Project Plan: The creation and execution of a project go through several stages. From planning to the final evaluation, there are many moments when the manager communicates with the team, makes revisions and assesses whether everything is correct.
And for guidance to be done well, the project plan comes into play. It ensures that management strategies achieve the expected results. Want to know more about the topic? Read on!
What Is A Project Plan?
A project management plan (or just a project plan) is a document that lists all the factors that are involved in a project. This includes your stakeholders, deadlines and performance metrics. Thus, management can have more transparent and precise guidance on what is needed to achieve the expected results at the end of each stage.
Also included in the project are the tools that will be used, the objectives and the risks that are part of each stage. That way, teams can prepare in advance.
How Does The Project Management Plan Impact Results?
The project management plan is crucial for each step’s quality and for maintaining a good workflow. Through it, teams can maintain a more agile routine, avoid risks and evaluate the best way to achieve results.
Costs also go down. With more support when planning each task, it is possible to avoid errors and the need for redoing. Thus, deadlines are maintained and the business can deliver the expected results without difficulties.
How To Create A Good Project Management Plan For Your Business?
Creating the project management plan is a complex process and needs to be done with the leaders of all teams. It is also essential that the manager has a comprehensive view of each step. Thus, the document covers all the vital factors to achieve the objectives.
See below the elements that should be part of your project plan!
Header
The header lists the essential items of the project and its documentation, such as:
- the title of the document;
- the production date of the project plan;
- the strategic objectives of the project;
- the project ID;
- the final recipient of the project;
- the project sponsors;
- the project manager.
Introduction
In the introduction, a general presentation of the project is made. It contextualizes the project in its more traditional aspects, such as the rationale, benefits, objectives and an overview.
Scope
Scope management is one of the most important aspects of any project. It defines the performance limits of the teams and the coverage of their activities. Therefore, it must be established with all professionals responsible for the project.
A good scope is clear and objective. It must be transparent, that is, with a definition that is easy to understand. In addition, it needs to be reachable and based on the profile of those involved with the project.
Deadlines
Deadlines help define schedules and plan all teams. That is why they must be listed in advance, preventing delays or work overload.
A good schedule definition helps the business have better resource distribution. When everyone knows how and when to deliver results, it is easier for the manager to direct tasks and tools.
If necessary, the company can use metrics to assess each team’s adherence to its deadlines. This way, bottlenecks are identified quickly, and fault correction measures can be applied promptly.
costs
Cost management is critical for any project. If well executed, it avoids waste, makes teams more efficient and improves the use of available resources.
In addition, financial resources are provisioned more intelligently. The company has mechanisms to identify the expenses involved in each stage and, thus, direct the funds necessary for the workflow to maintain a high level of continuity with better quality.
When defining costs, the company can also place the risks capable of affecting the project. Unexpected expenses caused by delays, errors or equipment failures should be listed. Along with these factors, it is essential that the manager also lists the measures to prevent and mitigate such losses.
Quality Indicators And Expected Results
This item should contain everything related to the project’s objectives and primary quality indices. Thus, it makes it easier for the manager to identify whether the goals were achieved and the routines were within the expected standards.
Quality indicators should be listed together with other factors. This includes tolerance for non-adhesion, measurement methods and the impacts that poor quality can have on the design.
In addition, the company must also determine the range in which the indicators will be listed. Finally, this item should also contain the critical performance metrics since they are the leading performance indicators.
Human And Operational Resources
It is essential that the project plan also describes the resources required for each step to achieve its objectives. Therefore, the tools that will be used at each stage (such as task distribution systems) and the management methodologies and professionals of each team must be included.
Operational Risks
Operational risks should also be mentioned. This helps the company to have a clear vision of what can negatively affect the project’s results and, thus, structure measures to prevent and mitigate vulnerabilities.
Risks must be analyzed continuously. As the project evolves, new challenges may arise, and, in this scenario, the business must be ready to deal with each one of them.
Also Read: How Resource Management Works In A Company
