What : A Project Plan sets out the phases, activities and tasks needed to deliver a project. The timeframes required to deliver the project, along with the resources and milestones are also shown in the Project Plan. Using this Project Plan Template, you can quickly and easily create a comprehensive Project Management Plan for your project, as it already lists the commonly used tasks needed to complete projects from start to finish.
The Project Plan is the most important document in the project, as it provides the Project Manager with a roadmap ahead, and it tells them during the journey whether they are on-track.
When : A Project Plan is created every time you wish to embark on a new project. A summarized Project Plan is usually created early in the life cycle, with a detailed Project Plan being created later the planning phase. The Project Plan is referred to constantly throughout the project. Every day, the Project Manager will review actual progress against that stated in the Project Plan, to ensure they are still on track. The Project Plan is therefore the most critical tool a Manager can have to successfully deliver projects.
Project Plan should cover
- Identification of all of the phases, activities and tasks
- Summing up the effort needed to complete those tasks
- Documentation all of the project inter-dependencies
- List of all planning assumptions and constraints
- Detailed project planning schedule
Project Plan will also help you to:
- Define the project scope & milestones
- Identify the Work Breakdown Structure
- Set and agree the target delivery dates
- Monitor and control the allocation of resource
- Report on the progress of the project, to the sponsor
