.

Learn more about Sharepoint and other document management tools in our video overview:

Free project plan template download

Project plan examples.

Using an appropriate project plan format is essential to keeping stakeholders well-informed. Here are some of the widely-used project plan formats: 

1.  Spreadsheets

Using spreadsheets for project planning is beneficial due to its simplicity and widespread use, especially suitable for small-scale projects with straightforward tasks. Its customizable nature is excellent for simple initiatives like office events or basic marketing plans.

However, a significant drawback of using spreadsheets in project planning is the limited visualization options. While spreadsheets can manage data, they fail to offer comprehensive visual representations essential for a holistic view of project progress. Lastly, the risk of human error in data entry and formula setup in spreadsheets is high and can lead to critical miscalculations affecting the entire project plan.

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For more complex projects, Smartsheet is an ideal upgrade. It merges the simplicity of a spreadsheet with advanced project management features such as real-time collaboration, automated workflows , and app integration. More than just a basic spreadsheet tool, Smartsheet is particularly effective for large-scale projects like detailed marketing campaigns or cross-departmental efforts, offering comprehensive task tracking and resource management in a user-friendly format.

2. Slideshow presentations

Slideshow presentations for project plans provide a visually engaging method to simplify complex information. They effectively break down project components into understandable segments, using visuals, charts, and bullet points to highlight key information and timelines for team members and stakeholders.

However, the downside is that slide shows can oversimplify complex projects and potentially leave out critical nuances. They also require significant preparation time and may not be the best medium for detailed, data-heavy projects.

Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent choice for creating slide show presentations as part of project plans. It’s user-friendly and offers many templates and design tools. That’s why it’s suitable for beginners and seasoned professionals. PowerPoint’s ability to integrate with other Microsoft Office tools, like Excel for data representation, enhances its utility in project planning.

3. Gantt charts

Gantt charts create a clear visual timeline of a project’s schedule and progress by displaying various project elements’ start and finish dates. This approach helps identify potential bottlenecks and overlaps and facilitates better resource allocation and time management. However, Gantt charts can become cumbersome for complex projects with numerous tasks and dependencies.

Gantt charts are particularly effective in construction projects, event planning, and software development, where timelines and task dependencies are critical.

TeamGantt is an effective PM tool that creates clear visual timelines for project schedules and progress tracking. By allowing users to input various project elements, including tasks, milestones, and dependencies, and then assigning start and finish dates to each, TeamGantt generates an intuitive Gantt chart.

This chart visually represents the project timeline, displaying how different tasks and phases overlap and interconnect over the project duration. The color-coded bars and easy-to-read format make it simple to understand the sequencing of tasks and the project’s overall progress at a glance.

4.     Mind maps

Mind maps differ from other project visualization methods by showing a radial, non-linear format ideal for brainstorming and capturing the holistic view of a project. They emphasize the creative mapping of ideas and relationships. They promote the free flow of ideas and easy visualization of relationships between different aspects of a project. Mind maps can also help identify key components, dependencies, and potential challenges at the early stages of a project.

Moreover, using a mind map before presenting a Gantt chart can help ease the transition from creative brainstorming to detailed scheduling, resource allocation, and progress tracking.

Lucidchart is an excellent software solution for creating mind maps that can be converted into detailed reports. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop interface is ideal for conceptualizing project plans.

Lucidchart also stands out because it integrates with various tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. This integration can facilitate the transition from a visual mind map to a comprehensive written report.

Components of project planning

Work breakdown schedule development.

Using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project planning offers distinct advantages and some drawbacks. The primary benefit of a WBS is its ability to break down a complex project into manageable components. It is then easier to allocate resources, assign responsibilities, and track progress. This hierarchical project decomposition guarantees that every part of the project is apparent.

However, the main disadvantage lies in its potential rigidity; a WBS can become overly prescriptive, limiting flexibility and adaptability to changes or unforeseen challenges. Additionally, creating a comprehensive WBS can be time-consuming, and if not done meticulously, it may lead to gaps or overlaps in project planning.

monday.com includes a work breakdown feature to help teams organize complex projects into manageable tasks. Each task is separated into more minor subtasks assigned to the appropriate individuals. The chart also displays additional information, such as the deliverables, end dates, and schedules based on interdependencies.

Project and documentation management 

Project and documentation management in project planning has its own advantages and disadvantages. With this process, you can make sure that all project-related documents are organized, up-to-date, and easily accessible. This approach is essential for maintaining consistency and clarity throughout the project lifecycle. Yet, the downside includes the possibility of information overload, where team members might get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documents.

Agile teams use Jira for planning and managing their projects. Here, you can see some of the information regarding risks and dependencies compiled within Jira. This method of organizing this information can be helpful, as the platform can act as a single source of truth to keep team members updated on the status of specific tasks. It also makes it easy for teams to communicate with external stakeholders about factors impacting the project.

Benefits of creating a project plan

Effective project planning is the cornerstone of successful project execution. It involves several key aspects contributing to a project’s smooth functioning and success. Some of these benefits include:

Remember, an effective project plan is not just a document; it’s a strategic tool that integrates various critical elements to secure the project’s success.

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Get inspired: 4 great project management examples

We’re all familiar with is project management example. The moment when (eek!), your boss says, “Could you just…[insert incomprehensible but seemingly important task]?”

There is quite a wide range of project management tasks out there, all demanding that you complete the project on time and within budget. An example of an IT project could be creating a system to manage issues tracking, while one for operations could be creating a roster of employee dietary needs against package deliveries from start to finish.

No matter how simple or complex the project, we have it on good authority—and so do groups like the Project Management Institute — that starting with a sample project methodology is a great way to start.

In this article, we’ll cover that, identify the four key factors common to successful project examples, and share some top project management examples you can draw inspiration from.

First, here’s a high-level overview of the project management process.

The 4 common phases of a project

First, let’s talk about the phases that a project goes through from initiation to completion. The project lifecycle contains four main phases – initiating, planning, executing and closing. It’s a structured path that helps make sure that the project goes from conception to completion, ensuring that all stakeholders are in the loop and all project objectives are delivered at each phase.

Let’s look at each phase:

1. The initiation phase

This is when you get everyone onboard. The project manager needs to define the organization, client, customer’s goals, identify key stakeholders and define the project’s goals. They also need to define the project scope and determine the measurable objectives (SMART goals) for the entire team.

2. The planning phase

Next, map out the project. Define the key elements and numerous tasks involved in the project. Look at the project timeline and decide on who does what. It’s important to create a project plan with a checklist to properly manage the project budget, resources, costs, and timelines. Also, don’t forget to define deliverables at each key milestone or stage of the project.

Pro tip: the project manager should also account for potential risks and have a really good communication plan ready in case something goes wrong. This is especially critical for complex project that require multiple teams’ involvement.

3. The execution phase

Now it’s go time. In this phase, the project manager’s job is to oversee the process, making sure that everyone understands what is required of them, what project tasks need to be done, and make sure that everyone completes those tasks on schedule.

A few things that help during the project execution phase are:

• Use collaboration tools to make sure everyone are on track and working together
• Communicate time frames and goals regularly
• Use the right project management methodology (be it waterfall, lean, agile, or the critical path method or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ) to execute your project seamlessly.

4. The closing phase

At the final stage of the project, the project manager checks that every team completed all of the tasks and project deliverables, presents it to the stakeholders and gets them to sign off and officially close the project.

Why do the best project management examples start with a methodology?

Identifying a methodology during the project planning phase is both good project management practice, and common sense.

Organizations that invest in good project management practices, waste 21  times less money than those without an effective project management approach.

Methodologies set you up for success by providing the big picture perspective on each part of the project schedule and how the project is going to run.

There are traditionally 2 methodologies used for managing projects and they both have pros and cons:

The Waterfall framework

This example of a project management methodology is a linear, step-by-step approach where each new project phase follows the end of the previous one. It provides a great visual representation to every part of your entire project.

With this methodology, having a robust project plan is vital and lots of work needs to be done upfront to get really clear on the project goal. Examples of project teams who may use this method are those with fixed timelines and budgets, such as aerospace or defense teams.

The Agile framework

The Agile project management method in contrast is a more iterative approach where the project team members and project stakeholders work together to refine the project outcome through feedback and review.

Project activities are delivered through short “sprints” or iterations and a list of what needs to be done next — usually called the “backlog” — is prioritized according to feedback. Project activities are delivered through short “sprints” or iterations and a list of what needs to be done next — usually called the “backlog” — is prioritized according to feedback. IT projects are examples where Agile might be used.

Whichever type of project management or methodology you choose, there are a number of things you can do to increase your chance of a successful project and start earning kudos from your boss.

What are the critical success factors?

The Association for Project Management (APM) says there are 12 conditions for project success. It came as no surprise to us here at monday.com that proven methods and tools were one of the 12. After all, that’s what we’re in the business of. Read on for a list that could make you rethink how you craft project management project ideas.

These 12 conditions fall into 4 main factors:

• Visibility . From the outset, the project’s goals need to be clear to all key stakeholders (and match with business objectives). During the life cycle of the project, it’s important to understand who is working on what and when. A well-defined project management plan reduces confusion and makes sure the workload is evenly spread across the project team.
• Efficiency . To maximize the project’s value you need to minimize waste during the project lifecycle. Whether that’s wasted time, effort, or money, these things need to be monitored and well-controlled to determine project progress.
• Communication . Communication between members of the project team and the wider business is key for successful implementation. Effectively communicating the benefits of the project can improve the chance of its outcome lasting longer than ice cream on a hot day.
• Collaboration . Few projects run independently. Most success in project examples is attributed to collaboration across teams, and with internal or external stakeholders for creating a project and getting the job done.

How can project management tools help?

Ok, you’ve picked a methodology and you’re ready to get started. So why exactly does the APM think tools are so important for project success in any business project example?

Well first of all, you need a place to organize all of your information and to craft a smooth and automated workflow. Check out what one user had to say about monday.com as their project management tool .

monday.com is excellent at planning. Personally, we think it’s the best. What might surprise you is how intuitive it is to use. And how it integrates with all your other favorite tools. And inspires you more than a gantt chart . Which might be just what’s needed after that stakeholder meeting on a dreary November afternoon.

monday.com makes it easy to monitor the project through its lifecycle, keeping a keen eye out for scope creep with intuitive and customizable templates. Our project management software can also help you out with  resource management , time tracking,  and managing project risk.

And, what about a more Agile approach? Well, good visibility and communication are key.

Using a project management tool, such as a Kanban board , to help you track what’s been done, is being done, and needs to be completed is important for managing the backlog.

Using a sprint retrospective tool  allows you to review the sprint and collect the feedback necessary to decide on the next steps. Without an ability to gather and track this feedback it’s likely that effort will be spent doing the wrong things, decreasing the project’s overall value.

4 great project management examples

To get an inside look at how monday.com is the perfect platform to get your optimized project management workflow up and running, here are four examples from real monday.com customers.

1. The National Hockey League (NHL)

Challenge: Increase visibility

After first loading NHL game stats onto the web over 25 years ago, NHL developers have managed 100s of requests for custom applications. In-house developers now share the workload with a team in Belarus.

Relying on email and text to collaborate over different time zones was causing several challenges including unclear prioritization and ineffective workload management.

Solution: Development roadmap and sprint planning

Using the monday.com platform has brought transparency across the development cycle. Now, at any moment, everyone on the team can see who is working on what, and when.

Using the bar graph view, the business can easily track which units have commissioned the most development cycles across the year. The team also uses the Calendar and Chart app to organize and track fan engagement programs.

While initially focused on improving their sprint planning , the NHL has also begun to exploit other capabilities of the monday.com Work OS. Building workflow apps within the platform has reduced the need for custom development, reducing the development time by 4+ weeks per cycle.

For more on how the NHL increased their visibility and saved 4 weeks per development cycle, check out their case study .

2. Zippo scaling their business globally

Challenge: Improve efficiency while scaling globally

Zippo compiled their product catalog on paper-based worksheets before transferring them to a digital version. The process took around 2 weeks for 20–30 active projects and became outdated almost as soon as it was completed. Zippo knew if they wanted to scale their business their processes needed to become more efficient.

Solution: In integrated Work OS capable of managing internal workflows and external suppliers

Initially signing on 10–15 users with a monday.com Pro account, Zippo now has around 125 users on an Enterprise solution. Building the product catalog has become a collaborative effort with users able to drag-and-drop projects into the catalog and shift things around in real time as priorities change.

Through the dashboard views, stakeholders can track progress across all the projects and monitor the overall workload of the team. This means people can be matched to resource gaps speeding up delivery.

Zippo also set up an automated system for workflow approval. A reminder is sent to the task owner if there is an outstanding request. This makes the approval process faster and increases efficiency.

These changes mean that, over the last 8 months, Zippo could focus on global expansion, acquiring new businesses, and entering new markets.

For more on how Zippo improved their efficiency and saved £82k/year while expanding into new markets, check out their case study .

3. Deezer centralizing business development

Challenge: Enable global collaboration while keeping the ‘local hero’ approach

The music streaming service, Deezer has a team of editors worldwide who understand local music tastes and market towards them. Coordinating this dispersed team from the European HQ was challenging and campaign management was siloed within countries.

Business development was also managed regionally. With no centralized system, it was hard to prioritize support requests to other departments such as finance and legal. This meant new deals took a long time to reach the market.

Solution: An integrated, intuitive workspace that brings multinational collaboration

Deezer used monday.com to build a centralized pipeline of all business development projects which meant work could be analyzed and prioritized globally. This streamlined the work required from the support departments improving time to market speed.

There were also benefits for the customer engagement team. With the monday.com Work OS, campaign planning , management, and evaluation are now visible to teams in all countries.

For more on how Deezer improved global collaboration and increased their customer engagement by 483%, check out their case study .

4. The Israeli Government setting up a National COVID-19 Center

Challenge: Ensure effective communication during a global pandemic

As the number of cases grew, Israel set up a National COVID-19 Control Center. The Control Center brought together civilian and military agencies, for the first time, to manage the crisis and support front-line workers. Each agency had its own processes and way of working but a coordinated response was needed immediately if the situation wasn’t to grow out of control.

( Image Source )

It was proving incredibly challenging to get accurate testing information from labs and hospitals meaning it was impossible to create a “big picture” perspective of the situation. Essential equipment and suppliers were sourced in an ad-hoc manner and there was no central communication channel to monitor or follow up leads on potential suppliers.

Solution: A centralized, flexible platform with customizable permissions

Communication around procurement is now seamless, with multiple connected workflow apps integrating information on requirements, suppliers, approvals, and financing. These have customized permissions so the right people approve each step at the right time.

It’s also easier for hospitals and labs to communicate with the Control Center. The team worked with monday.com to create web and mobile forms to collect up to date information. These can be submitted at any time and entered into the centralized system immediately.

For more on how monday.com is continuing to support the Israeli government with their COVID-19 response check out their case study .

Be your own project management example

At monday.com we provide you with the features and solutions to help you feel more confident in tackling your next project with more ease and efficiency. What do you want to manage better?

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Project Management

5 real project management examples for your team.

Content Partnership Specialist

October 4, 2022

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Whether it’s a home or a business project, simple or complex by nature, the secret sauce to delivering successful projects is starting strong with the right strategy and execution plan .

You can do this (and do it well) with a go-getter mindset, proper project management approaches, and the right tools.

In this article, you’ll learn about the building blocks of project management, including the key success factors and phases, as well as how project management tools can keep them together. Then we’ll show you how it all works in practice with five real project management examples! 👌

The 4 Phases of the Project Management Life Cycle

Key factors for successful project management .

• 1. Marketing Project
• 2. SEO Project
• 3. Customer Enablement Project
• 4. Education Project
• 5. Product Launch Project

Managing projects from start to finish can come with long and complex processes . So, to help make everyone’s job easier, the concept of the project life cycle was introduced. 

The project life cycle, or project management process, consists of four phases: initiating, planning, executing, and closing. It’s a structured path your projects go through to help move them from conception to completion and ensure project objectives are delivered in each phase.

Let’s take a look at what the project manager is responsible for in each phase:

1. The initiation phase

Get everyone onboard. The project manager defines the organization, client, or customer’s goal, identifies key stakeholders, the project team, and the scope of work of the project , and determines measurable objectives for the team.

2. The planning phase

Strategically prepare and map out the project. The project manager is responsible for creating a detailed project plan and outlining the project schedule that includes the major project milestones and describes what tasks or deliverables make up each milestone. This is important because the project plan provides a strategy and project checklist to help properly manage resources, budget, and timeline along the project life cycle.

3. The execution phase 

It’s go time. In this phase, the project manager’s main job is to oversee the team’s efforts and ensure everyone understands what’s expected of them, what tasks need to be done, and how and when to complete those tasks to ensure everything is done within the project schedule. 

4. The closing phase

Time to wrap up the project. The project manager must identify that their team has completed all of the requested outcomes, then present the final product to the stakeholders to sign off and officially close the project.

📌 Key takeaway:

By following the project life cycle, you’re ensuring that you are: 

• Capturing the expectations of your customer
• Setting your project up for success with a plan
• Executing project tasks and addressing any issues or project risks that arise
• Closing out your project to capture any lessons learned and improve the next projects

Critical factors for successful project management can vary from one project to another, but here are a few factors that should remain constant no matter the type of project or what industry you’re in:

✅ Set SMART goals  

✅ Understand the project scope and prevent scope creep

✅ Identify project risks and create a risk management plan

✅ Clearly defined roles and responsibilities

✅ Effective team communication

✅ Maintain a high level of project visibility

How project management software gives teams flexibility 

With so many factors that can impact project success, using project management software can help to keep everyone and everything on track and ahead of curveballs.

A good project management app can take so much of the burden of managing projects off your shoulders by providing teams with the tools they need to get a high-level overview of their work, streamline business processes, create efficient workflows, communicate more effectively, and make collaboration seamless and more enjoyable. 

ClickUp , for one, helps project managers and teams plan, manage, track projects, and collaborate with each other—all in one place. Its fully customizable platform gives teams the flexibility and the advanced tools they need to create the most efficient workflow that best suits their project needs and preferences. 

And because the platform is fully customizable, teams in ClickUp are fully equipped to handle any type of project and support any type of project management methodology , including the most common approaches such as Waterfall, Agile (Scrum and Kanban), Lean, Six Sigma, and more. 

Key ClickUp features for effective project management include :

• Customizable views : View your projects your way; choose from 15+ views, including Gantt Chart, Timeline, and Workload view
• Custom automation : Save time, keep your processes consistent, and streamline your workflow
• Custom task statuses : Add and assign different stages to your tasks to improve project visibility 
• Custom Fields : Add more context to your tasks and display important information 
• Goals : Stay on track to hit your SMART goals with clear timelines, measurable targets, and automatic progress tracking 
• Project milestones : Easily set milestones to help you stay on top of important deadlines and track your team’s progress against major checkpoints
• Dependencies : Add “blocking” or “waiting on” dependencies between tasks to set a clear order of operations, so your team always knows what to work on first
• Task checklist : Create a to-do list within each task to ensure all steps are completed before moving the task forward
• Dashboards : Build a mission control center for each project, team member, and more to  ensure every project stakeholder has the information they need to control any project risk and keep the project delivery within its timeline
• Global time tracking : Track time spent on tasks, set estimates, add notes, and view reports of your time from anywhere
• Assigned comments : Create and assign action items directly within a comment 
• Mobile app : Keep your projects accessible wherever you go with the ClickUp mobile app
• Integration : Connect ClickUp to over 1,000 of your favorite work tools to streamline your workflow  

Now, let’s take a look at a few real-life project management examples and learn how other industry experts have successfully delivered projects using the right methodology and tools!

5 Project Management Examples and Tips for Successful Project Delivery

1. marketing project example: creating a cross-functional workflow.

Jakub Grajcar , a Marketing Manager at STX Next, leads a team of content and social media specialists, spearheads the Marketing department’s lead generation and brand recognition strategy and works with multiple departments to deliver projects. A typical day for the team includes executing upwards of five content deliverables, with Jakub often reviewing 10+ different projects at a time.

The problem?

Working with our Product Design department was a chaotic process. Our teams struggled with communication because we lacked project visbility—we often didn’t have clear information about whether tasks were still under review or needed more work.  We absolutely needed a system that would allow me and the Head of Product Design to get an overview of the entire process and come to grips with all the work in progress and upcoming tasks.

The goal? To help improve global collaboration across departments , and content marketing processes, speed up project completion and delivery, and keep the teams aligned on goals, project timelines, and so on by creating a cross-functional workflow and standardizing processes in ClickUp.

Here’s how Jakub and his team carried out this initiative: 

Initiation phase

• Identify the project: To create Marketing Sprints templates and team Dashboards 
• Define the desired outcome: Manage multiple projects, streamline partner outreach, and speed up the content production process

Planning phase

• Project management methodology: Agile  

Execution phase

Task checklist:

• Create Folders for each department and set up Lists within each Folder
• Within each List, create tasks and subtasks to breakdown the work even further 
• Save tasks as a template that can be reused as many times as needed
• Set up Custom Task Statuses to give each stage of the project a designated name 
• Add Custom Fields to each List to display and keep key information easily accessible
• Added custom automation to automatically trigger an action and push the project to the next step 
• Save the Folder as a template to be reused for the next Sprint and to keep processes consistent 
• Build a custom Dashboard with real-time reporting to display key data and improve task visibility

Closing phase

• At the end of the project, Jakub and the teams within STX Next tested the new Marketing Sprints template and Dashboard to ensure the process was smooth for everyone involved in the project and all of the custom automation in ClickUp was set up properly.

📌 Use this Marketing Sprint Folder template to help with project planning, keep project activities visible and organized, and streamline your processes. Hit the ground running with pre-set Board and List views, task estimation capabilities, and customizable automation!

2. SEO project example: Scaling content production

Adele Payant , ClickUp’s SEO Specialist, is responsible for researching opportunities and creating content briefs for the writers to use as a guide when drafting articles for the blog page. And to write compelling content briefs, she has to perform keyword research, competitive analysis , and other important related tasks, and ensure the content brief is detailed and easy to follow for the writers. 

The biggest challenge in our SEO blog workflow was focusing on scaling our content production without impacting the quality of each blog.

To create a clear and repeatable system to help our SEO team ramp up the volume of briefs without compromising the quality of the brief and reduce unnecessary back-and-forth communication.

Here’s how Adele executed this project:

Initiation phase 

• Identify the project : Create a detailed and structured SEO content brief template
• Define the desired outcome: Create a structured and consistent workflow for researching and creating content briefs, and speed up the approval process

Planning phase 

• Connect with the writing team to capture feedback about the current process 
• Start a new Doc and use the rich-editing tools to structure your page
• Add headers to define the sections in your Doc clearly
• Embed links to example articles and other key data from keyword research
• Add nested pages to capture notes for the assigned writer to review before drafting the article
• Save the Doc as a template 

Closing phase 

• To ensure the content blog brief is up to par, the Sr. SEO Manager, Sr. SEO Specialist, and Sr. Content Managers reviewed the Doc and presented the template to the content writers to review for readability and to gather feedback. The project is officially closed after all stakeholders have approved it.

📌 Use this SEO Content Brief template to clearly state your goals and objectives, and share it with your writers to improve content delivery.

For more SEO project management tips, check out ClickUp’s Sr. SEO Manager’s article: Tips to Optimize Your Workflow . 

3. Customer enablement project: Launching a new program

Robin Wisner , ClickUp’s LMS Administrator, is responsible for delivering a new initiative to give ClickUp customers a fun and interactive way to learn how to use ClickUp and maximize the features within the platform.

The Customer Enablement team, of which Robin is a member, launched ClickUp University (CUU) in November 2021. The new program received an overwhelmingly positive response from ClickUp users and ultimately gave the team the green light to launch another option to help further enhance user experience.

To accomplish this, she led the initiative to launch CUU Certificates—a program intended to recognize the ClickUp users’ product knowledge and reward them for completing the course exams.

The biggest challenge for a project of this scale was managing across so many teams with competing priorities .

To delegate work effectively and launch the new certification program on time to provide a measurable process for customers to successfully onboard and enhance their experience as a ClickUp user.

Here’s how Robin and the project team members made it happen:

• Identify the project : Launch and promote the new certification program 
• Define the desired outcome: To collaborate with different teams to design and launch the new certification program.
• Project management methodology: Waterfall
• Outline objectives for each certification level and course in ClickUp Docs
• Develop beta test group and SOP for testing in ClickUp Docs
• Outline the diagram taxonomy and customer journey in ClickUp Whiteboards
• Create ClickUp Tasks for content development and assign them to the designated team members 
• Use the ClickUp Form to submit a design request for the certificates
• Submit a request to create a new help center overview article
• Collaborate with the Dev Ops team to code and manage website design
• Run tests with the beta test group and collect feedback 
• Create internal and external enablement materials
• Submit a request for marketing promotional materials 
• To finalize and close this project, the project stakeholders reviewed the creative designs and tested the website’s performance and user experience. The approval was given once project requirements are met. 

📌 Use this Feedback Form template to customize your feedback collection, view all your feedback in one place, and improve your products and services.

Bonus: Project Management Software for Freelancers

4. Education project example: Building company-wide data reporting dashboards

Morey Graham , the Director of Alumni and Donor Services (ADS) at Wake Forest University, leads and manages fundraising campaigns , alumni relationships, brand identity, and publications within the Wake Forest community. 

Because teams worked on separate platforms, it created work silos that led to duplicated efforts and poor team communication. We also lacked visibility into our data which impacted our ability to make strong business decisions for the organization.

To find a new project management tool that is user-friendly for all the departments and to create a business dashboard that displays and updates data in real-time to help improve project visibility across the organization.

Here’s how Morey and the ADS department delivered this project:

• Identify the project : Create an accurate and reliable project dashboard for leadership and team members
• Define the desired outcome: Improve data reporting and task visibility across departments, and align team goals

Task checklist

• Consolidate work tools and integrate apps together to streamline the data reporting process
• Set an all-hands meeting with the department to collect feedback about the current process and document meetings notes in a Doc or Notepad
• Create a Space for each department to organize work by departments
• Within each Space, create a Folder for each project
• Within each Folder, create a List for each team member 
• Create Custom Statuses for every stage of the project
• Set up and add tags to tasks to categorize and link related tasks together 
• Establish goals and document targets for each in ClickUp Goals  
• Define your Dashboard audience and data story
• Choose the right KPIs to support the data story
• Select the widget that matches your reporting requirements
• Present the project to the department head and key stakeholders for review and approval to close the project. 

📌 Create custom Dashboards in ClickUp to get a high-level overview of all your initiatives, highlight KPIs, project status, and progress, to keep everyone on track and aligned at all times.

5. Product launch project example: Launching a new product feature

To further expand ClickUp’s list of features for project management, the company set out a huge initiative to build and successfully launch a new product feature, ClickUp Whiteboards . Spearheading the project is ClickUp’s Group Product Manager, Zach Blodgett .

The company’s vision was to create a powerful yet easy-to-use digital collaboration tool that project managers, executives, and team members could use to level up their brainstorming, planning, and execution processes.

The problem? 

The biggest challenge was team size and a rapidly approaching deadline. The deadline was immovable and we had a ton of stakeholders from GTM, sales, pricing & packaging, growth, support, CSMs, EPD. We had to ensure they knew what was going out, what was next, and how to talk about Whiteboards.

To use a project management tool to help manage tasks, communicate with stakeholders across the globe, and minimize risks and bottlenecks to deliver the new and highly-anticipated product feature within the agreed-upon timeline.

Here’s how Zach and the company launched a successful project launch:

• Identify the project : New feature rollout 
• Define the desired outcome: To successfully deliver a responsive and functional new feature and create GTM campaigns for launch day
• Project management methodology: Lean
• Delegate tasks to the respective team members within the Product and Engineering team
• Use the ClickUp-Github integration to preview branches populated in the tasks
• Create Clip videos to report bugs in development and to easily relay complex issues to other teams
• Connect with the Creative team to shoot promotional videos and ads
• Connect with the entire company to run beta testing and collect feedback
• Run tests with the Security team
• Collaborate with Sales to determine the pricing model
• Work with the Product Marketing GTM team to create a marketing campaign plan for the launch
• Set important milestones and schedule for beta release

Closing Phase 

• The CEO, Sr. VP of Engineering, and other key project stakeholders reviewed the product feature, and approved the final product before launch day.

Here’s the final look—check it out!

📌 Create a step-by-step approach to how your organization will bring a product to the market, and use this Go to Market Strategy template to help you ship faster!

Handle Any Project With Confidence By Using ClickUp

Successful project management starts with understanding what the ultimate goal of the project is, understanding the key elements that go into an intelligent project plan, and creating a smooth and actionable strategy to get there—refer to the project management examples above to help spark ideas.

You’ll also need to ensure to implement the appropriate methodology to guide you through the entire process and utilize the project lifecycle to keep you on track. 

And to make your life as a project manager as easy as humanly possible, you need to use a project management tool like ClickUp to help keep everything in order and bring all your work to one centralized place. Use it to track project progress, manage project risks and resources effectively, collaborate with your entire organization, and so much more. 

With its extensive list of customizable and functional features, you’ll be fully equipped to handle any type of project management approach, manage multiple complex projects at once, set up the most streamlined workflow, support your remote and hybrid teams, and confidently deliver quality projects on time, every time. 

(cue “That was easy” sound effect 😉)

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Project Scope Statement: How to Write One With Examples

The scope of a project is the sum of all the work that needs to be executed. A project scope statement helps project managers define the boundaries of what will and what won’t be done. But scope statements aren’t just about work management.

To write a project scope statement, you’ll need to understand the project goals, work breakdown structure and requirements, among other things. Then, once you’ve defined your project scope, you can create a scope document.

What Is a Project Scope Statement?

A scope statement is a document that defines all the elements of the project scope as well as assumptions, project requirements and acceptance criteria. Your project scope statement will act as the primary tool for stakeholders and teammates to reference and use as a guideline to accurately measure project success.

A project scope statement is part of the scope management plan , a larger document that contains all the strategies, rules and procedures to manage your project scope. In the same way, the scope management plan is an important component of your project plan.

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Project Scope Template

Use this free Project Scope Template for Word to manage your projects better.

Project Scope Statement Sample

To better understand what the project scope statement is, we thought it’d be helpful to visualize it using our free project scope template for Word as a project scope statement example. As you can see, it has the basic project scoping information on top and then goes into a general justification for the project’s need and how it’ll fulfill that.

Then we get into the main part of the project scope statement, such as what will be in scope and out of scope for the project. This creates boundaries for the project and makes clear what is essential and must be prioritized.

Now we get into explanations of the business objectives, such as targets that the project needs to hit in order to be successful, and the deliverables that’ll be produced over the life cycle of the project.

From there, you’ll describe project exclusions, issues of time, cost, scope, risk, resources and so on that could constrain it and whatever is assumed to be done in the project.

Finally, you’ll go into costs. The project scope statement is going to estimate the costs and list them all, including the estimated cost, the actual cost and the cost on completion of the project. Then you can show the variance, which is the difference between the estimated cost and the actual cost.

How to Write a Project Scope Statement

Now that we know what a project scope statement is, let’s learn how to write this important project management document. Similar to the five Ws of journalism—who, what, when, where, why—to properly outline your project scope statement, you must address these seven things:

1. Project Goals & Objectives

Project goals and objectives are what define the purpose of a project. Project objectives are the smaller steps that lead to the project goals, which are broader. Start your project scope document by explaining them. These goals and objectives should be documented in a project charter , too.

2. Project Requirements

Project managers and stakeholders must reach an agreement about the project scope and other project requirements such as the expected quality, risk, benefits and cost, among others.

3. Project Scope Description

It might sound easy enough, but this is the most important step. Here is where you’ll define your project scope, which is all the work that needs to be done to complete the project. Here are some simple steps to help you define the project scope.

• Use a work breakdown structure to visualize all your project tasks, deliverables, and milestones.
• List what’s within the scope of your project, and what’s out of scope. Everything that’s not included in the project scope is known as project exclusions.
• Identify project constraints, which are all the limitations such as time or cost.
• Create a scope baseline to compare your actual progress to the planned project scope.

Project exclusions and constraints are essential because they help establish boundaries for the project to exist. They also manage your stakeholders’ expectations/input and give your team members some creative limitations to work within.

4. Project Exclusions

While it’s imperative that you define the boundaries around what the project includes from the outset, it’s also extremely important that you list what this project doesn’t include. For example:

• Application updates that are planned for a later project and are intentionally not included in this project
• Restricted or rescheduled customer access to certain support lines/product features

5. Project Constraints

Project constraints are what make managing projects such a puzzle to solve. The top three constraints to managing any project are typically time, money and scope, known as the triple constraint of project management. They’re interconnected, meaning that if you pull one lever on ‘scope,’ another lever on ‘money’ or ‘time’ will also move.

But there are additional project constraints that can crop up at any time, including risk, resources, organization, method, customers and more. List all the constraints you foresee in your project, so you can try to have solutions in place ready to launch when needed.

6. Project Assumptions

Your project assumptions typically revolve around the very things that end up being constraints, including time, money and scope. For example, it’s in this section of your project scope document, “the front-end development team will be available during this project time period,” or, “the customer support team will receive new product training by x time.” It’s important to list these out as this won’t only tell key stakeholders what your primary resource needs are to make the project go, but it also gives you fast insight as to where your biggest risk factors lie.

7. Project Deliverables

List out the deliverables your team members need to produce in order to meet business objectives. This can include the product itself, instruction and installation manuals, marketing materials, press releases, advertising campaigns and more.

Your project scope statement outline helps act as a marker as you build out your full scope statement. Because while predicting the future of the project is impossible at such a high level, this is the first step to getting your project as close to the outcome as possible. By starting with the seven key statements above, you can get a head start on a successful project.

Gantt charts are the workhorses of scope management. However, most Gantt chart software is woefully limited in terms of its functionality. ProjectManager has dynamic online Gantt charts that do the regular organizing, prioritizing and linking dependencies and adding milestones. But unlike other tools, you can filter for the critical path. When you set the baseline, you’re able to compare your actual progress to what you had planned. There’s no better way to monitor project scope.

Project Scope Statement Examples

Now let’s review two simple project scope statement examples to better understand how a scope statement can be used in different industries.

Construction Project Scope Statement Example

Defining the scope of a project is one of the most important steps in the project planning process . In construction, defining the scope helps construction project owners, contractors and subcontractors not only reach an agreement on what the construction project will look like but also create an accurate project cost estimate based on the work, materials, equipment and labor that’ll be required.

• Project Goals & Objectives: Build a residential construction project, an apartment complex that will generate revenue for the construction firm.
• Project Requirements: Architects, engineers and construction project managers will work on the construction design to determine the specifications and requirements for the project. These include quality standards for construction materials and safety requirements, among others. To have a clear understanding of what these project requirements will look like, they’ll need to create a set of construction drawings and construction documents such as blueprints, a bill of quantities and computer-assisted designs.
• Project Scope Description: Once there’s a design for the building, the project scope can be defined by using a work breakdown structure that’ll allow the construction management team to zoom into the types of tasks that will need to be executed, such as masonry, plumbing, electrical and other types of construction activities.
• Project Exclusions: One of the most important things when writing a scope statement is to state what activities won’t be executed, known as project exclusions. Clearly explaining this helps avoid misunderstandings down the road.
• Project Constraints: In project management, there are three traditional project constraints; time, scope and cost. However, there are even more project constraints that can affect a construction project, such as resources, quality and risk. For any construction project, there will be constraints that need to be factored in during the project planning phase such as environmental concerns, local regulations and building codes.
• Project Assumptions: In any project, there are assumptions that subject matter experts will draw before the construction phase begins. These are usually things beyond the control of the construction management team, such as weather conditions, availability of suppliers and the ability of the team to complete work within the planned time frame. These assumptions will be proven true or false once the work begins.
• Project Deliverables: As previously stated, the construction project involves different types of work such as HVAC, electrical work, woodwork and masonry, among others. Each of these construction crews or subcontractors will be responsible for producing many project deliverables throughout the construction phase.

Manufacturing Project Scope Statement Example

Manufacturing projects generally involve the production of physical products. This takes a series of steps needed to transform raw materials into finished goods. Here’s a simple scope statement example for manufacturing.

• Project Goals & Objectives: Create a finished product based on market research and the strategic planning of the company.
• Project Requirements: There will be internal and external requirements for the development and manufacturing of your product. In terms of internal requirements, think about the concerns of your company stakeholders who will want low production costs, high profit margins and the shortest time possible to get a return on their investment. In terms of external requirements, consider the competition in your market and the preferences of your target customers such as the quality, price and features they expect from your product.
• Project Scope Description: The project scope in this case will summarize the different activities that are part of the production cycle. This includes the product development process, the procurement and transportation of raw materials, parts and components from suppliers to the production line, the assembling process, quality control procedures and the distribution channels that’ll be utilized to bring the product to the market.
• Project Exclusions: It’s important to explain to your stakeholders exactly what features will be included in your product as well as the quality standards that will be followed. Product documentation such as a bill of materials is ideal to define your project exclusions.
• Project Constraints: There will be project constraints specific to manufacturing such as limited production capacity, resource availability, customer demand and machinery maintenance.
• Project Assumptions: Brainstorm with different departments involved with the product, such as marketing, sales, production and maintenance to draft as many project assumptions as you can get. The more cross-functional insights you can get, the better. It’s important to be ready to face multiple scenarios. A good way to do so is to use linear programming models to simulate different levels of production and customer demand.
• Project Deliverables: The deliverables will be all the different product development documents that’ll guide the production process , the product prototype and finally the final version of the product that’ll be launched to the market.

Project Scope Statement vs. Scope of Work

There are a few things that project scope statements typically get confused with, including your scope of work . They may sound like similar project scoping documents, but here are the primary differences between these two.

Your scope of work is an agreement of work, typically between consultant and client, that details the agreement of work to be performed, including, but not limited to:

• Deliverables/products/results
• Project timeline
• Project milestones
• Reports to catalog project progress

While your scope of work can be time-consuming to write, it outlines the project itself and not necessarily the plan that’s to follow. The project scope statement, in turn, fulfills that role by detailing and mapping out exactly what to expect with the project plan and the project itself.

Scope Statement vs. Scope Management Plan

They might sound similar, and the outcome of the project may be similar, but a project scope statement is different from your project scope management plan . A project scope management plan is what follows the project scope statement, detailing the scope management process from the start to the finish of your project life cycle.

Additionally, it helps define the work that must be done over the course of the project, and it controls and monitors those processes. It also documents and tracks phases to avoid scope creep  and assists with project closing, including an audit of deliverables and assessing the project outcome for success factors.

Your scope statement isn’t nearly as involved—it’s just the umbrella over your project scope management plan, acting as a rubric for stakeholders and team members to follow.

Tips to Write a Project Scope Statement

Here are the best practices to consider as you write your project scope statement:

• Avoid using jargon-heavy language. You’ll be talking to multiple people across multiple departments and specializations, so keep the language consistent and clear.
• Keep it short. Since this is a project document that’s seeking stakeholder buy-in, there will likely be plenty of editing to be done before it’s finalized, and it’ll need to be a quick reference guide for later. So, keep it simple and save the verbiage for your full project plan.
• Stay away from sweeping statements. You don’t want to over-commit your resources to the project before it even kicks off.
• What are the long-term business benefits?
• What does it provide our customers that do not already exist?
• Is this better than what we currently offer on the market?

ProjectManager & Project Scope Management

Major project rollouts can be demanding on both your time and energy. Don’t let it overwhelm you before kick-off. For starters, you can use our Gantt chart software to create a WBS and get a visual on deliverables, as well as the tasks needed to complete before submitting your project scope statement.

From there, you can try ProjectManager and use our task management features to get all the necessary tasks organized, prioritized and sorted by project phase. You can even ask other people for input: team members can comment directly on the tasks so communication stays organized and to the point.

Keep tabs on your resources, tasks, deliverables and more so you can keep your project on track. With ProjectManager, you can practice mapping out your project timeline by using our Gantt chart, listing out deliverables using our task list or kanban tool and inviting team members to review the timeline before submitting the scope statement to key stakeholders. Start your free 30-day trial today.

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What Is Project Management? Definitions, Examples & More

Updated: May 29, 2024, 3:58pm

The goal of project management is to help a team achieve a goal or solve a problem with a set deadline. The project manager owns responsibility for the team hitting its deadline and meeting the goal. But what is project management exactly, and how does it work? Here’s a primer on everything you need to know to get your projects on track.

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Related: Best Project Management Software

What Is Project Management?

Project management uses processes, skills, tools and knowledge to complete a planned project and achieve its goals. It differs from general management because of the limited scope of a project, concrete deadlines and specific deliverables.

A project exists temporarily and must balance the involved team members’ time and usually the organization’s limited financial resources—a daunting task but one that can be accomplished in a few deliberate steps that utilize special methods and tools.

Steps of Project Management

Project management begins when a manager or team initiates a project. The five phases of project management include:

• The initiation phase. The project manager will assign—or ask for team members to volunteer—to complete specific tasks.
• The planning phase. The team agrees on a schedule with the client or among themselves for the project. The team may also create a communication schedule with key stakeholders, determine the project’s standards and set a budget during this phase.
• The execution phase. This phase is where the work gets done. Employees may work independently or as a team on tasks that were determined during the previous phases.
• The monitoring phase. The project manager monitors each person or team’s progress along the way to ensure the project is on track to meet the overall deadline and achieve its goals. This phase often happens simultaneous to the execution phase.
• The closing phase. Finally, the project manager ensures the team completed the project to the agreed-upon standards and communicates that the team completed the project.

Project Management Tools and Techniques

Even though every project has its own goals and challenges, team members can utilize similar project management tools and techniques to complete their various deliverables.

For example, a deliberate communication plan can serve as one of the most valuable tools in a project manager’s toolkit. A strong project manager communicates with all stakeholders and facilitates strong communication among team members working on the project.

And during the monitoring and execution phase, well-organized project managers may also rely on software to keep themselves and their team on track.

One software program won’t meet all your needs for every project but programs like Trello , Asana or Airtable will help your team members track their and each other’s progress. The software also makes it clear who owns responsibility for which task.

In addition, project managers may use traditional tools such as the Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) and Gantt charts to guide their teams’ work. PERT helps define the project’s scope and helps monitor the tasks that the team needs to complete. Gantt charts show the timeline and calendar view of when assignments are due. Many project management software applications now do this digitally.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the different types of project management methods, and which one is right for me.

There are dozens of project management types , and they all have different benefits and limitations that make them good for some environments, and bad for others.

What are the best project management tools and software?

To determine the best project management software , we ranked several tools based on ease of use, cost to your organization, each company’s customer support, as well as special features.

Wrike was our top choice. It earned the top spot because it works for companies and teams of all sizes. Airbnb, Google and Dell all trust Wrike to aid their project managers. Wrike also allows teams to create custom workflows, set timelines with interactive charts and reporting and build a visual representation that shows the progress of every project in real-time.

Other highly ranked project management tools include Asana, Monday and HighGear.

Who are project managers, and what do they do?

For the best chance at success, every project needs an owner who is responsible for its completion and success. Project managers exist to fill this need, keep a team on task and ensure the project meets the needs of all stakeholders. This designation could be a subset of responsibilities—or an official job title.

A diverse range of industries requires the skills of a talented project manager. You can be a project manager in construction, publishing, finance, professional services, utilities and many other industries. Despite the final result of the projects looking very different across these industries, the steps and skills to keep a team organized fluently translate across the business world.

Why is project management important?

Project management is important in business because it helps you complete projects successfully and hit goals for yourself and your clients.

Coordinating a multifaceted project for which several people owe deliverables, keeping everyone organized and ensuring the output meets expectations—all this while under the stress of a deadline—presents a challenge for even the most experienced project manager.

These challenges become more feasible through project management best practices.

• Best Project Management Software
• Best Construction Project Management Software
• Best Project Portfolio Management Software
• Best Gantt Chart Software
• Best Task Management Software
• Best Free Project Management Software
• Best Enterprise Project Management Software
• Best Kanban Software
• Best Scrum Software
• Best Agile Project Management Software
• Asana Review
• Trello Review
• monday.com Review
• Smartsheet Review
• Wrike Review
• Todoist Review
• Basecamp Review
• Confluence Review
• Airtable Review
• ClickUp Review
• Motion App Review
• Monday vs. Asana
• Clickup vs. Asana
• Asana vs. Trello
• Asana vs. Jira
• Trello vs. Jira
• Monday vs. Trello
• Clickup vs. Trello
• Asana vs. Wrike
• Project Management Methodologies
• 10 Essential Project Management Skills
• SMART Goals: Ultimate Guide
• What is a Gantt Chart?
• What is a Kanban Board?
• What is a RACI Chart?
• What is Gap Analysis?
• Work Breakdown Structure Guide
• Agile vs. Waterfall Methodology
• What is a Stakeholder Analysis
• What Is An OKR?

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What Is A Single-Member LLC? Definition, Pros And Cons

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What Is Network Access Control (NAC)?

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Meredith Galante is a full-time freelance writer living in New York City. She's been covering small businesses, the wine and spirits industry, and more for the last 10 years. Meredith graduated from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a degree in magazine journalism and political science.

Adam Hardy is a former assistant editor at Forbes Advisor, where he covered small business and tech. Previously, he was a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder, specializing in the gig economy and entrepreneurship. His work has appeared in the Asia Times, Business Insider, Creative Loafing, the Tampa Bay Times, Yahoo! Finance and other publications.

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6 Steps To Create A Project Charter (+ Examples & A Template)

Sarah is a project manager and strategy consultant with 15 years of experience leading cross-functional teams to execute complex multi-million dollar projects. She excels at diagnosing, prioritizing, and solving organizational challenges and cultivating strong relationships to improve how teams do business. Sarah is passionate about productivity, leadership, building community, and her home state of New Jersey.

Expert Evidence

Galen is a digital project manager with over 10 years of experience shaping and delivering human-centered digital transformation initiatives in government, healthcare, transit, and retail. He is a digital project management nerd, a cultivator of highly collaborative teams, and an impulsive sharer of knowledge. He's also the co-founder of The Digital Project Manager and host of The DPM Podcast.

Project charters are important documents that describe the scope and objectives of a project. Find out how to get our template to speed up the process of creating one, and get the deets on what to include and best practices from the experts.

Project Can't Start Without A Charter: Projects can't officially start without a charter, and skipping this step leads to misalignment and an increased risk of project failure.

Charters Secure Alignment & Buy-In: A project charter outlines the scope and business case, so all stakeholders are aligned on project purpose and deliverables before the project actually kicks off.

Blueprint for Project Success: A project charter defines roles, responsibilities, and project objectives, and empowers the project manager to execute project work and spend the project budget.

Keep It Simple & Big Picture: Your charter should provide a high-level overview, avoid unnecessary details, and keep things simple so that anyone involved in the project can understand what's going on.

Use a Template: Instead of creating a charter from scratch for each new project, use a template (such as ours!) to save you time.

Project charters outline the scope and objectives of your project. If you’re looking to kick off your new project on the right foot, a comprehensive charter is the way to start, and it saves you time down the line.

Without one, your project can't actually officially start, and there's no guarantee that all your stakeholders will be aligned on the project purpose and deliverables. This sets you up for scope creep, miscommunications, and ultimately, project failure.

I’ll describe what a project charter is and how a well-crafted one keeps us on track throughout the project management life cycle. You’ll also find project charter samples, a project charter template, and a list of software tools to help you develop and manage your charter.

What is a Project Charter?

A project charter is a formal document that outlines the shared understanding of a project’s scope , development, and project objectives , while also defining the roles and responsibilities of each party involved. It’s generally a fairly short document.

Project charters give the green light for a project to begin. Similar to the legal definition of the word “charter,” a charter in project management authorizes a project to exist and empowers the project manager to execute the work and spend the project budget. If the charter is approved, the project moves into the planning phase.

You might also see a project charter referred to as a brief or project initiation document (PID) .

Here's a quick recap:

When Should I Create the Project Charter?

The project manager should create the project charter during the project initiation phase . Documenting the purpose of the project, what activities will be part of execution, and who is responsible for performing which activities is critical for aligning key stakeholders before the project kickoff.

Project Charter Template & Sample

Download your template here and use this guide as you are completing it—the insights in this article will help you create a rock-solid project charter. We’ve also included a filled-in sample to give you an idea of what yours should look like.

Project Charter vs. Statement of Work (SoW) and Project Plan

It’s easy to confuse a project charter with a SoW or a project management plan (also known as a project plan), as these documents are closely related. In this section, I’ll define each document and explain when and how you’d use it.

Statement Of Work

A SoW addresses the business need for a project, states what is included or not included as part of a project, and describes specific project deliverables. A SoW also typically summarizes project assumptions and proposed acceptance criteria.

A SoW is a crucial point of reference for project stakeholders, and it’s absolutely essential for PMs to know how to create a SoW . While a well-written SOW can save you a world of trouble, on the flip side, even a tiny mistake can have massive repercussions down the line.

You can think of the SoW as a precursor to and key source of input for the formal project charter.

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Project Plan

Whereas the project charter explains the “what” and “why” of a project, the project plan describes the “how.” Similar to how the project charter builds on the SoW, the project plan builds on the project charter.

A project plan explains how you will manage the various aspects of a project, including potential risks, the project schedule , communications, etc.

Why is the Project Charter Important?

The project charter document is important because it gets your stakeholders to agree on why you’re doing the project, what’s in scope (at a high level), and who’s doing what. Some organizations require a signed project charter before allocating resources , including funding, to your project.

Let’s consider the benefits more in-depth, from the perspectives of each party involved.

Benefits for Project Managers & Teams

• Articulates project value proposition : helps you determine if it’s worthwhile to carry out the project
• Saves time down the road : the time you take to clarify objectives at the beginning of a project is time you won’t need to spend troubleshooting and negotiating later in the project life cycle
• Clarifies the budget : ensures that funding is available and will be released on time. Settling your spending authority and budgets saves time prior to starting the project.
• Sets clear guidelines for your project team : defining success criteria is invaluable for guiding the team as you begin to brief out the project
• Boosts team morale : a team working under a sloppy charter will repeatedly find themselves confused, with their hard work wasted or headed in the wrong direction. A well-written charter gives metrics for a successful project that your team can feel motivated and confident to work toward.

Benefits for Clients & Other Stakeholders

• Creates a shared understanding : stakeholders know what to expect and what constraints the project faces
• Serves as a marketing tool : the project charter can function as a sales document to justify new or existing investments.

What to Include in a Project Charter

Here's what to include in your project charter:

• Introduction : explains the purpose of the charter and provides the project name
• Business case and scope statement : explains the purpose of the project (including business drivers and any related projects), defines high-level activities that are part of the scope of the project (this will help avoid scope creep later), and covers the expected return on investment
• Success criteria : defines what success looks like and how the team will measure success
• Major requirements or deliverables : summarizes high-level requirements and/or key deliverables
• Budget : estimates project costs, ideally by project phase, and defines sources of project funding
• Milestone schedule : estimates project duration and summarizes each major part of the project and all milestones
• Assumptions and constraints : identifies known and unknown parameters upon project initiation
• Project risks : summarizes major known threats or opportunities that may affect project success
• Team and organization : defines project roles and responsibilities
• Approvals : includes a space for stakeholders to record their approval (or disapproval) of the charter.

In addition to these project charter sections, you may also include an appendix with documents such as:

• List of deliverables : if deliverables are already defined, this list contains details about each deliverable—what it is and the associated acceptance criteria
• Scheduling documents : project timeline, calendar, or other documents that sequence project activities and include details about each project milestone or phase
• Communication plan : this includes details about how each person involved will be kept informed about progress, scope changes , etc.

The Project Management Institute’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a good reference for more information about each of these key elements.

How to Create a Project Charter

There’s no single right way to create a project management charter, but here is a basic process you could consider:

1. Discuss With Stakeholders & Team

Gather information about the project by meeting with key stakeholders, including the project manager, sponsors, clients, and representative project team members.

Don’t forget that stakeholders may also include other teams that provide specialized support, such as network capacity and security experts.

2. Take & Organize Notes

In your discussions, ask questions and take notes that help you to fill out each of the sections of your charter. Use your time wisely to collect the most salient information; you can always fill in the supporting details later on.

3. Use A Template

Take advantage of the myriad project charter templates available online to create the format that best serves your project needs.

DPM Members can use our pre-made charter template, along with a bunch of other time-saving resources. Alternatively, you could use one of the sample project charters in this post as a starting point.

Or, if you want to build your own charter from scratch, you can work through this detailed guide from the Treasury Board of Canada , line-by-line.

4. Include Specific Information

Let’s start with a bad example. For a banking client, a project manager writes the project goal statement in the charter as “improve communication channels.” Yes, good communication is a worthy goal, but the way this is written leaves a lot to the imagination:

• Whose communication channels will be improved? Customers? Internal staff?
• How many users’ needs are we trying to address?
• Will we be updating an existing system or building a completely new system?
• When will it be completed?
• Does the scope extend to training on the new communication tool ?
• Will the contract include any ongoing support for the system?

A complete charter would provide clear, specific information on these questions so that the reader can understand the project purpose . Here’s a better example of a project scope statement (a key part of your charter):

“Create a new communication system to replace ABC system by December 2024, so that customers can chat with their product managers via XYZ bank’s proprietary mobile apps. Train 400 employees to maintain and support the system in-house.”

Of course, this is only the goal statement, not the entire charter. Yet, this example showcases the difference between a sloppily written and a thoughtfully written charter.

Apply similar logic to craft other sections of the charter. The goal of this exercise is for the project sponsor to have sufficient information to be able to approve the project.

5. Review With Team Representatives

After drafting a project charter but before reviewing it with a client, set aside time to review the charter with key members of your team to assess accuracy and completeness.

6. Present For Approval

Notice that this step is not “send for approval.” The project charter is the key to getting approval to undertake the project, and it’s important that it’s presented properly. Avoid simply attaching your charter as a PDF in an email, only to be ignored or dismissed out of hand.

Instead, present your charter to your sponsors, stakeholders, or clients—do this in a meeting or through a slide presentation that includes supporting media. Make sure you leave sufficient time for questions and answers.

Project Charter Examples

Here are three different examples of project charters to consider:

In this example project charter for an interactive voice response system, the project manager has included some notes on the business case, in addition to a project description and the scope.

They've also listed the constraints in priority order, which is useful for providing quick context to whoever is reading this document.

This project charter example clearly lists the project objectives, as well as the milestones and an accompanying timeline.

While you don't necessarily need a complete timeline yet (this will be defined in the project plan), this is a good item to include and then update for project status reports , as the team is completing the work in the execution phase.

This one is similar to the above example in that it includes milestones and a timeline.

It has also clearly laid out the objectives and what's in scope, and includes some notes on the processes that the project will impact, which is useful as this relates to the constraint of attitude towards change (which is listed in the constraints section).

Expert Tips for Creating a Project Charter

When creating a project charter, keep in mind these tips and best practices:

• Keep it simple . Your project charter should leave no room for interpretation. A layperson with no knowledge of the project or your organization should be able to pick up the document and understand what’s going on.
• Big picture over details . Provide a high level overview of the project purpose and outcomes, and avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary details that hinder alignment or create accountability problems later on.
• Create consensus . You could draft the most eloquent project charter on the planet, but it serves no purpose if stakeholders aren’t willing to agree to it. Remember that the project charter is a tool that supports stakeholder alignment. If your charter doesn’t bring stakeholders together, there’s no point in writing one.

Project Management Tools For Developing & Managing Charters

Software tools offer a simple way to develop and store your project charter in an accessible place where all stakeholders and team members can access it as needed.

Types of project management software tools that can be useful include:

• Project management software : You can enter the details about objectives and scope from your project charter and then measure how you're tracking against them throughout the project.
• Mind mapping software : This software is useful for brainstorming and organizing information about the project before you start creating a charter.
• Gantt chart maker : Use this software for plotting milestones and timelines, which will come in handy after your charter is approved.

What's Next?

Have more questions about RACI charts? Become a DPM member and join the conversation  in Slack with 100s of other digital project managers! You’ll also get access to 100+ templates, samples, and examples of project documents, which will save you time and increase your chances of project success.

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• Project planning |

3 elements every project charter needs

Getting started on a new project or initiative can be an exciting feeling. But what about the step right before that, when you need to get your project approved?

The project pitching and approval process can feel like a black box if you’ve never done it before. From gathering the right information to presenting it in a way that works for your project stakeholders, you want to make sure you have the materials you need to succeed. One way to do that is with a project charter.

What is a project charter?

A project charter is an elevator pitch of your project objectives, project scope, and project responsibilities in order to get approval from key project stakeholders. In the charter, you should provide a short, succinct explanation of the main elements of your project before you get started. By creating a project charter before getting started on other, more in-depth project planning documents, you can get approval or course-correct if necessary.

A project charter is one of many project planning materials you can create. Here’s how it compares to other project planning elements:

Project charters vs. project plans

A project charter should only include three elements: your project objectives, scope, and responsibilities. Once your charter has been approved, you should then create a project plan. Your project plan builds on your project charter to provide a more in-depth blueprint of the key elements of your project.

There are seven key elements in a project plan:

Success metrics

Stakeholders and roles

Scope and budget

Milestones and deliverables

Timeline and schedule

Project charters vs. project briefs

A  project brief  is a short document that you should create after your project has been officially approved. The brief is a condensed version of your project plan that your project team and stakeholders can refer back to frequently. Your brief, like the charter, provides context about why this project is a good idea, in addition to what you’ll be doing during the project.

A project brief has four parts:

Background information

Project objectives and success criteria

Project timeline

Target audience

Project charter vs. business case

A project charter and  business case  have the same fundamentals: these are both tools to pitch a project to the appropriate stakeholders. The main difference between a project charter and a business case is scope.

A business case is a formal document that explains the benefits and risks of a significant business investment. For example, if you’re pitching a large-scale investment with an external agency, a significant increase in current business practices, or a new product line or service, you’d want to create a business case. Alternatively, if your project needs approval but it’s smaller in scope—for example, a campaign that’s similar to past campaigns or a product launch that fits within your current go-to-market strategy—create a project charter instead.

Do you need a project charter?

There are a variety of project planning tools, and a project charter isn’t always the best one for the job. Here’s when to create one—and when you might be better off creating something else.

Create a project charter  to pitch and get approval for a project. A project charter gives stakeholders a clear sense of your project objectives, scope, and responsibilities. Key stakeholders can use the project charter to approve a project or suggest changes.

Create a business case  if your project represents a significant business investment. A business case includes additional information and documentation, including the project’s return on investment and any  relevant project risks .

Create a project plan  if your project has been approved. A project plan will build on your project charter to provide additional information, like the project timeline or  key project milestones .

Create a project brief  if you want to create a document that summarizes the key high-level details of your project plan.

Create an  executive summary  if you want to provide a summary of your document to executive stakeholders.

Create a  project roadmap  if you want to view a high-level timeline of your project in a  Gantt chart .

How to create a project charter

In a project charter, you’ll share project details with key stakeholders in order to get approval to kick off your project. There are three main project charter elements:

To begin your project charter, share your  project objectives  and project purpose. In this section, you should outline why this project is important and what the key objectives are for the end of the project. Make sure your project purpose clearly explains why it’s important to work on this project and how this project will support your company goals.

In addition to your project purpose, you should also clarify your project objectives. These are the things you plan to achieve by the end of the project, like deliverables or assets. To create good project objectives, follow the  SMART method . Make sure your objectives are:

The second key element in your project charter is the project scope. Your project scope statement defines exactly what is and isn’t part of the project. When you draft a project scope, you’re setting boundaries and, more importantly, outlining what you won’t do during the project timeline.

As you create your project charter, the most important part of explaining scope is outlining the ideal project budget. Remember, you will use your project charter document to pitch this project to stakeholders—so you need to clearly show what the budget is and where that money will go.

In the final section of your project charter, you should explain who will be working on the project. This includes any key project stakeholders, executive stakeholders, project sponsors , and the general project team. If you haven’t already, draft up a brief resource management plan to illustrate how various resources will be allocated during the project.

Project charter examples

Project charter template

When you’re ready to get started, follow this easy-to-use template to create your next project charter.

Project name

Name your project. Make sure this is descriptive enough that most people will understand what you’re working on.

Project manager

Who is the point of contact for this project?

Last revision date

Your project charter is a living document. Including the last revision date can be helpful for team members who are frequently checking back on the charter.

Project purpose

Why are you working on this project?

Project objectives

What deliverables and assets do you plan to achieve by the end of the project?

Project scope

What are the boundaries of your project deliverables? Which initiatives are not included in the project?

Project team and resources

Who is working on this project? Which resources (e.g. people, tools, and budget) are available for this work.

Stakeholders and approvers

Who are the project stakeholders? Who needs to approve the project charter or any project deliverables?

From project charter to project success

Once your project charter has been approved, you can move forward with project planning. As you create additional project planning documents and get started with project management, make sure you are storing all of your project details in a centralized tool that everyone can access.

Naturally, we think Asana is the best tool for the job. With Asana, you can manage team projects and tasks to stay in sync and hit your deadlines. Learn more about the  benefits of project management .

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Free Project Task List Templates for Project Management

By Kate Eby | September 22, 2022

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We’ve compiled the most useful project task list templates for project managers, project team members and stakeholders, IT teams, and construction personnel.  

On this page, you’ll find six essential project task list templates, including a simple project task list template , a project task list with Gantt chart , a project task checklist template , an IT project task list template , and a construction project task list template . Plus, find tips on creating a successful project task list template .

Simple Project Task List Template

Download a Sample Simple Project Task List Template for  Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs | Google Sheets

Download a Blank Simple Project Task List Template for Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs | Google Sheets

Use this simple project task list template to list each project task and set its status, deadline, assignee, and priority. The template includes columns that help you track the percentage done, fixed cost, estimated cost, and actual hours for each task. You can also use the template to list tasks for several projects and to track their real-time progress. This template is the perfect solution for project teams looking to clarify task ownership, as well as create and accurately track tasks. Download the blank version to begin tracking tasks for your project, or review the template with sample data to help you get started.

For more project task list template resources, read this comprehensive article on free task list and checklist templates .

Project Task List with Gantt Chart Template

Download a Project Task List with Gantt Chart Template for  Excel | Google Sheets  

Clarify project tasks for team members by using this project task list with Gantt chart template. The template enables you to list each task, the team member responsible for completing it, its due date, and its status. As you populate the template with your project data, the Gantt chart section creates a visual representation of your project’s tasks so that you, your team, or project sponsors can get up-to-date information on project progress.

Project Task Checklist Template

Download a Project Task Checklist Template for  Excel | Google Sheets

Improve your project delivery success rate with this easy-to-use project task checklist template. Enter individual tasks along with their status and priority, assignee, due date, and any relevant notes. This fully customizable template lets you edit column titles to suit your project team’s needs and ensures that you successfully check each project task off your to-do list. 

For more resources and templates for tracking project tasks, see this helpful list of free project checklist templates .

Project Task Tracker Template

Download a Project Task Tracker Template for  Excel | Google Sheets

This template provides color-coded Status and Priority columns where you can easily track important project tasks. Designed to help you monitor tasks across multiple projects, this template indicates whether a task is at risk of not being completed. The Cost / Hours section tabulates fixed costs, estimated hours, and actual hours for each task. Regardless of your industry or type of work, this customizable project task tracker template will help ensure that you are able to account for and successfully complete every project task. 

Check out this comprehensive project task list template to ensure that you’re optimizing your project to-do list and keeping it in a single, shareable location.

IT Project Task List Template

Download an IT Project Task List Template for  Excel | Microsoft Word | Google Sheets  

Keep all IT project team members and stakeholders informed of task statuses with this comprehensive IT project task list template. The template includes space to enter your project name, project manager, key IT project deliverables, scope statement, start and end dates, and percentage of overall progress. This completely customizable template enables you to list each task, who it’s assigned to, start and end dates, and statuses. This template can help you and your IT team optimize your project delivery standards and increase your IT project success rate.

Construction Project Task List Template

Download a Construction Project Task List Template for  Excel | Google Sheets

Use this construction project task list template to ensure that your team completes all construction tasks in a timely manner. The template comes pre-filled with construction-specific task sections ( Sitework, Concrete, Masonry, Doors and Windows, etc . ), under which you can list each specific task, assign team members, select a due date, and add key details. The template also doubles as a construction punch list and includes a Punch ID column to identify key construction project tasks and contract specifications.

How Do I Create a Project Task List?

A project task list includes every task required for successful project completion. To create a project task list, use an application such as Excel or Google Sheets. Task lists also include such information as statuses, timelines, and team member information. 

A project task list typically includes the name of each project task, which team member is responsible for completing it, and its due date, status, priority, and any relevant notes. This document helps project managers, team members, and other stakeholders ensure that every required task is accounted for, assigned, and completed on time. By creating a project task list, you can help make sure that everyone involved in the project understands the status of each individual task and the project as a whole. 

In an application such as Excel, you can create a simple task list table by inserting rows such as Task Name, Status, Priority, Due Date, Assignee, and Notes . A simple task list like this can help ensure that you account for all of your project’s to-do items. 

You can also use a project task list template, which includes the primary elements to ensure that your team completes each task by project’s end. Project task list templates are designed to help you capture and track your project’s tasks so that you complete high-quality deliverables on time. 

Though project task list templates vary, they typically include the following universal elements:

• Task: Enter the name of each task so that it’s clear to every team member and stakeholder what needs to be accomplished. 
• Due Date: Provide a date by which each task must be completed so that the project can be delivered on time. 
• Status: Set a status for each task (e.g., Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, or Complete ) so that everyone can track project progress. 
• Priority: Select a priority for each project task. 
• Assignee: List the name of the team member responsible for completing each task. 
• Notes: Provide any additional notes that are relevant to the task. 

Depending on their function and their industry, project task list templates might also include the following column components: 

• At Risk: Select this check box if the individual task is in jeopardy of not being completed by the project’s due date.  
• Description: Provide a detailed description for each task so that, in addition to the task title, every project team member and stakeholder understands what the task requires for completion. 
• Deliverable: Specify the primary project deliverable, or feature, that the task is related to. 
• Percentage Complete: Provide a percentage completed for each project task. 
• Cost / Hours: Enter fixed costs, estimated hours, and actual hours for each task so you can track expenses and effort. 
• Duration: Review the duration between each project task’s start and end dates to ensure that teams have adequate time to complete each task.

Stay on Track of Project Tasks with Real-Time Work Management in Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

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