A project plan is a key element of every successful project. Without a proper plan, projects can become chaotic and difficult to manage. That is why it is so important to create an effective project plan that will guide you towards achieving your goals. In this article, you will learn step-by-step how to create such a plan and what elements should be included in it. Get ready for a solid dose of knowledge and readiness to create successful projects.
What is a project plan?
A project plan is a detailed document that describes the project objectives, the strategy, the scope of work, the schedule, the costs and the resources required to complete the project. Very often the project plan is confused with the project schedule, but this is a misconception. The project schedule is only one part of the plan. We can therefore immediately summarise the project plan as an advanced and broad project document.
The project plan is a key element of the project management process as it allows the planning and coordination of activities and enables the monitoring of project progress. The project plan should be clear, precise and understandable to all project participants to ensure that the work is carried out properly, resources are used and project objectives are met within the agreed timetable. Remember that the project plan should generally be available to the entire project team to be an essential document in the team’s work.
While a project plan should usually be the starting point for project work, in practice it can be developed at different stages of a project, depending on the project management methodology. It is usually an iterative process that needs to be updated and adjusted as the project progresses. This seems to be a fairly natural process. There is no project that does not evolve as it progresses. Along with the project, frequent changes occur in the project plan, as it is hard for the project plan to anticipate all the variables.
What questions does the project plan answer?
In order to help create a project plan as much as possible, we have defined a dozen questions to help create a comprehensive project plan. In this article, we will jointly learn the correct structure for project planning, while at the initial stage the merits will be important, only secondarily the appropriate structure of the project plan.
To develop a project plan, we need to know the questions that the project plan answers. Ask yourself these questions, determine the answers and your project plan will create itself automatically.
General questions to ask before a design plan are:
- Why?
Why are we doing a project? What problem do we want to solve with the project? What is the reason for investing money in the project?
- What?
What does the implementation of the project realistically constitute? What activities do we need to carry out in this project? What should be the result of this project?
