What are the benefits of project planning?
A project plan provides direction to team members as they complete their project tasks. But it also gives project managers the ability to forecast both milestones to complete a project and any roadblocks or challenges that may disrupt deliverables.
As a result, there are many benefits to a structured project plan, including:
A strong correlation between project plans and project success rates
Cause and effect of transparent plans leading to better project outcomes
Detailed project planning creates more efficiencies and greater results
Your project plan is a master guide to the entire project. Your team members can always refer to the project plan as they determine:
How to make use of their time in the most efficient manner possible
Task prioritization to ensure the most important tasks are completed first
Collaboration and communication strategies with their fellow teammates
A sound project plan gives all stakeholders a sense of direction as they tackle a new project. Using the project planning template, you create a roadmap that guides each member of your team on what needs to get done, when the deadlines are set, and how resources will be used to achieve results.
When to use the project planning template?
The project planning template is a simplified resource to help you:
Set project goals, objectives and success metrics
Assign roles and responsibilities to key stakeholders
Map out the project scope and assign the budget
Create realistic milestones, deliverables and dependencies
Establish timelines and communication plans for all team members
Let’s say that, as a project manager, you’ve been tasked with completing a new project. The ultimate goal of the project is to add new product or service features that ultimately boost business growth through higher customer revenue.
The project planning template is an easy-to-use resource that you can use to build out the full scope of the plan to complete your project. The project board includes pre-built tasks that show you exactly how to use the template and map out the scope of your project. It allows for a quick and easy way to get your project planning process underway.
How to use the project planning template
The project planning template is a perfect resource to help you kickstart your planning process. If you’re unsure how to proceed with your project plan, the template offers a visual guide on how to fill the project board so that you can establish your goals, manage your resources, and set appropriate timelines.
Keep in mind that your team members will refer to the template as their master guide. Therefore, you should be as specific as you can be when listing out tasks, milestones, dependencies, and deliverables. Give your team members as much transparency as possible so that the project is completed accurately and efficiently.
Step 1: Map out the project workflow
Begin by adapting the vertical sections in your template to map out your specific project workflow. The template will supply you with pre-built sections that are labeled as Initiation, Planning, Resources, Execution, Monitoring, and Closing.
You can reassign whatever labels to the sections best suit your unique needs. However, keep in mind that you should treat your template like a Kanban board. That means each section should be used to organize the different stages of the project.
Step 2: Break down the workflow into tasks for your team
Now you’re ready to break down the project into tasks. You can create a new Task by clicking the + in any section of your project board. Be sure to add a detailed description of the expectations and assign a tag so that the assignee understands the task scope.
If you’re at the beginning of your project timeline, most tasks should begin in the initiation or planning sections of the template. You can reassign the tasks to other sections further in the project timeline as work gets underway.
Step 3: Assign the proper resources to complete the tasks
This is where you can assign your resources and map out project dependencies. The template supports relative work estimation techniques that organizes work into small, medium, or large deliverables. You can segment your tasks by degrees of difficulty and set priorities to move tasks through the project timeline.
Step 4: Assign task start and end dates
Once you’ve listed your tasks and assigned your resources, you need to assign dates of delivery so that your team can manage their productivity. It’s crucial to consider task dependencies here. For example, if your project involves work on an assembly line or development of a new piece of software, there will be tasks that must be completed before others can begin. Use this logic to map out appropriate start and end dates for each task so that you can keep the project deadline up to date.For a visualized timeline of the entire project, click the timeline icon in the top navigation bar and select “Show project timeline”. You can see which tasks are dependent on others and reassign resources as needed to keep the project on track for the final deadline.
Step 5: Monitor workforce capacity
As tasks are completed, some team members may have additional bandwidth to help reduce bottlenecks in other areas of the project. Use the Reports feature of your project planning template to monitor completion dates and task outputs. Reassign team members to larger tasks if delays or bottlenecks are slowing down deliverables.
