It’s Friday afternoon. You’ve checked in with your team, your plans are on track, and you’re ready for next week. Your weekend is looking good. All of a sudden, your boss shows up with some great news. You are going to be in charge of a large project with an important customer, requiring the participation of several teams and this one will start next week. This is great news, but it will darken your weekend. You will need to organize the project plan as soon as possible; however, with so many stakeholders, you don’t know where to start.
The project planning process can be tricky, especially when projects get more complex. According to Forbes , 25% of technology projects fail completely; an alarming figure for project managers. The good news is that you don’t need to be an expert in project management , nor to sacrifice your weekend to properly plan the launch of a project in a short time. You just need to follow 8 simple steps to write a project plan.
ADVICE FROM THE WRIKE TEAM.
Project launches: the chemical formula behind every success.Choose your project management methodology in 3 steps.Try to write the project objectives in a table summarizing the project plan and relate them to the requirements of the stakeholders they meet. From there, create the structure, milestones, and tasks needed to achieve those goals. Milestones will serve as checkpoints throughout the project, so everyone knows what is meant by progress, what the expectations are, and when these will be measured.
Step 3: Create a document explaining the scope of the project
Now that you’ve sketched out the project, your tasks are linked to the goals, and you’ve gotten buy-in from your team, it’s time to create a document detailing the scope of the project and the items you came up with in the second stage.
Project planning
Analyze each deliverable and define the series of tasks that must be performed to accomplish it. For each task, determine the amount of time and resources needed and who will be responsible for carrying it out. Finalize and write down project details so everyone has one source of information. Make the document easily searchable, like in your project management tool , to reduce the risk of sometimes costly misunderstandings.
While preparing a project scope document should be standard practice, 1 in 4 project managers surveyed in Wellingstone’s State of Project Management study say they prepares “little or never” this type of document. Its creation allows you to stand out and your employees to stay on the same wavelength.
Step 4: Create a Detailed Project Schedule
Once your objectives, tasks and milestones have been defined, it is time to move on to planning your project. The Gantt chart is a useful tool that helps you visualize your project schedule easily. It’s an interactive timeline that provides a comprehensive view of the project’s progress, scope, and dependencies.
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Dependencies are tasks that must be completed before other tasks can begin. When organizing your tasks, use subtasks to help you break down important ones into smaller tasks. This can make reporting and resource management easier . Here are some definitions: