sample of project management assignment

• Project Management Plan: Samples, Examples & Free Template

Learn how to create a project management plan that actually works and ensures you get your project over the line on time and on budget, with samples and examples.

Table of Contents

What is a project management plan?

What is a project management plan used for, what are the main elements of a project plan, how to write a project management plan, sample project management plan outline, using our project management plan template to build your project plan, project management plan: faq's.

A project management plan is a comprehensive document that outlines how a project will be executed, monitored, controlled and closed. For project managers and their teams, it's the ultimate toolkit for achieving their objectives while managing day-to-day pressures such as time, cost, scope, resourcing and risk. This guide outlines what a project management plan is used for, why it's important , and offers a step-by-step guide on how to make one that actually works.

Your project plan document is where you go deep on the ins, outs, overs, and unders of your project. It's where you break this vision down into the day-to-day execution of your project, covering everything you need to do to reach your project goals.

A detailed project plan will plot out everything from timelines to budget, resourcing to deliverables, and more, giving you a blueprint of what needs to be done (and when) that you can use to guide — and assess — your project.

The key components of a project management plan are:

Project Objectives

Scope Statement

Schedule Management

Cost Management

Resource Management

Communication Plan

Stakeholder Management

Procurement Management

Closure Criteria

Project Organization

Ready to get down to business? Here are 5 key things you need to do when writing a project plan.

1. Identify the baselines for your project

Before you begin writing a project plan, you need to make sure you have the basics down. Start by identifying the baselines for the project’s scope, schedule and cost, as the rest of your project planning will need to fit in around those constraints.

As mentioned above, these baselines should already be roughly outlined in your project charter — but here’s where you really start to map them out and create accurate estimates. And the more detailed, the better, because these are what you’ll be using for comparison to measure how your project performs.

2. Identify your project dependencies

Or in other words, ask yourself: what needs to happen before this other thing can happen? Identifying your project dependencies at the outset of your project means you can plan your timelines more efficiently, spot potential blockers, and ensure that you avoid unnecessary delays.

3. Identify project stakeholders

You’ll already have done the groundwork for this in your stakeholder analysis, but as you flesh out your project management plan and think through the phases of your project in more detail, you’ll likely start to find more project stakeholders at each phase.

Now is also a good time to go deeper on which stakeholders need to be informed and involved at which stages, for a more comprehensive stakeholder management plan you can use at each phase of your project.

4. Identify project milestones

What are the key markers of your project’s progress? It can be a concrete deliverable, the end of a phase in a stage-gate process — whatever milestones make sense to you, breaking your project down into manageable chunks, each with a defined goal, helps to keep the team motivated, allows you to celebrate each achievement, and signposts how the overall progress is coming along.  Learn more about using Milestones here .

5. Identify who’s responsible for what

Once you start to get a big-picture understanding of the work that’s needed and the resources you have to complete it, you can start deciding who should do what. Giving each item an owner is essential to getting things done. No more “oh, was I supposed to do that?” — once you identify who’s responsible for what, you can ensure accountability and transparency.

The 5 Stages of Team Development

All teams develop according to some natural patterns and using that knowledge, you can offer some guidance to build the kind of team that communicates well and finds better ways to collaborate and achieve the goals you’ve established. Here’s what you need to know.

Now let's go through a sample project plan. In the below example, we highlight the main sections of the plan and what needs to be included in each one to set your project up for success.

Section 1: Executive summary

The executive summary offers a concise overview of the entire project. It includes key highlights such as the project's purpose, objectives, scope, timeline, budget, and major stakeholders. It's often the first section stakeholders read to get a high-level understanding of the project.

Section 2: Project introduction

This section sets the stage by providing context and background information about the project. It explains why the project is being undertaken and introduces the main objectives and scope of the project.

Section 3: Project objectives

Here, the project's specific goals and objectives are outlined in detail. Objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to provide clarity and guidance.

Section 4: Project scope

The scope section defines what is included and excluded from the project. It helps prevent scope creep by establishing clear boundaries and also mentions any assumptions and constraints that may affect the project.

Section 5: Schedule management

This section details the project's timeline, including milestones and deadlines. It breaks down the project into tasks and identifies task dependencies. Often, visual representations like Gantt charts are used for clarity.

Section 6: Cost management

Here, the project budget is presented, including cost estimates for various project components. It may also outline cost control measures to ensure the project stays within budget.

Section 7: Quality management

This section focuses on the quality standards and objectives for the project. It describes quality control and assurance processes, as well as any inspection and testing procedures that will be implemented.

Project management template

Save time on setup without sacrificing attention to detail. With our project management template, you can quickly create project management plans that help you complete your project on time and on budget.

Try our project plan template

Section 8: Resource management

In this section, the project team is introduced, and roles and responsibilities are defined. It addresses resource allocation, scheduling, and, if applicable, procurement needs.

Section 9: Risk management

The risk management section identifies potential risks and uncertainties that could impact the project. It discusses risk assessment, prioritization, and mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of these risks.

Section 10: Communication plan

The communication plan outlines how project information will be shared with stakeholders and team members. It specifies communication methods, frequency, and reporting channels to ensure effective communication throughout the project.

Section 11: Stakeholder management

This section lists project stakeholders and analyzes their interests, influence, and expectations. It also outlines strategies for engaging and managing these stakeholders to ensure their needs are addressed.

Section 12: Procurement management

If procurement of goods or services is involved, this section explains the procurement strategy, vendor selection criteria, and how contracts will be managed.

Section 13: Change management

Change management procedures are detailed here, including how changes to the project scope, schedule, or other aspects will be requested, evaluated, approved, and communicated.

Section 14: Closure criteria

Criteria for determining when the project is complete and ready for closure are specified in this section. It may also include plans for project handover and post-project evaluation.

Section 15: Project organization

This section describes the project team's structure, roles, and responsibilities, ensuring everyone understands their positions and reporting lines. It may also mention external stakeholders and their roles if applicable.

Once you’ve documented your project management plan, bring it to life with a project management tool that will help you to stay on track, keep your team accountable, and promote transparency.

Here are 3 ways you can use Teamwork.com to supercharge your project management plan.

Add your supporting documentation to Teamwork Spaces

Use the Teamwork.com and Teamwork Spaces integration to link a project in Teamwork.com with a space in Teamwork Spaces, so your important project documents are only ever a click away.

Some documents you might want to add in addition to your project charter and project management plan include:

Scoping documents

Risk assessments

Change management plans

SOPs for important project processes

List of stakeholders and their roles

Outline of approval processes

Communications management plan

Any other best practices documentation or supporting info as necessary

You can even embed task lists into your pages and mark tasks as complete right from Teamwork Spaces, so you can keep work flowing without even needing to switch tabs.

Start adding your Milestones

Break down your work into Milestones and task lists that are going to help you reach them. With Teamwork.com, you can assign an owner to each Milestone, map out your Milestone due dates and see them represented in the project calendar, and even get a full change history for milestones so you can track any edits.

Visualize your task dependencies with a Gantt chart

Gantt chart-style views are a useful way to get a visual representation of your tasks and their dependencies, allowing for better scheduling and resourcing. In Teamwork.com, you can drag and drop to quickly rearrange your project schedule , without throwing everything out of order or straying off-plan.

Remember: software should support the way you work, not dictate it. So regardless of methodology or team type, create a project plan that works for you and your team — and find a tool that helps you put it into action.

Use our project plan template

Now that you know how to create a project management plan that actually works, you’re ready to implement using our team management software . To help you get up and running quickly, we’ve created a ready to use project plan template . Our project template will help you quickly create project plans that ensure all of your projects are completed on time and on budget

What is a project management plan template?

A project management plan template is a pre-designed framework that provides a structured format for creating a project management plan. It serves as a starting point for project managers and teams to develop their specific project plans, saving time and ensuring that key project management components are properly addressed.

How can a template help you build a great project management plan?

A template can help you build a great project management plan by saving time, ensuring comprehensive coverage of project management aspects, and incorporating industry best practices and visual aids for clarity. They also support collaboration, version control, and customization to fit the unique needs of each project, making them a valuable tool for project managers in achieving successful project outcomes.

What is the main purpose of a project management plan?

The main purpose of a project management plan is to provide a comprehensive and structured roadmap for successfully executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing a project. It serves as a central document that outlines project objectives, scope, schedule, budget, quality standards, resource allocation, risk management strategies, and communication approaches.

What tools do I need to help manage a project plan?

To effectively manage a project plan, you'll need a set of tools and software that cover various aspects of project management. These include project management software, communication and collaboration platforms, file and document management solutions, time and task tracking apps, and budgeting and financial management tools.

What steps are involved in the project planning process?

The steps involved in the project planning process include defining specific project objectives and scope, identifying deliverables and key milestones, budgets, risk assessment and quality control measures. It should also include a communication plan and stakeholder engagement strategies.

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• Project Management Methodologies: Examples & Overview
• Agile Project Management Methodology Guide
• The key project management skills you need to have
• What is a project stakeholder?
• What is a project charter and why do I need one?

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How to write an effective project plan in 6 simple steps

Contributing writer

If you’re a Type A personality, project planning might sound like music to your ears. Setting deadlines, organizing tasks, and creating order out of chaos — what’s not to love?

The reality is that project planning isn’t for everyone. In one survey by Association for Project Management, 76% of project professionals said their main project was a source of stress . Poor planning, unclear responsibilities, and overallocation are often the culprits behind the stress. 

An effective project plan helps teams stay within budget, scope, and schedule, while delivering quality work. In short, it gets you to the finish line without the stress.  

What is a project plan?

A project plan, also known as a work plan, is a blueprint of your project lifecycle. It’s like a roadmap — it clearly outlines how to get from where you are now (the beginning of the project) to where you want to go (the successful completion of the project). 

“A project plan is an action plan outlining how…[to] accomplish project goals,” says Jami Yazdani , certified Project Management Professional (PMP), project coach, project management consultant, and founder of Yazdani Consulting and Facilitation . 

A comprehensive project plan includes the project schedule, project scope, due dates, and deliverables. Writing a good project plan is key for any new, complex project in the pipeline.

Why Are Project Plans Important?

Project plans allow you to visualize your entire project, from beginning to end—and develop a clear strategy to get from point A to point B. Project plans steer stakeholders in the right direction and keep team members accountable with a common baseline.  

Project plans help you stay agile

Projects are bound by what is traditionally called the “iron triangle” of project management . It means that project managers have to work within the three constraints of scope, resources (project budget and teams), and schedule. You cannot make changes to one without impacting the other two.    

Modern-day project management has shifted to a more agile approach, with a focus on quality. This means that resources and schedules remain unchanged but a fixed number of iterations (flexible scope) helps teams deliver better quality and more value. 

A project plan puts this “agile triangle” in place by mapping out resources, schedules, and the number of iterations — sprints if you’re using a Scrum framework and work in progress (WIP) limits if you’re using the Kanban methodology . 

As Yazdani points out, “Project plans help us strategize a path to project success, allowing us to consider the factors that will impact our project, from stakeholders to budget to schedule delays, and plan how to maximize or mitigate these factors.” 

Project plans provide complete visibility

A project plan, when created with a comprehensive project management software , gives you 360-degree visibility throughout the project lifecycle. 

As a project manager, you need a single source of truth on team members and their project tasks, project scope, project objectives, and project timelines. A detailed project plan gives you this visibility and helps teams stay on track.

Project plans also help to get everyone involved on the same page, setting clear expectations around what needs to be accomplished, when, and by who. 

“Project plans create a framework for measuring project progress and success,” says Yazdani. “Project plans set clear expectations for…stakeholders by outlining exactly what…will [be accomplished] and when it will be delivered.”

Project plans boost engagement and productivity

A well-written project plan clarifies how each individual team member’s contributions play into the larger scope of the project and align with company goals. When employees see how their work directly impacts organizational growth, it generates buy-in and drives engagement , which is critical to a project’s success. 

“Project plans provide…teams with purpose and direction,” says Yazdani. “Transparent project plans show team members how their individual tasks and responsibilities contribute to the overall success of the project, encouraging engagement and collaboration.”

How To Write A Project Plan in 6 Steps

Writing a project plan requires, well, planning. Ideally, the seeds for a project plan need to be sowed before internal project sign-off begins. Before that sign-off, conduct capacity planning to estimate the resources you will need and if they’re available for the duration of the project. After all, you want to set your teams up for success with realistic end dates, buffer time to recharge or catch up in case of unexpected delays, and deliver quality work without experiencing burnout .

Based on organizational capacity, you can lay down project timelines and map out scope as well as success metrics, outline tasks, and build a feedback loop into your project plan. Follow these project planning steps to create a winning plan:      

1. Establish Project Scope And Metrics

Defining your project scope is essential to protecting your iron, or agile, triangle from crumbling. Too often, projects are hit with scope creep , causing delays, budget overruns, and anxiety.

“Clearly define your project’s scope or overall purpose,” says Yazdani. “Confirm any project parameters or constraints, like budget, resource availability, and timeline,” says Yazdani.

A project purpose statement is a high-level brief that defines the what, who, and why of the project along with how and when the goal will be accomplished. But just as important as defining your project scope and purpose is defining what metrics you’re going to use to track progress.

“Establish how you will measure success,” says Yazdani. “Are there metrics, performance criteria, or quality standards you need to meet?”

Clearly defining what your project is, the project’s overall purpose, and how you’re going to measure success lays the foundation for the rest of your project plan—so make sure you take the time to define each of these elements from the get-go.

2. Identify Key Project Stakeholders 

Get clarity on the team members you need to bring the project to life. In other words, identify the key stakeholders of the project. 

“List individuals or groups who will be impacted by the project,” says Yazdani. 

In addition to identifying who needs to be involved in the project, think about how they’ll need to be involved—and at what level. Use a tool like Confluence to run a virtual session to clarify roles and responsibilities, and find gaps that need to be filled. 

Let’s say you’re managing a cross-functional project to launch a new marketing campaign that includes team members from your marketing, design, and sales departments. 

When identifying your key stakeholders, you might create different lists based on the responsibility or level of involvement with the project:

• Decision-makers (who will need to provide input at each step of the project)
• Managers (who will be overseeing employees within their department) 
• Creative talent (who will be actually creating the project deliverables for the campaign) from each department. 

Give your project plan an edge by using a Confluence template like the one below to outline roles and responsibilities.

Define roles, discuss responsibilities, and clarify which tasks fall under each teammate’s purview using this Confluence template. 

Getting clarity on who needs to be involved in the project—and how they’re going to be involved—will help guide the rest of the project plan writing process (particularly when it comes to creating and assigning tasks).

3. Outline Deliverables

Now is the time to get granular.

Each project milestone comprises a series of smaller, tangible tasks that your teams need to produce. While a big-picture view keeps teams aligned, you need signposts along the way to guide them on a day-to-day or weekly basis. Create a list of deliverables that will help you achieve the greater vision of the project. 

“What will you create, build, design, produce, accomplish or deliver?” says Yazdani. “Clearly outline your project’s concrete and tangible deliverables or outcomes.” Centralize these deliverables in a Trello board with designated cards for each one, like in the example below, so you keep work moving forward.

Each card on a board represents tasks and ideas and you can move cards across lists to show progress.

Defining the concrete items you need your project to deliver will help you reverse-engineer the things that need to happen to bring those items to life—which is a must before moving on to the next step.

4. Develop Actionable Tasks

Task management is an important component of any project plan because they help employees see what exactly they need to accomplish. Drill down those deliverables into actionable tasks to assign to your team. 

You can use either Confluence or Jira for different task management needs. If you want to track tasks alongside your work, like action items from a meeting or small team projects, it’s best to use Confluence. But if a project has multiple teams and you need insight into workflows, task history, and reporting, Jira makes it easy.      

“Let your deliverables guide the work of the project,” says Yazdani. “Break down each deliverable into smaller and smaller components until you get to an actionable task.” If a major deliverable is a set of content pieces, the smaller actionable tasks would be to create topic ideas, conduct research, and create outlines for each topic.  

Once you’ve broken down all of your deliverables into manageable, assignable subtasks, analyze how each of those tasks interacts with each other. That way, you can plan, prioritize, assign, and add deadlines accordingly.  

“Highlight any dependencies between tasks, such as tasks that can’t be started until another task is complete,” says Yazdani. “List any resources you will need to accomplish these tasks.”

When a task has multiple assignees, you need to streamline the workflow in your project plan. Say the content pieces you outlined need to be edited or peer-reviewed. A couple of articles may need an interview with a subject matter expert. Lay down a stage-by-stage process of each piece of content and pinpoint when each team member comes into play so you prevent bottlenecks and adjust timeframes.     

5. Assign Tasks And Deadlines

Assign tasks to your team and collaborate with employees to set deadlines for each task. When you involve employees in setting workloads and deadlines , you increase ownership and boost the chances of delivering quality work on time.  

After all, you want to move projects forward at a steady pace, but you also want to make sure your teams stay motivated and engaged. So, when writing your project plan, make sure to “set realistic and achievable deadlines for completing tasks and deliverables,” says Yazdani. “Highlight dates that are inflexible and factor in task dependencies. Add in milestones or checkpoints to monitor progress and celebrate successes .”

Use Jira and Confluence to create tasks that live alongside your project plan or meeting agendas.

Once you map out all of your tasks and deadlines, you should have a clear picture of how and when your project is going to come together—and the initial writing process is just about finished.

But that doesn’t mean your project plan is complete! There’s one more key step to the process.

6. Share, Gather Feedback, And Adjust The Project Plan As Necessary

While steps 1 through 5 may make up your initial writing process, if you want your project plan to be as strong and complete as it can be, it’s important to share it with your team—and get their input on how they think it can be improved.

“Share the plan with your project team and key stakeholders, gathering feedback to make adjustments and improvements,” says Yazdani. 

A tool like Confluence helps knowledge flow freely within teams and departments, leading to better teamwork, higher collaboration, and a shared understanding of priorities. Coworkers can use comments, mentions, notifications, and co-editing capabilities to provide and discuss feedback. 

After you gather your team’s feedback —and make any necessary adjustments based on that feedback—you can consider your project plan complete. Hooray! 

But as your project progresses, things may change or evolve—so it’s important to stay flexible and make changes and adjustments as needed.

“Expect to update your plan as you gather more information, encounter changing requirements and delays, and learn from feedback and mistakes,” says Yazdani. “By using your project plan to guide your activities and measure progress, you’ll be able to refine and improve your plan as you move through the project, tweaking tasks and deadlines as deliverables are developed.”

Download a  template to create your project plan and customize it based on your needs.

Example of a simple project plan 

A project plan doesn’t have to be a complicated spreadsheet with multiple tabs and drop-down menus. It’s best to use a project planning tool like Confluence — or at least a project plan template — to make sure you cover every aspect of the project. A simple project plan includes these elements:

• Project name, brief summary, and objective.
• Project players or team members who will drive the project, along with their roles and responsibilities.
• Key outcomes and due dates.
• Project elements, ideally divided into must-have, nice-to-have and not-in-scope categories.
• Milestones, milestone owners, and a project end date.
• Reference material relevant to the project.

Best Practices For Writing Effective Project Plans

A project planning process can quickly turn into a mishmash of goals and tasks that end up in chaos but these best practices can give you a framework to create a project plan that leads to success.

Use Other Project Plans For Inspiration

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel for every new project! Instead, look to other successful project plans for inspiration—and use them as a guide when writing the plan for your project.

“Review templates and plans for similar projects, or for other projects within your organization or industry, to get ideas for structuring and drafting your own plan,” says Yazdani.

To get started, use a Trello project management template and customize it for your project plan by creating unique lists and adding cards under each list.

Build your team’s ideal workflow and mark each stage of the project plan as a list, with cards for each task. 

Get Your Team Involved In The Process

You may be in charge of spearheading the project. But that doesn’t mean that you have to—or even that you should—write the project plan alone. 

“Collaborate with your project team and key stakeholders on crafting a project plan,” says Yazdani. “Input into the project plan supports buy-in to project goals and encourages continued engagement throughout the project.”

With Confluence , you can organize project details in a centralized space and build a project plan collaboratively.

Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of The Good

You may be tempted to write (and rewrite) your project plan until you’ve got every detail mapped out perfectly. But spending too much time trying to get everything “perfect” can actually hold up the project. So don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good—and instead of getting caught up in getting everything perfect from the get-go, stay willing and flexible to adjust your project plan as you move forward.

“Focus on outcomes, not plan perfection,” says Yazdani. “While it would be awesome for the first draft of our plan to require no changes while also inspiring our team and ensuring project success, our goal shouldn’t be a perfect plan. Our goal is a plan that allows us to successfully deliver on project goals. Responsiveness to changing needs and a shifting environment is more important than plan perfection.”

Use the right tools to succeed with your project plan

Writing a project plan, especially if you’re new to the process, can feel overwhelming. But now that you know the exact steps to write one, make sure you have the tools you need to create a strong, cohesive plan from the ground up—and watch your project thrive as a result. 

Atlassian Together can help with project planning and management with a powerful combination of tools that make work flow across teams.

Guide your team to project success with Atlassian Together’s suite of products.

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Blog Marketing What is a Project Management Plan and How to Create One

What is a Project Management Plan and How to Create One

Written by: Midori Nediger Dec 11, 2023

Have you ever been part of a project that didn’t go as planned?

It doesn’t feel good.

Wasted time, wasted resources. It’s pretty frustrating for everyone involved.

That’s why it’s so important to create a comprehensive project management plan   before your project gets off the ground.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to create and design a successful project management plan.

We’ll also showcase easy-to-customize project plan templates you can create today with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor. Let’s get started!

  Click to jump ahead:

What is a project management plan?

How do you write a project management plan, project management plan templates and examples, what is the importance of a project management plan, what should a project management plan include, 5 key tips for creating a project management plan, project management plan best practices, common mistakes to avoid when creating a project management plan.

A project management plan is a formal document that defines how a project is going to be carried out by outlining the scope, goals, budget, timeline and deliverables of a project. Its crucial role lies in ensuring the project stays on course.

You write a project plan  during the project planning stage of the  project life cycle , and it must be approved by stakeholders before a project can move on the execution stage.

If some of these terms are new to you, you can get up to speed with this post on project management terms . 

This means your project plan must be engaging, organized, and thorough enough to gain the support of your stakeholders.

Further Reading : New to project management? Read our blog post on the 4 stages of the project life cycle .

To write a successful project management plan, follow these 5 steps below to create an effective plan that serves as a valuable tool for project management:

1. Highlight the key elements of your project plan in an executive summary  

An executive summary is a brief description of the key contents of a project management plan .

I t’s usually the first thing stakeholders will read, and it should act like a Cliff’s-notes version of the whole plan.

It might touch on a project’s value proposition, goals, deliverables, and important milestones, but it has to be concise (it is a summary, after all). First, make sure you develop a proof of concept .

In this example, an executive summary can be broken into columns to contrast the existing problem with the project solution:

The two-column format with clear headers helps break up the information, making it extremely easy to read at a glance.

Here’s another example of a project management plan executive summary. This one visually highlights key takeaways with big fonts and helpful icons:

In this case, the highlighted facts and figures are particularly easy to scan (which is sure to make your stakeholders happy).

But your executive summary won’t always be so simple.

For larger projects, your executive summary will be longer and more detailed.

This project management plan template has a text-heavy executive summary, though the bold headers and different background colors keep it from looking overwhelming:

It’s also a good idea to divide it up into sections, with a dedicated header for each section:

Regardless of how you organize your executive summary, it should give your stakeholders a preview of what’s to come in the rest of the project management plan.

2. Plot your project schedule visually with a Gantt chart

A carefully planned project schedule is key to the success of any project. Without one, your project will likely crumble into a mess of missed deadlines, poor team management, and scope creep.

Luckily, project planning tools like Gantt charts and project timelines make creating your project schedule easy. You can visually plot each project task, add major milestones, then look for any dependencies or conflicts that you haven’t accounted for.

For example, this Gantt chart template outlines high-level project activities over the course of an entire quarter, with tasks color-coded by team:

A high-level roadmap like the one above is probably sufficient for your project management plan. Every team will be able to refer back to this timeline throughout the project to make sure they’re on track.

But before project kickoff , you’ll need to dig in and break down project responsibilities by individual team member, like in this Gantt chart example:

In the later execution and monitoring phases of the project, you’ll thank yourself for creating a detailed visual roadmap that you can track and adjust as things change.

You can also use a project management tool to keep your team organized.

Further Reading:   Our post featuring  Gantt chart examples  and more tips on how to use them for project management.

3. Clarify the structure of your project team with a team org chart

One of the hardest aspects of project planning is assembling a team and aligning them to the project vision.

And aligning your team is all about communication–communicating the project goals, communicating stakeholder requests, communicating the rationale behind big decisions…the list goes on.

This is where good project documentation is crucial! You need to create documents that your team and your stakeholders can access when they have questions or need guidance.

One easy thing to document visually is the structure of your team, with an organizational chart like this one:

In an organizational chart you should include some basic information like team hierarchy and team member contact information. That way your stakeholders have all of the information they need at their fingertips.

But in addition to that, you can indicate the high-level responsibilities of each team member and the channels of communication within the team (so your team knows exactly what they’re accountable for).

Here’s another simple organizational structure template that you can use as a starting point:

Create an organizational chart with our organizational chart maker .

4. Organize project risk factors in a risk breakdown structure

A big part of project planning is identifying the factors that are likely to derail your project, and coming up with plans and process to deal with those factors. This is generally referred to as risk management .

The first step in coming up with a risk management plan is to list all of the factors at play, which is where a risk breakdown structure comes in handy. A risk breakdown structure is a hierarchical representation of project risks, organized by category.

This risk breakdown structure template, for example, shows project risk broken down into technical risk, management risk, and external risk:

Once you’ve constructed your risk breakdown structure, you’ll be ready to do a deep dive into each risk (to assess and plan for any triggers and outcomes).

Streamline your workflow with business process management software .

5. Plan ahead: create project status reports to communicate progress to stakeholders

As I mentioned earlier, communication is fundamental in any project.

But even so, something that’s often overlooked by project managers is a communication management plan–a plan for how the project team is going to communicate with project stakeholders . Too often, project communication defaults to ad-hoc emails or last-minute meetings.

You can avoid this by planning ahead. Start with a project kickoff meeting and include a project status report template as part of your communication plan.

Here’s an example of a simple project status report that you might send to stakeholders on a weekly basis:

This type of report is invaluable for communicating updates on project progress. It shows what you’ve accomplished in a clear, consistent format, which can help flag issues before they arise, build trust with your stakeholders , and makes it easy to reflect on project performance once you’ve reached your goals.

You might also want to include a broader status report for bigger updates on a monthly or quarterly basis, like this one:

The above template allows you to inform stakeholders of more major updates like new budget requirements, revised completion dates, and project performance ratings.

You can even include visualization of up-to-date project milestones, like this example below:

Want more tips on creating visuals to enhance your communications? Read our visual communication guide for businesses . 

A project management plan is probably the most important deliverable your stakeholders will receive from you (besides the project itself).

It holds all of the information that stakeholders will use to determine whether your project moves forward or gets kicked to the curb.

That’s why it’s a good idea to start with a project management plan template. Using a template can help you organize your information logically and ensure it’s engaging enough to hold your stakeholders’ attention.

Construction project management plan template

Time is money, especially with construction projects. Having a construction plan template brings order to the chaos.

Instead of staring at a messy pile of construction stuff, you’ve got a plan that breaks everything down into bite-sized pieces.

And let’s not forget the paperwork. Construction projects have rules and regulations to follow. Your project plan helps you stay on the right side of the law with all the necessary documentation and compliance measures.

Start with a meticulous project overview, like in the second page of this template:

Though you may think this project will be similar to others you’ve done in the past, it’s important to nail the details.

This will also help you understand the scope of work so you can estimate costs properly and arrive at a quote that’s neither too high or low. Ontario Construction News has great advice on this process.

Simple project management plan template

This simple project management plan template that clearly lays out all of the information your stakeholders will need:

Simple project management communication plan template

A key part of project management is making sure everyone’s in the loop. A project communication plan ensures everyone knows how, where, who and when the team will communicate during the course of the project. Also construction scheduling is a critical aspect of the project management plan as it helps to ensure that all necessary tasks are completed within the allocated time frame and budget.

The key is to figure out what kind of communications is valuable to stakeholders and what is simply overwhelming and won’t lead to better decisions.

This template clearly outlines all of these factors to help manage expectations and eliminate confusion about what will get communicated and when:

Commercial development project plan template

The below project management plan template is simple and minimal, but still uses a unique layout and simple visuals to create an easy-to-read, scannable project overview.

This template is perfect for building or construction management , or any technical projects:

When picking a project plan template, look for one that’s flexible enough to accommodate any changes your stakeholders might request before they’ll approve the project. You never know what might change in the early planning stages of the project! You can also use  project management tools  to help you with your planning!

A well-developed project management plan sets the foundation for a successful project by providing a roadmap that guides the project team toward successful project completion. A good project management plan can ensure that:

• Project objectives and goals are clearly defined and understood
• Project scope is effectively managed
• Resources are allocated efficiently to maximize productivity and minimize waste
• Risks are identified, assessed and mitigated
• Project tasks and activities are well-organized and executed in a timely manner.
• Communication among team members , stakeholders and project sponsors is effective and transparent
• Changes to the project are properly evaluated, approved and implemented
• Lessons learned and best practices are documented for future reference and improvement
• Stakeholders are engaged and satisfied with the project outcomes
• The project is delivered within the specified timeline, budget and quality standards

Before you start assembling your own plan, you should be familiar with the main components of a typical project plan .

A project management plan should include the following sections:

• Executive summary: A short description of the contents of the report
• Project scope & deliverables: An outline of the boundaries of the project, and a description of how the project will be broken down into measurable deliverables
• Project schedule: A high-level view of project tasks and milestones ( Gantt charts are handy for this)
• Project resources: The budget, personnel, and other resources required to meet project goals
• Risk and issue management plan: A list of factors that could derail the project and a plan for how issues will be identified, addressed, and controlled
• Communication management plan: A plan for how team and stakeholder communication will be handled over the course of the project
• Cost and quality management plan: This section encompasses the project’s budget, cost estimation, and cost control mechanisms. It also includes quality assurance testing and control measures as well as any testing or verification activities to be performed.

Basically, a project plan should tell stakeholders what needs to get done, how it will get done, and when it will get done.

That said, one size doesn’t fit all. Every project management plan must be tailored to the specific industry and circumstances of the project. You can use a project management app for smoother project planning.

For example, this marketing plan looks client facing. It is tailored to sell the client on the agency:

Whereas this commercial development plan focuses on specific objectives and a detailed timeline:

With those basics out of the way, let’s get into how to write a project management plan that’s as engaging as it is professional.

Further Reading : If you’re looking to create a proposal, read our in-depth business proposal guide. Then try our job proposal templates or business proposal templates .  

Before diving into creating a project management plan, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the project objectives and the expectations of stakeholders involved.

Without a firm grasp of these fundamental elements, your project may face significant challenges or fail to deliver the desired outcomes.

Here are key points to consider when creating a project management plan:

• Project Objectives: Clearly understand the project objectives and what you want to achieve. Identify the desired outcomes, deliverables and the purpose of the project.
• Scope of the Project: Determine the boundaries and extent of the project. Define what is included and excluded to ensure clarity and prevent scope creep .
• Stakeholders: Identify all stakeholders who will be impacted by or have an interest in the project. Understand their needs, expectations and level of involvement.
• Resources: Assess the resources required to execute the project successfully. This includes human resources, budget, equipment and materials. Determine their availability and allocation.
• Risks and Constraints: Identify potential risks, uncertainties and constraints that may affect the project. Understand the challenges, limitations and potential obstacles that need to be addressed.

Now that you have these key areas identified, let’s get started with creating your project plan.

Before you dive in, remember: a clear and adaptable plan is crucial for project success. Here are some best practices to keep your project plan on track:

• Use headers, columns and highlights to make your executive summary easy to read
• Plot your project schedule with a Gantt chart (with tasks color-coded by department or team member)
• Use visuals like organizational charts and risk breakdown structures to communicate across your team and with stakeholders
• Pick a flexible template that you can update to align with stakeholder requests

Creating a solid project management plan is crucial for setting your project up for success. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Lack of clear goals: Don’t just have a vague idea of what you want to achieve. Define clear, SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) for your project. That way, everyone will be on the same page and it’ll be easier to measure progress effectively.
• Unrealistic timelines: Be optimistic, but also realistic. Don’t underestimate the time required for tasks. Factor in potential delays and buffer time when creating your project schedule.
• Scope creep: New requirements mid-project can affect deadlines and budgets. Plan the project clearly upfront, and take into consideration any changes that might come up.
• Poor communication: Communication is key throughout the project lifecycle. Regularly update stakeholders, team members and clients on progress, roadblocks and changes.
• Ignoring risks: Things don’t always go according to plan. Identify potential risks upfront and have a mitigation strategy in place for each one.
• Not involving stakeholders: Get key stakeholders involved early on. This helps manage everyone’s expectations and that you have the buy-in you need for success.
• Neglecting resource constraints: Don’t overload your team or underestimate the resources needed. Carefully consider the skills, time and budget available when planning your project.
• Micromanaging: Trust your team! Delegate tasks effectively and give them the autonomy they need to do their jobs.
• Failing to document: Keep good records. Document project decisions, plans and communication. This helps maintain transparency and ensures everyone has access to the latest information.
• Not adapting to change: Be prepared to adapt your plan as needed. Projects are rarely static, so be flexible and willing to adjust your approach based on new information or developments.

So, that’s the scoop on project management plans! I hope this piece will help you to avoid confusion, keep expectations in check and be ready to tackle any bumps for your upcoming projects.

If you ever need a revision, just follow the steps we talked about, use those best practices and you’ll have a plan that sets your project up for a win. Just remember, even the best plans need some tweaking sometimes. Be flexible and adjust as needed and you’re good to go!

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Project Management

5 real project management examples for your team.

Content Partnership Specialist

October 4, 2022

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Whether it’s a home or a business project, simple or complex by nature, the secret sauce to delivering successful projects is starting strong with the right strategy and execution plan .

You can do this (and do it well) with a go-getter mindset, proper project management approaches, and the right tools.

In this article, you’ll learn about the building blocks of project management, including the key success factors and phases, as well as how project management tools can keep them together. Then we’ll show you how it all works in practice with five real project management examples! 👌

The 4 Phases of the Project Management Life Cycle

Key factors for successful project management .

• 1. Marketing Project
• 2. SEO Project
• 3. Customer Enablement Project
• 4. Education Project
• 5. Product Launch Project

Managing projects from start to finish can come with long and complex processes . So, to help make everyone’s job easier, the concept of the project life cycle was introduced. 

The project life cycle, or project management process, consists of four phases: initiating, planning, executing, and closing. It’s a structured path your projects go through to help move them from conception to completion and ensure project objectives are delivered in each phase.

Let’s take a look at what the project manager is responsible for in each phase:

1. The initiation phase

Get everyone onboard. The project manager defines the organization, client, or customer’s goal, identifies key stakeholders, the project team, and the scope of work of the project , and determines measurable objectives for the team.

2. The planning phase

Strategically prepare and map out the project. The project manager is responsible for creating a detailed project plan and outlining the project schedule that includes the major project milestones and describes what tasks or deliverables make up each milestone. This is important because the project plan provides a strategy and project checklist to help properly manage resources, budget, and timeline along the project life cycle.

3. The execution phase 

It’s go time. In this phase, the project manager’s main job is to oversee the team’s efforts and ensure everyone understands what’s expected of them, what tasks need to be done, and how and when to complete those tasks to ensure everything is done within the project schedule. 

4. The closing phase

Time to wrap up the project. The project manager must identify that their team has completed all of the requested outcomes, then present the final product to the stakeholders to sign off and officially close the project.

📌 Key takeaway:

By following the project life cycle, you’re ensuring that you are: 

• Capturing the expectations of your customer
• Setting your project up for success with a plan
• Executing project tasks and addressing any issues or project risks that arise
• Closing out your project to capture any lessons learned and improve the next projects

Critical factors for successful project management can vary from one project to another, but here are a few factors that should remain constant no matter the type of project or what industry you’re in:

✅ Set SMART goals  

✅ Understand the project scope and prevent scope creep

✅ Identify project risks and create a risk management plan

✅ Clearly defined roles and responsibilities

✅ Effective team communication

✅ Maintain a high level of project visibility

How project management software gives teams flexibility 

With so many factors that can impact project success, using project management software can help to keep everyone and everything on track and ahead of curveballs.

A good project management app can take so much of the burden of managing projects off your shoulders by providing teams with the tools they need to get a high-level overview of their work, streamline business processes, create efficient workflows, communicate more effectively, and make collaboration seamless and more enjoyable. 

ClickUp , for one, helps project managers and teams plan, manage, track projects, and collaborate with each other—all in one place. Its fully customizable platform gives teams the flexibility and the advanced tools they need to create the most efficient workflow that best suits their project needs and preferences. 

And because the platform is fully customizable, teams in ClickUp are fully equipped to handle any type of project and support any type of project management methodology , including the most common approaches such as Waterfall, Agile (Scrum and Kanban), Lean, Six Sigma, and more. 

Key ClickUp features for effective project management include :

• Customizable views : View your projects your way; choose from 15+ views, including Gantt Chart, Timeline, and Workload view
• Custom automation : Save time, keep your processes consistent, and streamline your workflow
• Custom task statuses : Add and assign different stages to your tasks to improve project visibility 
• Custom Fields : Add more context to your tasks and display important information 
• Goals : Stay on track to hit your SMART goals with clear timelines, measurable targets, and automatic progress tracking 
• Project milestones : Easily set milestones to help you stay on top of important deadlines and track your team’s progress against major checkpoints
• Dependencies : Add “blocking” or “waiting on” dependencies between tasks to set a clear order of operations, so your team always knows what to work on first
• Task checklist : Create a to-do list within each task to ensure all steps are completed before moving the task forward
• Dashboards : Build a mission control center for each project, team member, and more to  ensure every project stakeholder has the information they need to control any project risk and keep the project delivery within its timeline
• Global time tracking : Track time spent on tasks, set estimates, add notes, and view reports of your time from anywhere
• Assigned comments : Create and assign action items directly within a comment 
• Mobile app : Keep your projects accessible wherever you go with the ClickUp mobile app
• Integration : Connect ClickUp to over 1,000 of your favorite work tools to streamline your workflow  

Now, let’s take a look at a few real-life project management examples and learn how other industry experts have successfully delivered projects using the right methodology and tools!

5 Project Management Examples and Tips for Successful Project Delivery

1. marketing project example: creating a cross-functional workflow.

Jakub Grajcar , a Marketing Manager at STX Next, leads a team of content and social media specialists, spearheads the Marketing department’s lead generation and brand recognition strategy and works with multiple departments to deliver projects. A typical day for the team includes executing upwards of five content deliverables, with Jakub often reviewing 10+ different projects at a time.

The problem?

Working with our Product Design department was a chaotic process. Our teams struggled with communication because we lacked project visbility—we often didn’t have clear information about whether tasks were still under review or needed more work.  We absolutely needed a system that would allow me and the Head of Product Design to get an overview of the entire process and come to grips with all the work in progress and upcoming tasks.

The goal? To help improve global collaboration across departments , and content marketing processes, speed up project completion and delivery, and keep the teams aligned on goals, project timelines, and so on by creating a cross-functional workflow and standardizing processes in ClickUp.

Here’s how Jakub and his team carried out this initiative: 

Initiation phase

• Identify the project: To create Marketing Sprints templates and team Dashboards 
• Define the desired outcome: Manage multiple projects, streamline partner outreach, and speed up the content production process

Planning phase

• Project management methodology: Agile  

Execution phase

Task checklist:

• Create Folders for each department and set up Lists within each Folder
• Within each List, create tasks and subtasks to breakdown the work even further 
• Save tasks as a template that can be reused as many times as needed
• Set up Custom Task Statuses to give each stage of the project a designated name 
• Add Custom Fields to each List to display and keep key information easily accessible
• Added custom automation to automatically trigger an action and push the project to the next step 
• Save the Folder as a template to be reused for the next Sprint and to keep processes consistent 
• Build a custom Dashboard with real-time reporting to display key data and improve task visibility

Closing phase

• At the end of the project, Jakub and the teams within STX Next tested the new Marketing Sprints template and Dashboard to ensure the process was smooth for everyone involved in the project and all of the custom automation in ClickUp was set up properly.

📌 Use this Marketing Sprint Folder template to help with project planning, keep project activities visible and organized, and streamline your processes. Hit the ground running with pre-set Board and List views, task estimation capabilities, and customizable automation!

2. SEO project example: Scaling content production

Adele Payant , ClickUp’s SEO Specialist, is responsible for researching opportunities and creating content briefs for the writers to use as a guide when drafting articles for the blog page. And to write compelling content briefs, she has to perform keyword research, competitive analysis , and other important related tasks, and ensure the content brief is detailed and easy to follow for the writers. 

The biggest challenge in our SEO blog workflow was focusing on scaling our content production without impacting the quality of each blog.

To create a clear and repeatable system to help our SEO team ramp up the volume of briefs without compromising the quality of the brief and reduce unnecessary back-and-forth communication.

Here’s how Adele executed this project:

Initiation phase 

• Identify the project : Create a detailed and structured SEO content brief template
• Define the desired outcome: Create a structured and consistent workflow for researching and creating content briefs, and speed up the approval process

Planning phase 

• Connect with the writing team to capture feedback about the current process 
• Start a new Doc and use the rich-editing tools to structure your page
• Add headers to define the sections in your Doc clearly
• Embed links to example articles and other key data from keyword research
• Add nested pages to capture notes for the assigned writer to review before drafting the article
• Save the Doc as a template 

Closing phase 

• To ensure the content blog brief is up to par, the Sr. SEO Manager, Sr. SEO Specialist, and Sr. Content Managers reviewed the Doc and presented the template to the content writers to review for readability and to gather feedback. The project is officially closed after all stakeholders have approved it.

📌 Use this SEO Content Brief template to clearly state your goals and objectives, and share it with your writers to improve content delivery.

For more SEO project management tips, check out ClickUp’s Sr. SEO Manager’s article: Tips to Optimize Your Workflow . 

3. Customer enablement project: Launching a new program

Robin Wisner , ClickUp’s LMS Administrator, is responsible for delivering a new initiative to give ClickUp customers a fun and interactive way to learn how to use ClickUp and maximize the features within the platform.

The Customer Enablement team, of which Robin is a member, launched ClickUp University (CUU) in November 2021. The new program received an overwhelmingly positive response from ClickUp users and ultimately gave the team the green light to launch another option to help further enhance user experience.

To accomplish this, she led the initiative to launch CUU Certificates—a program intended to recognize the ClickUp users’ product knowledge and reward them for completing the course exams.

The biggest challenge for a project of this scale was managing across so many teams with competing priorities .

To delegate work effectively and launch the new certification program on time to provide a measurable process for customers to successfully onboard and enhance their experience as a ClickUp user.

Here’s how Robin and the project team members made it happen:

• Identify the project : Launch and promote the new certification program 
• Define the desired outcome: To collaborate with different teams to design and launch the new certification program.
• Project management methodology: Waterfall
• Outline objectives for each certification level and course in ClickUp Docs
• Develop beta test group and SOP for testing in ClickUp Docs
• Outline the diagram taxonomy and customer journey in ClickUp Whiteboards
• Create ClickUp Tasks for content development and assign them to the designated team members 
• Use the ClickUp Form to submit a design request for the certificates
• Submit a request to create a new help center overview article
• Collaborate with the Dev Ops team to code and manage website design
• Run tests with the beta test group and collect feedback 
• Create internal and external enablement materials
• Submit a request for marketing promotional materials 
• To finalize and close this project, the project stakeholders reviewed the creative designs and tested the website’s performance and user experience. The approval was given once project requirements are met. 

📌 Use this Feedback Form template to customize your feedback collection, view all your feedback in one place, and improve your products and services.

Bonus: Project Management Software for Freelancers

4. Education project example: Building company-wide data reporting dashboards

Morey Graham , the Director of Alumni and Donor Services (ADS) at Wake Forest University, leads and manages fundraising campaigns , alumni relationships, brand identity, and publications within the Wake Forest community. 

Because teams worked on separate platforms, it created work silos that led to duplicated efforts and poor team communication. We also lacked visibility into our data which impacted our ability to make strong business decisions for the organization.

To find a new project management tool that is user-friendly for all the departments and to create a business dashboard that displays and updates data in real-time to help improve project visibility across the organization.

Here’s how Morey and the ADS department delivered this project:

• Identify the project : Create an accurate and reliable project dashboard for leadership and team members
• Define the desired outcome: Improve data reporting and task visibility across departments, and align team goals

Task checklist

• Consolidate work tools and integrate apps together to streamline the data reporting process
• Set an all-hands meeting with the department to collect feedback about the current process and document meetings notes in a Doc or Notepad
• Create a Space for each department to organize work by departments
• Within each Space, create a Folder for each project
• Within each Folder, create a List for each team member 
• Create Custom Statuses for every stage of the project
• Set up and add tags to tasks to categorize and link related tasks together 
• Establish goals and document targets for each in ClickUp Goals  
• Define your Dashboard audience and data story
• Choose the right KPIs to support the data story
• Select the widget that matches your reporting requirements
• Present the project to the department head and key stakeholders for review and approval to close the project. 

📌 Create custom Dashboards in ClickUp to get a high-level overview of all your initiatives, highlight KPIs, project status, and progress, to keep everyone on track and aligned at all times.

5. Product launch project example: Launching a new product feature

To further expand ClickUp’s list of features for project management, the company set out a huge initiative to build and successfully launch a new product feature, ClickUp Whiteboards . Spearheading the project is ClickUp’s Group Product Manager, Zach Blodgett .

The company’s vision was to create a powerful yet easy-to-use digital collaboration tool that project managers, executives, and team members could use to level up their brainstorming, planning, and execution processes.

The problem? 

The biggest challenge was team size and a rapidly approaching deadline. The deadline was immovable and we had a ton of stakeholders from GTM, sales, pricing & packaging, growth, support, CSMs, EPD. We had to ensure they knew what was going out, what was next, and how to talk about Whiteboards.

To use a project management tool to help manage tasks, communicate with stakeholders across the globe, and minimize risks and bottlenecks to deliver the new and highly-anticipated product feature within the agreed-upon timeline.

Here’s how Zach and the company launched a successful project launch:

• Identify the project : New feature rollout 
• Define the desired outcome: To successfully deliver a responsive and functional new feature and create GTM campaigns for launch day
• Project management methodology: Lean
• Delegate tasks to the respective team members within the Product and Engineering team
• Use the ClickUp-Github integration to preview branches populated in the tasks
• Create Clip videos to report bugs in development and to easily relay complex issues to other teams
• Connect with the Creative team to shoot promotional videos and ads
• Connect with the entire company to run beta testing and collect feedback
• Run tests with the Security team
• Collaborate with Sales to determine the pricing model
• Work with the Product Marketing GTM team to create a marketing campaign plan for the launch
• Set important milestones and schedule for beta release

Closing Phase 

• The CEO, Sr. VP of Engineering, and other key project stakeholders reviewed the product feature, and approved the final product before launch day.

Here’s the final look—check it out!

📌 Create a step-by-step approach to how your organization will bring a product to the market, and use this Go to Market Strategy template to help you ship faster!

Handle Any Project With Confidence By Using ClickUp

Successful project management starts with understanding what the ultimate goal of the project is, understanding the key elements that go into an intelligent project plan, and creating a smooth and actionable strategy to get there—refer to the project management examples above to help spark ideas.

You’ll also need to ensure to implement the appropriate methodology to guide you through the entire process and utilize the project lifecycle to keep you on track. 

And to make your life as a project manager as easy as humanly possible, you need to use a project management tool like ClickUp to help keep everything in order and bring all your work to one centralized place. Use it to track project progress, manage project risks and resources effectively, collaborate with your entire organization, and so much more. 

With its extensive list of customizable and functional features, you’ll be fully equipped to handle any type of project management approach, manage multiple complex projects at once, set up the most streamlined workflow, support your remote and hybrid teams, and confidently deliver quality projects on time, every time. 

(cue “That was easy” sound effect 😉)

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How to Write a Project Proposal (Examples & Template Included)

Table of Contents

Types of project proposals, project proposal vs. project charter, project proposal vs. business case, project proposal vs. project plan, project proposal outline, how to write a project proposal, project proposal example, project proposal tips, what is a project proposal.

A project proposal is a project management document that’s used to define the objectives and requirements of a project. It helps organizations and external project stakeholders agree on an initial project planning framework.

The main purpose of a project proposal is to get buy-in from decision-makers. That’s why a project proposal outlines your project’s core value proposition; it sells value to both internal and external project stakeholders. The intent of the proposal is to grab the attention of stakeholders and project sponsors. Then, the next step is getting them excited about the project summary.

Getting into the heads of the audience for which you’re writing the project proposal is vital: you need to think like the project’s stakeholders to deliver a proposal that meets their needs.

We’ve created a free project proposal template for Word to help structure documents, so you don’t have to remember the process each time.

Get your free

Project Proposal Template

Use this free Project Proposal Template for Word to manage your projects better.

In terms of types of project proposals, you can have one that’s formally solicited, informally solicited or a combination. There can also be renewal and supplemental proposals. Here’s a brief description of each of them.

• Solicited project proposal: This is sent as a response to a request for proposal (RFP) . Here, you’ll need to adhere to the RFP guidelines of the project owner.
• Unsolicited project proposal: You can send project proposals without having received a request for a proposal. This can happen in open bids for construction projects , where a project owner receives unsolicited project proposals from many contractors.
• Informal project proposal: This type of project proposal is created when a client asks for an informal proposal without an RFP.
• Renewal project proposal: You can use a renewal project proposal when you’re reaching out to past customers. The advantage is that you can highlight past positive results and future benefits.
• Continuation project proposal: A continuation project proposal is sent to investors and stakeholders to communicate project progress.
• Supplemental project proposal: This proposal is sent to investors to ask for additional resources during the project execution phase.

All the elements in the above project proposal outline are present in our template. This free project proposal template for Word will provide you with everything you need to write an excellent project proposal. It will help you with the executive summary, project process, deliverables, costs—even terms and conditions. Download your free template today.

A project proposal is a detailed project document that’s used to convince the project sponsor that the project being proposed is worth the time, money and effort to deliver it. This is done by showing how the project will address a business problem or opportunity. It also outlines the work that will be done and how it will be done.

A project charter can seem like the same thing as a project proposal as it also defines the project in a document. It identifies the project objectives, scope, goals, stakeholders and team. But it’s done after the project has been agreed upon by all stakeholders and the project has been accepted. The project charter authorizes the project and documents its requirements to meet stakeholders’ needs.

A business case is used to explain why the proposed project is justified. It shows that the project is worth the investment of time and money. It’s more commonly used in larger companies in the decision-making process when prioritizing one project over another.

The business case answers the questions: what is the project, why should it be taken up, who will be involved and how much will it cost? It’s therefore related to a project proposal, but the project proposal comes before the business case and is usually part of the larger proposal.

Again, the project proposal and the project plan in this case are very similar documents. It’s understandable that there would be some confusion between these two project terms. They both show how the project will be run and what the results will be. However, they’re not the same.

The project proposal is a document that aims to get a project approved and funded. It’s used to convince stakeholders of the viability of the project and their investment. The project plan, on the other hand, is made during the planning phase of the project, once it’s been approved. It’s a detailed outline of how the project will be implemented, including schedule, budget, resources and more.

There are several key operational and strategic questions to consider, including:

• Executive summary: This is the elevator pitch that outlines the project being proposed and why it makes business sense. While it also touches on the information that’ll follow in the project proposal, the executive summary should be brief and to the point.
• Project background: This is another short part of the proposal, usually only one page, which explains the problem you’ll solve or the opportunity you’re taking advantage of with the proposed project. Also, provide a short history of the business to put the company in context to the project and why it’s a good fit.
• Project vision & success criteria: State the goal of the project and how it aligns with the goals of the company. Be specific. Also, note the metrics used to measure the success of the project.
• Potential risks and mitigation strategies: There are always risks. Detail them here and what strategies you’ll employ to mitigate any negative impact as well as take advantage of any positive risk.
• Project scope & deliverables: Define the project scope, which is all the work that has to be done and how it will be done. Also, detail the various deliverables that the project will have.
• Set SMART goals: When setting goals, be SMART. That’s an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. All your goals would be defined by those five things.
• Project approach: Define the approach you’ll use for the contract. There are several different types of contracts used in construction , for example, such as lump sum, cost plus, time and materials, etc. This is also a good place to describe the delivery method you’ll use.
• Expected benefits: Outline the benefits that will come from the successful completion of the project.
• Project resource requirements: List the resources, such as labor, materials, equipment, etc., that you’ll need to execute the project if approved.
• Project costs & budget: Detail all the costs, including resources, that’ll be required to complete the project and set up a budget to show how those costs will be spent over the course of the project.
• Project timeline: Lay out the project timeline , which shows the project from start to finish, including the duration of each phase and the tasks within it, milestones, etc.

In addition to these elements, it’s advisable to use a cover letter, which is a one-page document that helps you introduce your project proposal and grab the attention of potential clients and stakeholders.

To make the best proposal possible, you’ll want to be thorough and hit on all the points we’ve listed above. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a persuasive priority proposal.

1. Write an Executive Summary

The executive summary provides a quick overview of the main elements of your project proposal, such as your project background, project objectives and project deliverables, among other things. The goal is to capture the attention of your audience and get them excited about the project you’re proposing. It’s essentially the “elevator pitch” for the project life cycle. It should be short and to the point.

The executive summary should be descriptive and paint a picture of what project success looks like for the client. Most importantly, it should motivate the project client; after all, the goal is getting them to sign on the dotted line to get the project moving!

2. Provide a Project Background

The project background is a one-page section of your project proposal that explains the problem that your project will solve. You should explain when this issue started, its current state and how your project will be the ideal solution.

• Historic data: The history section outlines previously successful projects and those that could have run more smoothly. By doing so, this section establishes precedents and how the next project can be more effective using information from previous projects.
• Solution: The solution section addresses how your project will solve the client’s problem. Accordingly, this section includes any project management techniques , skills and procedures your team will use to work efficiently.

3. Establish a Project Vision & Success Criteria

You’ll need to define your project vision. This is best done with a vision statement, which acts as the north star for your project. It’s not specific as much as it’s a way to describe the impact your company plans to make with the project.

It’s also important to set up success criteria to show that the project is in fact doing what it’s proposed to do. Three obvious project success criteria are the triple constraint of cost, scope and time. But you’ll need to set up a way to measure these metrics and respond to them if they’re not meeting your plan.

4. Identify Potential Risks and Mitigation Strategies

To reduce the impact of risk in your project, you need to identify what those risks might be and develop a plan to mitigate them . List all the risks, prioritize them, describe what you’ll do to mitigate or take advantage of them and who on the team is responsible for keeping an eye out for them and resolving them.

5. Define Your Project Scope and Project Deliverables

The project scope refers to all the work that’ll be executed. It defines the work items, work packages and deliverables that’ll be delivered during the execution phase of your project life cycle. It’s important to use a work breakdown structure (WBS) to define your tasks and subtasks and prioritize them.

6. Set SMART Goals for Your Project Proposal

The best mindset when developing goals and objectives for your project proposal is to use the SMART system :

• Specific – Make sure your goals and objectives are clear, concise and specific to the task at hand.
• Measurable – Ensure your goals and objectives are measurable so it’s obvious to see when things are on track and going well, and conversely, when things are off track and issues need to be addressed. Measurable goals make it easy to develop the milestones you’ll use to track the progress of the project and identify a reasonable date for completion and/or closure.
• Attainable – It’s important every project has a “reach” goal. Hitting this goal would mean an outstanding project that extends above and beyond expectations. However, it’s important that the project’s core goal is attainable, so morale stays high and the job gets done with time and resources to spare.
• Relevant – Make sure all of your goals are directly relevant to the project and address the scope within which you’re working.
• Time-Based – Timelines and specific dates should be at the core of all goals and objectives. This helps keep the project on track and ensures all project team members can manage the work that’s ahead of them.

7. Explain What’s Your Project Approach

Your project approach defines the project management methodology , tools and governance for your project. In simple terms, it allows project managers to explain to stakeholders how the project will be planned, executed and controlled successfully.

8. Outline The Expected Benefits of Your Project Proposal

If you want to convince internal stakeholders and external investors, you’ll need to show them the financial benefits that your project could bring to their organization. You can use cost-benefit analysis and projected financial statements to demonstrate why your project is profitable.

9. Identify Project Resource Requirements

Project resources are critical for the execution of your project. The project proposal briefly describes what resources are needed and how they’ll be used. Later, during the planning phase, you’ll need to create a resource management plan that’ll be an important element of your project plan. Project requirements are the items, materials and resources needed for the project. This section should cover both internal and external needs.

10. Estimate Project Costs and Project Budget

All the resources that you’ll need for your project have a price tag. That’s why you need to estimate those costs and create a project budget . The project budget needs to cover all your project expenses, and as a project manager, you’ll need to make sure that you adhere to the budget.

11. Define a Project Timeline

Once you’ve defined your project scope, you’ll need to estimate the duration of each task to create a project timeline. Later during the project planning phase , you’ll need to create a schedule baseline, which estimates the total length of your project. Once the project starts, you’ll compare your actual project schedule to the schedule baseline to monitor progress.

Now let’s explore some project proposal examples to get a better understanding of how a project proposal would work in the real world. For this example, let’s imagine a city that’s about to build a rapid transit system. The city government has the funds to invest but lacks the technical expertise and resources that are needed to build it, so it issues a request for proposal (RFP) document and sends it to potential builders.

Then, the construction companies that are interested in executing this rapid transit project will prepare a project proposal for the city government. Here are some of the key elements they should include.

• Project background: The construction firm will provide an explanation of the challenges that the project presents from a technical perspective, along with historical data from similar projects that have been completed successfully by the company.
• Project vision & success criteria: Write a vision statement and explain how you’ll track the triple constraint to ensure the successful delivery of the project.
• Potential risks and mitigation strategies: List all risks and how they’ll be mitigated, and be sure to prioritize them.
• Project scope & deliverables: The work that’ll be done is outlined in the scope, including all the deliverables that’ll be completed over the life cycle of the project.
• Set SMART goals: Use the SMART technique to define your project goals by whether they’re specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
• Project approach: Define the methodology that the project manager will employ to manage the project. Also, figure out what type of contract will be used to define the project.
• Expected benefits: Show how the project will deliver advantages to the company and define what these benefits are in a quantifiable way.
• Project resource requirements: List all the resources, such as labor, materials, equipment, etc., needed to execute the project.
• Project costs & budget: Estimate the cost of the project and lay that out in a project budget that covers everything from start to finish.
• Project timeline: Outline the project schedule, including phases, milestones and task duration on a visual timeline.

Whatever project proposal you’re working on, there are a few tips that apply as best practices for all. While above we suggested a project proposal template that would have a table of contents, meaning it would be many pages long, the best-case scenario is keeping the proposal to one or two pages max. Remember, you’re trying to win over stakeholders, not bore them.

Speaking of project stakeholders , do the research. You want to address the right ones. There’s no point in doing all the work necessary to write a great proposal only to have it directed to the wrong target audience. Whoever is going to read it, though, should be able to comprehend the proposal. Keep the language simple and direct.

When it comes to writing, get a professional. Even a business document like a project proposal, business case or executive summary will suffer if it’s poorly constructed or has typos. If you don’t want to hire a professional business writer, make sure you get someone on your project team to copy, edit and proof the document. The more eyes on it, the less likely mistakes will make it to the final edition.

While you want to keep the proposal short and sweet, it helps to sweeten the pot by adding customer testimonials to the attachments. Nothing sells a project plan better than a customer base looking for your product or service.

ProjectManager & Project Proposals

ProjectManager allows you to plan proposals within our software. You can update tasks for the project proposal to signify where things stand and what’s left to be done. The columns allow you to organize your proposal by section, creating a work breakdown structure (WBS) of sorts.

When building a project proposal, it’s vital to remember your target audience. Your audience includes those who are excited about the project, and see completion as a gain for their organization. Conversely, others in your audience will see the project as a pain and something to which they aren’t looking forward. To keep both parties satisfied, it’s essential to keep language factual and concise.

Our online kanban boards help you think through that language and collaborate on it effectively with other team members, if necessary. Each card shows the percentage completed so everyone in the project management team is aware of the work done and what’s left to be done.

As you can see from the kanban board above, work has begun on tasks such as product documentation and design. Tasks regarding stakeholder feedback, ideation, market research and more have been completed, and there’s a good start on the engineering drawings, 3D rendering, supply chain sourcing and translation services.

A PDF is then attached to the card, and everyone added to the task receives an email notifying them of the change. This same process can be used throughout the life-cycle of the project to keep the team updated, collaborating, and producing a first-class project proposal. In addition to kanban boards, you can also use other project management tools such as Gantt charts , project dashboards, task lists and project calendars to plan, schedule and track your projects.

Project proposals are just the first step in the project planning process. Once your project is approved, you’ll have to solidify the plan, allocate and manage resources, monitor the project, and finally hand in your deliverables. This process requires a flexible, dynamic and robust project management software package. ProjectManager is online project management software that helps all your team members collaborate and manage this process in real-time. Try our award-winning software with this free 30-day trial .

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Free Project Management Templates

Project Management Plan Template

A successful project requires a detailed and well-planned Project Management Plan. Start planning with our Project Plan Template. This Project Management Plan template is a good starting point for planning your project; however, be sure to check out our Subsidiary Management Plans for areas which need more focused management. If you want to know what is a project plan, be sure to go to our blog and read the blog entry titled, “What is a Project Plan?”. This template, along with all templates on our site, is based on our experience managing projects in accordance with the standards set by the Project Management Institute .

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Introduction.

The Introduction provides a high level overview of the project and what is included in this Project Management Plan. This should include a high level description of the project and describe the projects deliverables and benefits. Excessive detail is not necessary in this section as the other sections of the project plan will include this information. This section of the project management plan template should provide a summarized framework of the project and its purpose. Look back at the Project Charter for information to include in this section.

Total Software Incorporated (TSI) has recently approved the SmartVoice project to move forward for project initiation within the research and development (R&D) group. This project will result in the development of new voice recognition software and supports TSI’s corporate strategy of providing progressive solutions to clients which improve productivity in both the workplace and home environment. While voice recognition software is currently available, TSI believes that new technological developments will enable our team to develop a solution far superior to what is currently available.

TSI has been successful in gaining market share because of its aggressive pursuit of product quality, ease of use, flexibility, and customer service. Additionally, customers understand that our products may be applied to a wide range of uses for business and personal functions. By leveraging our reputation for superior quality and user-friendly products, and capitalizing on new technology, TSI can position itself as the premier provider of effective and easy to use voice recognitions software in today’s marketplace.

Project Management Approach

This section of the Project Plan template is where you outline the overall management approach for the project. This section should describe, in general terms, the roles and authority of project team members. It should also include which organizations will provide resources for the project and any resource constraints or limitations. If there are any decisions which must be made by specific individuals—for example authorizing additional funding by the project sponsor—this should also be stated here. It should be written as an Executive Summary for the Project Management Plan.

The Project Manager, Joe Green, has the overall authority and responsibility for managing and executing this project according to this Project Plan and its Subsidiary Management Plans. The project team will consist of personnel from the coding group, quality control/assurance group, technical writing group, and testing group. The project manager will work with all resources to perform project planning. All project and subsidiary management plans will be reviewed and approved by the project sponsor. All funding decisions will also be made by the project sponsor. Any delegation of approval authority to the project manager should be done in writing and be signed by both the project sponsor and project manager.

The project team will be a matrix in that team members from each organization continue to report to their organizational management throughout the duration of the project. The project manager is responsible for communicating with organizational managers on the progress and performance of each project resource.

Project Scope

State the scope of the project in this section of the Project Management Plan. The scope statement from the project charter should be used as a starting point; however, the project plan needs to include a much more detailed scope than the charter. This detail should include what the project does and does not include. The more detail included in this section, the better the product. This will help to clarify what is included in the project and help to avoid any confusion from project team members and stakeholders.

The scope of TSI’s SmartVoice project includes the planning, design, development, testing, and transition of the SmartVoice voice recognition software package. This software will meet or exceed organizational software standards and additional requirements established in the project charter. The scope of this project also includes completion of all documentation, manuals, and training aids to be used in conjunction with the software. Project completion will occur when the software and documentation package has been successfully executed and transitioned to TSI’s manufacturing group for production.

All SmartVoice project work will be performed internally and no portion of this project will be outsourced. The scope of this project does not include any changes in requirements to standard operating systems to run the software, software updates or revisions.

Milestone List

Provide a summary list of milestones including dates for each milestone. Include an introductory paragraph in this section which provides some insight to the major milestones. This section of the project plan template should also mention or discuss actions taken if any changes to the milestones or delivery dates are required.

The below chart lists the major milestones for the SmartVoice Project. This chart is comprised only of major project milestones such as completion of a project phase or gate review. There may be smaller milestones which are not included on this chart but are included in the project schedule and WBS. If there are any scheduling delays which may impact a milestone or delivery date, the project manager must be notified immediately so proactive measures may be taken to mitigate slips in dates. Any approved changes to these milestones or dates will be communicated to the project team by the project manager.

Schedule Baseline and Work Breakdown Structure

This section of the Project Management Plan should discuss the WBS, WBS Dictionary, and Schedule baseline and how they will be used in managing the project’s scope. The WBS provides the work packages to be performed for the completion of the project. The WBS Dictionary defines the work packages. The schedule baseline provides a reference point for managing project progress as it pertains to schedule and timeline. The schedule baseline and work breakdown structure (WBS) should be created in Microsoft Project. The WBS can be exported from the MS Project file. Be sure to consult our Work Breakdown Structure Template.

The WBS for the SmartVoice Project is comprised of work packages which do not exceed 40 hours of work but are at least 4 hours of work. Work packages were developed through close collaboration among project team members and stakeholders with input from functional managers and research from past projects.

The WBS Dictionary defines all work packages for the SmartVoice Project. These definitions include all tasks, resources, and deliverables. Every work package in the WBS is defined in the WBS Dictionary and will aid in resource planning, task completion, and ensuring deliverables meet project requirements.

The SmartVoice Project schedule was derived from the WBS and Project Charter with input from all project team members. The schedule was completed, reviewed by the Project Sponsor, and approved and base-lined. The schedule will be maintained as a MS Project Gantt Chart by the SmartVoice Project Manager. Any proposed changes to the schedule will follow TSI’s change control process. If established boundary controls may be exceeded, a change request will be submitted to the Project Manager. The Project Manager and team will determine the impact of the change on the schedule, cost, resources, scope, and risks. If it is determined that the impacts will exceed the boundary conditions then the change will be forwarded to the Project Sponsor for review and approval. The SmartVoice boundary conditions are:

CPI less than 0.8 or greater than 1.2 SPI less than 0.8 or greater than 1.2

If the change is approved by the Project Sponsor then it will be implemented by the Project Manager who will update the schedule and all documentation and communicate the change to all stakeholders in accordance with the Change Control Process.

The Project Schedule Baseline and Work Breakdown Structure are provided in Appendix A, Project Schedule and Appendix B, Work Breakdown Structure.

Change Management Plan

This part of the Project Plan should describe your change control process. Ideally, this process will be some type of organizational standard which is repeatable and done on most or all projects when a change is necessary. Changes to any project must be carefully considered and the impact of the change must be clear in order to make any type of approval decisions. Many organizations have change control boards (CCBs) which review proposed changes and either approve or deny them. This is an effective way to provide oversight and ensure adequate feedback and review of the change is obtained. This section of the project management plan template gives you an place where you should also identify who has approval authority for changes to the project, who submits the changes, how they are tracked and monitored.

For complex or large projects the Change Management Plan may be included as an appendix to the Project Management Plan or as a separate, stand-alone document. We have a detailed Change Management Plan Template available on our website.

The following steps comprise TSI’s organization change control process for all projects and will be utilized on the SmartVoice project:

Step #1: Identify the need for a change (Any Stakeholder) Requestor will submit a completed TSI change request form to the project manager Step #2: Log change in the change request register (Project Manager) The project manager will maintain a log of all change requests for the duration of the project Step #3: Conduct an evaluation of the change (Project Manager, Project Team, Requestor) The project manager will conduct an evaluation of the impact of the change to cost, risk, schedule, and scope Step #4: Submit change request to Change Control Board (CCB) (Project Manager) The project manager will submit the change request and analysis to the CCB for review Step #5: Change Control Board decision (CCB) The CCB will discuss the proposed change and decide whether or not it will be approved based on all submitted information Step #6: Implement change (Project Manager) If a change is approved by the CCB, the project manager will update and re-baseline project documentation as necessary as well as ensure any changes are communicated to the team and stakeholders

Any team member or stakeholder may submit a change request for the SmartVoice Project. The SmartVoice Project Sponsor will chair the CCB and any changes to project scope, cost, or schedule must meet his approval. All change requests will be logged in the change control register by the Project Manager and tracked through to completion whether approved or not.

Communications Management Plan

The purpose of the Communications Management Plan is to define the communication requirements for the project and how information will be distributed to ensure project success. You should give considerable thought to how you want to manage communications on every project. By having a solid communications management approach you’ll find that many project management problems can be avoided. In this section you should provide an overview of your communications management approach. Generally, the Communications Management Plan defines the following:

• Communication requirements based on roles
• What information will be communicated
• How the information will be communicated
• When will information be distributed
• Who does the communication
• Who receives the communication
• Communications conduct

For larger and more complex projects, the Communications Management Plan may be included as an appendix or separate document apart from the Project Management Plan. We have a detailed Communications Management Plan Template available on our website.

This Communications Management Plan sets the communications framework for this project. It will serve as a guide for communications throughout the life of the project and will be updated as communication requirements change. This plan identifies and defines the roles of SmartVoice project team members as they pertain to communications. It also includes a communications matrix which maps the communication requirements of this project, and communication conduct for meetings and other forms of communication. A project team directory is also included to provide contact information for all stakeholders directly involved in the project.

The Project Manager will take the lead role in ensuring effective communications on this project. The communications requirements are documented in the Communications Matrix below. The Communications Matrix will be used as the guide for what information to communicate, who is to do the communicating, when to communicate it, and to whom to communicate.

Project team directory for all communications is:

Communications Conduct:

Meetings: The Project Manager will distribute a meeting agenda at least 2 days prior to any scheduled meeting and all participants are expected to review the agenda prior to the meeting. During all project meetings the timekeeper will ensure that the group adheres to the times stated in the agenda and the recorder will take all notes for distribution to the team upon completion of the meeting. It is imperative that all participants arrive to each meeting on time and all cell phones and blackberries should be turned off or set to vibrate mode to minimize distractions. Meeting minutes will be distributed no later than 24 hours after each meeting is completed.

Email: All email pertaining to the SmartVoice Project should be professional, free of errors, and provide brief communication. Email should be distributed to the correct project participants in accordance with the communication matrix above based on its content. All attachments should be in one of the organization’s standard software suite programs and adhere to established company formats. If the email is to bring an issue forward then it should discuss what the issue is, provide a brief background on the issue, and provide a recommendation to correct the issue. The Project Manager should be included on any email pertaining to the SmartVoice Project.

Informal Communications: While informal communication is a part of every project and is necessary for successful project completion, any issues, concerns, or updates that arise from informal discussion between team members must be communicated to the Project Manager so the appropriate action may be taken.

Cost Management Plan

The Cost Management Plan clearly defines how the costs on a project will be managed throughout the project’s lifecycle. It sets the format and standards by which the project costs are measured, reported, and controlled. Working within the cost management guidelines is imperative for all project team members to ensure successful completion of the project. These guidelines may include which level of the WBS cost accounts will be created in and the establishment of acceptable variances. The Cost Management Plan:

• Identifies who is responsible for managing costs
• Identifies who has the authority to approve changes to the project or its budget
• How cost performance is quantitatively measured and reported upon
• Report formats, frequency and to whom they are presented

For complex or large projects the Cost Management Plan may be included as an appendix to the Project Plan or as a separate, stand-alone document. In addition to this project plan template we have a detailed Cost Management Plan Template available on our website.

The Project Manager will be responsible for managing and reporting on the project’s cost throughout the duration of the project. The Project Manager will present and review the project’s cost performance during the monthly project status meeting. Using earned value calculations, the Project Manager is responsible for accounting for cost deviations and presenting the Project Sponsor with options for getting the project back on budget. All budget authority and decisions, to include budget changes, reside with the SmartVoice Project Sponsor.

For the SmartVoice Project, control accounts will be created at the fourth level of the WBS which is where all costs and performance will be managed and tracked. Financial performance of the SmartVoice Project will be measured through earned value calculations pertaining to the project’s cost accounts. Work started on work packages will grant that work package with 50% credit; whereas, the remaining 50% is credited upon completion of all work defined in that work package. Costs may be rounded to the nearest dollar and work hours rounded to the nearest whole hour.

Cost and Schedule Performance Index (CPI and SPI respectively) will be reported on a monthly basis by the Project Manager to the Project Sponsor. Variances of 10% or +/- 0.1 in the cost and schedule performance indexes will change the status of the cost to yellow or cautionary. These will be reported and if it’s determined that there is no or minimal impact on the project’s cost or schedule baseline then there may be no action required. Cost variances of 20%, or +/- 0.2 in the cost and schedule performance indexes will change the status of the cost to red or critical. These will be reported and require corrective action from the Project Manager in order to bring the cost and/or schedule performance indexes back in line with the allowable variance. Any corrective actions will require a project change request and be must approved by the CCB before it can be implemented.

Earned value calculations will be compiled by the Project Manager and reported at the monthly project status meeting. If there are indications that these values will approach or reach the critical stage before a subsequent meeting, the Project Manager will communicate this to the Project Sponsor immediately.

Procurement Management Plan

The Procurement Management Plan should be defined enough to clearly identify the necessary steps and responsibilities for procurement from the beginning to the end of a project. The project manager must ensure that the plan facilitates the successful completion of the project and does not become an overwhelming task in itself to manage. The project manager will work with the project team, contracts/purchasing department, and other key players to manage the procurement activities.

For larger projects or projects with more complicated procurement management requirements, you can include the Procurement Management Plan as a separate document apart from the Project Management Plan. In addition to this Project Plan Template we have a detailed Procurement Management Plan Template available on our website.

The Project Manager will provide oversight and management for all procurement activities under this project. The Project Manager is authorized to approve all procurement actions up to $50,000. Any procurement actions exceeding this amount must be approved by the Project Sponsor.

While this project requires minimal or no procurement, in the event procurement is required, the Project Manager will work with the project team to identify all items or services to be procured for the successful completion of the project. The Project Manager will then ensure these procurements are reviewed by the Program Management Office (PMO) and presented to the contracts and purchasing groups. The contracts and purchasing groups will review the procurement actions, determine whether it is advantageous to make or buy the items or resource required services internally, and begin the vendor selection, purchasing and the contracting process.

In the event a procurement becomes necessary, the Project Manager will be responsible for management any selected vendor or external resource. The Project Manager will also measure performance as it relates to the vendor providing necessary goods and/or services and communicate this to the purchasing and contracts groups.

Project Scope Management Plan

It is important that the approach to managing the projects’ scope be clearly defined and documented in detail. Failure to clearly establish and communicate project scope can result in delays, unnecessary work, failure to achieve deliverables, cost overruns, or other unintended consequences. This section of our project management plan template provides a summary of the Scope Management Plan in which it addresses the following:

• Who has authority and responsibility for scope management
• How the scope is defined (i.e. Scope Statement, WBS, WBS Dictionary, Statement of Work, etc.)
• How the scope is measured and verified (i.e. Quality Checklists, Scope Baseline, Work Performance Measurements, etc.)
• The scope change process (who initiates, who authorizes, etc.)
• Who is responsible for accepting the final project deliverable and approves acceptance of project scope

We have a detailed Scope Management Plan Template available on our website which can be included as an appendix to the Project Management Plan for larger or more complex projects. Be sure to review it and determine if it’s necessary for managing your project.

Scope management for the SmartVoice Project will be the sole responsibility of the Project Manager. The scope for this project is defined by the Scope Statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and WBS Dictionary. The Project Manager, Sponsor, and Stakeholders will establish and approve documentation for measuring project scope which includes deliverable quality checklists and work performance measurements.

Proposed scope changes may be initiated by the Project Manager, Stakeholders or any member of the project team. All change requests will be submitted to the Project Manager who will then evaluate the requested scope change. Upon acceptance of the scope change request the Project Manager will submit the scope change request to the Change Control Board and Project Sponsor for acceptance. Upon approval of scope changes by the Change Control Board and Project Sponsor the Project Manager will update all project documents and communicate the scope change to all stakeholders. Based on feedback and input from the Project Manager and Stakeholders, the Project Sponsor is responsible for the acceptance of the final project deliverables and project scope.

The Project Sponsor is responsible for formally accepting the project’s final deliverable. This acceptance will be based on a review of all project documentation, testing results, beta trial results, and completion of all tasks/work packages and product functionality.

Schedule Management Plan

This section of the Project Plan provides a general framework for the approach which will be taken to create the project schedule. Effective schedule management is necessary for ensuring tasks are completed on time, resources are allocated appropriately, and to help measure project performance. This section of the Project Plan should include discussion of the scheduling tool/format, schedule milestones, and schedule development roles and responsibilities.

Be sure to check out the detailed Schedule Management Plan Template available on our website. The separate Schedule Management Plan is suitable for larger projects or projects where the schedule management is more formalized. The Schedule Management Plan can be broken out as an appendix to the Project Plan.

Project schedules for the SmartVoice Project will be created using MS Project 2007 starting with the deliverables identified in the project’s Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Activity definition will identify the specific work packages which must be performed to complete each deliverable. Activity sequencing will be used to determine the order of work packages and assign relationships between project activities. Activity duration estimating will be used to calculate the number of work periods required to complete work packages. Resource estimating will be used to assign resources to work packages in order to complete schedule development.

Once a preliminary schedule has been developed, it will be reviewed by the project team and any resources tentatively assigned to project tasks. The project team and resources must agree to the proposed work package assignments, durations, and schedule. Once this is achieved the project sponsor will review and approve the schedule and it will then be base lined.

In accordance with TSI’s organizational standard, the following will be designated as milestones for all project schedules:

• Completion of scope statement and WBS/WBS Dictionary
• Baselined project schedule
• Approval of final project budget
• Project kick-off
• Approval of roles and responsibilities
• Requirements definition approval
• Completion of data mapping/inventory
• Project implementation
• Acceptance of final deliverables

Roles and responsibilities for schedule development are as follows:

The project manager will be responsible for facilitating work package definition, sequencing, and estimating duration and resources with the project team. The project manager will also create the project schedule using MS Project 2007 and validate the schedule with the project team, stakeholders, and the project sponsor. The project manager will obtain schedule approval from the project sponsor and baseline the schedule.

The project team is responsible for participating in work package definition, sequencing, duration, and resource estimating. The project team will also review and validate the proposed schedule and perform assigned activities once the schedule is approved.

The project sponsor will participate in reviews of the proposed schedule and approve the final schedule before it is base lined.

The project stakeholders will participate in reviews of the proposed schedule and assist in its validation.

Quality Management Plan

This portion of the Project Management Plan Template discusses how quality management will be used to ensure that the deliverables for the project meet a formally established standard of acceptance. All project deliverables should be defined in order to provide a foundation and understanding of the tasks at hand and what work must be planned. Quality management is the process by which the organization not only completes the work, but completes the work to an acceptable standard. Without a thorough Quality Management Plan, work may be completed in a substandard or unacceptable manner. This section should include quality roles and responsibilities, quality control, quality assurance, and quality monitoring.

For larger or more complex projects, the Quality Management Plan may be included as an appendix or separate document from the Project Management Plan. A detailed Quality Management Plan Template is available for use on our website.

All members of the SmartVoice project team will play a role in quality management. It is imperative that the team ensures that work is completed at an adequate level of quality from individual work packages to the final project deliverable. The following are the quality roles and responsibilities for the SmartVoice Project:

The Project Sponsor is responsible for approving all quality standards for the SmartVoice Project. The Project Sponsor will review all project tasks and deliverables to ensure compliance with established and approved quality standards. Additionally, the Project Sponsor will sign off on the final acceptance of the project deliverable.

The Project Manager is responsible for quality management throughout the duration of the project. The Project Manager is responsible for implementing the Quality Management Plan and ensuring all tasks, processes, and documentation are compliant with the plan. The Project Manager will work with the project’s quality specialists to establish acceptable quality standards. The Project Manager is also responsible for communicating and tracking all quality standards to the project team and stakeholders.

The Quality Specialists are responsible for working with the Project Manager to develop and implement the Quality Management Plan. Quality Specialists will recommend tools and methodologies for tracking quality and standards to establish acceptable quality levels. The Quality Specialists will create and maintain Quality Control and Assurance Logs throughout the project.

The remaining member of the project team, as well as the stakeholders will be responsible for assisting the Project Manager and Quality Specialists in the establishment of acceptable quality standards. They will also work to ensure that all quality standards are met and communicate any concerns regarding quality to the Project Manager.

Quality control for the SmartVoice Project will utilize tools and methodologies for ensuring that all project deliverables comply with approved quality standards. To meet deliverable requirements and expectations, we must implement a formal process in which quality standards are measured and accepted. The Project Manager will ensure all quality standards and quality control activities are met throughout the project. The Quality Specialists will assist the Project Manager in verifying that all quality standards are met for each deliverable. If any changes are proposed and approved by the Project Sponsor and CCB, the Project Manager is responsible for communicating the changes to the project team and updating all project plans and documentation.

Quality assurance for the SmartVoice Project will ensure that all processes used in the completion of the project meet acceptable quality standards. These process standards are in place to maximize project efficiency and minimize waste. For each process used throughout the project, the Project Manager will track and measure quality against the approved standards with the assistance of the Quality Specialists and ensure all quality standards are met. If any changes are proposed and approved by the Project Sponsor and CCB, the Project Manager is responsible for communicating the changes to the project team and updating all project plans and documentation.

Risk Management Plan

This part of the Project Plan provides a general description for the approach taken to identify and manage the risks associated with the project. It should be a short paragraph or two summarizing the approach to risk management on this project.

Since risk management is a science in itself, we have many risk management templates available on our website. Look for the detailed Risk Management Plan Template , Risk Register Template along with our article on how to perform a risk assessment meeting.

The approach for managing risks for the SmartVoice Project includes a methodical process by which the project team identifies, scores, and ranks the various risks. Every effort will be made to proactively identify risks ahead of time in order to implement a mitigation strategy from the project’s onset. The most likely and highest impact risks were added to the project schedule to ensure that the assigned risk managers take the necessary steps to implement the mitigation response at the appropriate time during the schedule. Risk managers will provide status updates on their assigned risks in the bi-weekly project team meetings, but only when the meetings include their risk’s planned timeframe.

Upon the completion of the project, during the closing process, the project manager will analyze each risk as well as the risk management process. Based on this analysis, the project manager will identify any improvements that can be made to the risk management process for future projects. These improvements will be captured as part of the lessons learned knowledge base.

Risk Register

The Risk Register for this project is provided in Appendix C, Risk Register.

Staffing Management Plan

Here the Project Plan Template discusses how you plan to staff the project. This section should include discussion on matrixed or projectized organizational structure depending on which is being used for this project. This section of the project plan should also include how resources will be procured and managed as well as the key resources needed for the project.

The SmartVoice Project will consist of a matrix structure with support from various internal organizations. All work will be performed internally. Staffing requirements for the SmartVoice Project include the following:

Project Manager (1 position) – responsible for all management for the SmartVoice Project. The Project Manager is responsible for planning, creating, and/or managing all work activities, variances, tracking, reporting, communication, performance evaluations, staffing, and internal coordination with functional managers.

Senior Programmer (1 position) – responsible for oversight of all coding and programming tasks for the SmartVoice Project as well as ensuring functionality is compliant with quality standards. Responsible for working with the Project Manager to create work packages, manage risk, manage schedule, identify requirements, and create reports. The Senior Programmer will be managed by the Project Manager who will provide performance feedback to the functional manager.

Programmer (1 position) – responsible for coding and programming for the SmartVoice Project. All coding and programming tasks will be reviewed by the Senior Programmer prior to implementation. Responsibilities also include assisting with risk identification, determining impacts of change requests, and status reporting. The Programmer will be managed by the Project Manager and feedback will be provided to the functional manager for performance evaluations by the Project Manager and Senior Programmer.

Senior Quality Specialist (1 position) – responsible for assisting the Project Manager in creating quality control and assurance standards. The Senior Quality Specialist is also responsible for maintaining quality control and assurance logs throughout the project. The Senior Quality Specialist will be managed by the Project Manager who will also provide feedback to the functional manager for performance evaluations.

Quality Specialist (1 position) – responsible for assisting the Project Manager and Senior Quality Specialist in creating and tracking quality control and assurance standards. The Quality Specialist will have primary responsibility for compiling quality reporting and metrics for the Project Manager to communicate. The Quality Specialist will be managed by the Project Manager who will provide feedback, along with the Senior Quality Specialist to the functional manager for performance evaluations.

Technical Writer (1 position) – responsible for compiling all project documentation and reporting into organizational formats. Responsible for assisting the Project Manager in Configuration Management and revision control for all project documentation. Responsible for scribing duties during all project meetings and maintaining all project communication distribution lists. The Technical Writer will be managed by the Project Manager who will also provide feedback to the functional manager for performance evaluations.

Testing Specialist (1 position) – responsible for helping establish testing specifications for the SmartVoice Project with the assistance of the Project Manager and Programmers. Responsible for ensuring all testing is complete and documented in accordance with TSI standards. Responsible for ensuring all testing resources are coordinated. The Testing Specialist will be managed by the Project Manager who will also provide feedback to the functional manager for performance evaluations.

The Project Manager will negotiate with all necessary TSI functional managers in order to identify and assign resources for the SmartVoice Project. All resources must be approved by the appropriate functional manager before the resource may begin any project work. The project team will not be co-located for this project and all resources will remain in their current workspace.

Resource Calendar

Include a Resource Calendar as part of your project plan. The resource calendar identifies key resources needed for the project and the times/durations they’ll be needed. Some resources may be needed for the entire length of the project while others may only be required for a portion of the project. This information must be agreed to by the Project Sponsor and Functional Managers prior to beginning the project.

The SmartVoice Project will require all project team members for the entire duration of the project although levels of effort will vary as the project progresses. The Project is scheduled to last one year with standard 40 hour work weeks. If a project team member is not required for a full 40 hour work week at any point during the project, their efforts outside of the SmartVoice Project will be at the discretion of their Functional Manager.

Cost Baseline

This section of the Project Plan Template contains the cost baseline for the project upon which cost management will be based. The project will use earned value metrics to track and manage costs and the cost baseline provides the basis for the tracking, reporting, and management of costs.

The cost baseline for the SmartVoice project includes all budgeted costs for the successful completion of the project.

Quality Baseline

This section of the Project Management Plan should include the quality baseline for the project. The purpose of this baseline is to provide a basis for ensuring that quality can be measured to determine if acceptable quality levels have been achieved. It is important for all projects to clearly define and communicate quality standards and the quality baseline serves this purpose. This is why the quality baseline is included in the Project Management Plan Template.

The SmartVoice Project must meet the quality standards established in the quality baseline. The quality baseline is the baseline which provides the acceptable quality levels of the SmartVoice Project. The software must meet or exceed the quality baseline values in order to achieve success.

To download this free project management plan template in MS Word format, click on the Download Template at the top of this page.

Project Management Examples: Success Stories Case Studies, and Examples

By Kate Eby | January 3, 2023

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The best real-world project management starts with meticulous planning and ends with achieving goals. Take charge of your next project with the techniques and tools that experts use to avoid failure and deliver stellar results.

In this article, learn about eight real-world project management examples , project success criteria , five famous project management failures , and how modern project management software supports success .

Successful Real-World Project Management Examples

Successful real-world project management examples have one thing in common: they support company strategy. Examples show how detailed research, planning, and organization of resources helped real-world project managers achieve a particular aim that moves the organization forward.

Successful project management examples reveal that, in order to reach the final goal, you must have and maintain a big-picture view. Other success factors include involving stakeholders, reviewing multiple frameworks and solutions, and keeping the lines of communication open.

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Case Study: Increased Outpatient Surgical Center Performance

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital is a 357-bed not-for-profit community hospital and trauma center in Santa Clarita, California. Jay Arcilla, Director of the Performance Excellence Office, is charged with studying and adapting the functions and processes to increase the achievement of desired outcomes, better meet patients' needs, and assure quality. 

• Challenge: In every hospital, starting the day's first scheduled in-patient or out-patient surgery on time has a knock-on effect on subsequent surgery timelines. Meeting schedules can always be challenging. The pandemic created even more hurdles, from having the right supplies and equipment on hand to keeping up with documentation and ensuring the right personnel are available to cover every patient's needs. Arcilla focused on raising surgery on-time start times to 70 percent. 

• Work Sessions: A team work session helps frontline staff analyze the root cause and create a consensus-driven, interdisciplinary team.

•  Communication: Disseminating information and encouraging discussion for all stakeholder groups.
•  Accountability: The operating room executive leadership created and enforced an Outpatient Surgery Center First Case On-Time Start (OPSC FCOTS) Escalation Plan, holding all staff accountable for showing up to first cases on time.
• Takeaway: In complex, multi-layered project situations, there is often no single silver bullet. Instead, results manifest over time. In this case, within seven months, monthly performance went past the 70 percent target to 89 percent for April 2022.

Behr Process Corporation Case Study: Paving the Way for Road Show Marketing Achievement 

Behr is one of the largest purveyors of architectural paint and exterior wood care products in the United States and Canada. Lisa Kudukis, Director of Professional Products and Services for the Behr Process Corporation , oversees promotions, including a major road show.

• Challenge: Kudukis created the BehrPro Experience Tour to connect with U.S. contractors. The annual event employs five tour teams covering 75 markets and 500 Home Depot locations in 34 states. Initially, each manager used different tools and organizational tactics to run their activities. Supervising people and processes and collaborating to maximize efforts was challenging. The Behr marketing team needed a way to operate more efficiently and stay on task. 
• Solution: After an exhaustive review, Kudukis chose Smartsheet as the group's project management tool. Everyone on the team now uses a single, custom template. A master dashboard relays information about key initiatives and features a drill-down menu so anyone with access can check on small details.  
• Takeaway: For the team, it is a huge time and money saver since anyone can view the project status and provide assistance if necessary. It also helps the team identify new business development opportunities or obstacles to inform future promotions and projects.

Successful Software Project Examples

Software projects involve generating an overall plan, scheduling, allocating resources, executing, tracking, and delivering quality software and apps. These examples show that successful software projects deliver the product with the pre-agreed level of quality within the given time and cost. 

Software companies create, change or maintain valuable products. Software project management is one of the most complex and fastest-growing endeavors in business today.

Hyland Software: More Responsive Updates and Website Requests

Jacob Huston-Lowery manages web operations at Hyland Software , a content services platform and developer of Onbase, an enterprise content management (ECM) and process management software suite. Hyland cuts dozens of hours from the website request process while capturing data to drive ongoing improvement for its clients. Clients include insurance, manufacturing, higher education, and finance businesses that provide web-based services to their customers.

• Challenge: Providing efficiency and seamless services is paramount to maintaining Hyland's standards. Service requests from internal staff who noticed system issues, along with those on behalf of customers, created log jams and confusion. When Huston-Lowery came on board, there were five different contact forms, and some requesters were bypassing the process and sending emails. 
• Solution: Huston-Lowery turned to Smartsheet to find an easy-to-use solution for the critical challenges his team faced. Using project messaging and alerts within the app helped eliminate email delays. When users complete an online form with an alert for urgent projects, Smartsheet routes website requests to a sheet Huston-Lowery manages. As requests come in, all projects are prioritized, scheduled, and assigned to team members or third-party website management agencies.
• Takeaway: By replacing email trails with built-in alerts and update capabilities, the Smartsheet solution saves communication time and eliminates duplication. The ability to handle requests strategically helps the team implement a support program that runs 24 hours a day, 5 days a week – a process that was impossible before instituting the new project management process.

Examples of Successful IT Projects

Information technology (IT) projects ensure that software, devices, and systems work together to help people get things done. 

Managing IT projects and creating efficient IT project plans involve all aspects of planning, design, implementation, project management, and training.

Convergint: A Single System of Record Improves Processes and Customer Service

Jenn Hilber is the Business Architect, Operations for Convergint , the largest privately held security integrator in the United States. Convergint has more than 175 locations worldwide, providing a range of services, including installation and management of card readers and cameras, alarm systems, fire systems, building controls, and more.

•  Challenge: The company prides itself in creating an outstanding customer experience, but managing all the details seamlessly was difficult. Convergint relied on manual practices and printed playbooks, with no single unified process for most of its activities.
•  Solution: Convergint turned to Smartsheet to capture all of its data, best practices, and resources in a single place. As a result, teams can make strategic decisions and act on customer priorities with confidence knowing that they have the most current and accurate information at their fingertips.
• Takeaway: Convergint teams now enjoy better cross-team and global communication, a clearer insight into customers' needs and status, and greater accountability for internal processes. Customers also experience quicker turnaround time for requests.

Exoft: Shifting to Mixed Methodologies Rescue an IT Project Management Client Relationship

Bohuslava Zhyvko is Head of Marketing for Exoft , a software development services company located in Lviv, Ukraine. Exoft builds robust web and mobile solutions with a focus on increasing clients' efficiency and solving technology challenges. 

• Challenge: Zhyvko began a new assignment with an IT client previously managed by another project manager. Zhyvko learned the IT client didn't want to hear about Agile methodology or process at Exoft; he simply wanted to complete his project ASAP. 
• Solution: Zhyvko immediately requested a kick-off conference call. During the call, she discussed the goal and purpose of the project and clarified the main issues that were creating stress points. After the call, Zhyvko gathered the team and included Exoft's CTO. The weaknesses of the client's planning and reporting systems became apparent, and Zhyvko offered the solution: Agile, after all. The team used a mix of Scrum and Kanban to replace Waterfall , which wasn't the right approach for the nature and goals of the project. They divided the project's scope into milestones and sprints, then switched the look of the workboard in Jira. Zhyvko supplied the client with a process improvement proposal and SOW with all the features he wanted. Zhyvko explained how the project's formal change request procedure worked and shared the documentation, so the client could clearly understand the development process, which they accepted and signed.
• Takeaway: After three months, when two milestones were closed, the client was pleased with the deliveries and the Scrum working process. The project concluded after milestone 11 with a client who was pleased with the outcome. His startup is growing extremely fast, and the company and Zhyvko have an excellent relationship. Solid planning, reporting, and communication can turn around even the most complex project management challenge.

Examples of Successful Completed Business Projects

Efficiently reaching project objectives is a key element of project management success. Efficiency relates to how the project’s limited resources are managed to meet its goals while building good relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Whirlpool: Regional Alignment for Smoother Operations

Thiago Zapparoli is a Senior Planning Engineer at Whirlpool Corporation . The global home appliance company relies on regional project managers to manage its extensive portfolio.

• Challenge: When you're responsible for managing a project portfolio of a global home appliance company — including approximately 400 individual projects across five worldwide regions — you need a comprehensive system to keep everything on track. That's why Zapparoli looked for a way to get project managers, leadership, and other stakeholders on the same page with the laundry and dryer portfolio he manages.
• Solution: Zapparoli knew he needed an effective and unique system for all project managers to aggregate the 400 projects that covered multiple regions around the globe. At a minimum, the project management system needed to identify responsibilities for each project and task; key performance indicators; and open, completed, and delayed tasks. Smartsheet offered an all-up view of an entire region, providing real-time visibility into the overall project status and numerous tasks. First deployed in Brazil, the holistic tracker transformed how the 10 project managers and cross-functional leaders in that region approach their daily work and stay in sync.
• Takeaway: After implementations in Brazil and the United States, Zapparoli’s Smartsheet trackers are used in all three remaining regions and assisted deployment in four other Whirlpool internal organizations. Project managers are engaged because they have control over projects. Cross-functional leaders are satisfied with the visibility, and senior leadership can now see how they can help.

Simplus: Improved Sales Process

Katherine Albiston is a Content Manager for Simplus , an Infosys company that provides a strategic, industry-focused digital transformation for customers in the Salesforce ecosystem. She shares how Simplus’ customer Ziehm Imaging needed to improve its sales process to garner maximum efficiency and profits, as well as the company’s solution for them.

• Challenge: Simplus customer Ziehm Imaging, Inc. was using a legacy configure, price, quote (CPQ) system process for defining new products or modifying bundles. As a result, it took up to a week to go to market. A Microsoft Excel-based process further complicated managing market-specific annual pricing updates, which required a manual price override to apply pricing for each segment. The manual work increased errors, eroded margins, and led to customer communications about pricing adjustments – not good for relationships. 
• Solution: Simplus simplified Ziehm's bundle configuration process and centralized compatibility management rules. It now uses a lookup-based rules setup for products that enforces business policies in real time as sales reps interact with the CPQ system. 
• Takeaway: Streamlining and installing coherent systems decreased Ziehm's quote creation time by 93 percent, troubleshooting time by 87 percent, and the time to add products by approximately 87 percent. The lesson is clear: A holistic approach to process improvement can reap impressive benefits.

designdough: A More Refined Recruitment Process

Molly Govus is the Marketing Manager of designdough , a full-service U.K. design firm. The company tightened its use of project and time management tools to run projects and realized it needed to do the same for managing internal projects.

• Challenge: designdough audited its recruitment process and discovered four key issues: Permanent and temporary staffing ebb and flow was always in flux depending on client project demands. There were no clear start-to-finish timescales, and they lacked transparency with staff regarding project timescales. Staff capacity related to assigned tasks was unclear. Finally, the firm lacked designated client communication points.  
• Solution: They started by planning and documenting every resource and task using a project management tool that provided visibility for all team members. They wanted to clarify the audit's issues and organize information and project processes around recruiting by implementing clearly delineated stages (Administration, Interview, Offer, Induction, and Confirmation). Now, they set start dates for each step and complete tasks before moving to the next stage. Additionally, they add relevant tags, such as meeting , to tasks so they can easily identify who is assigned the task assignment and dates attached to every job. 
• Takeaway: Thanks to a straightforward process and an efficient project management tool, the team met its recruitment project goals. They now encounter fewer bottlenecks and have an easier recruitment process that has improved staff and client satisfaction and relationships.

What Is the Measure of Project Success?

The measure of project success is meeting the initial criteria established by the internal or external client and the project team. Teams use these specs, milestones, and deliverables to evaluate a project after it closes. 

“Project managers are experts at helping people define problems,” notes J. Scott, CEO of 120VC and author of The Irreverent Guide to Project Management . “Data drives and measures success to control the outcome and move the project forward as aggressively as possible, leaving no time or money on the table.”

In its 2020 report, “Ahead of the Curve: Forging a Future Focused Culture,” the Project Management Institute (PMI) found that organizations that operated from mature ROI capabilities geared toward meeting strategic goals, working within predetermined budgets, delivered segments and the entire project on time with limited scope creep . High-maturity companies had 50 percent fewer project failures than low-maturity organizations.      

A success measurement framework includes:

• Buy-In: Worthy projects and outstanding ideas can fail if critical stakeholders aren't behind the effort. With buy-in, resources will be available, and you can move the project forward.
• Strategic Approach: One of the best ways to guarantee buy-in is to make a business case that shows how the project fits into overall company goals and will positively impact the organization’s future. According to an article on the six questions to ask before starting a big project in the Harvard Business Review, a good distribution of resources is 60 percent in support of the core business, 30 percent in the adjacent business area, and 10 percent unrelated to your core business.
• Meticulous Planning: Completing projects on budget and on schedule relies on thorough advanced planning. Professional planning includes defining the scope and objectives of the project and operating from an understanding of the resource and budget limitations that affect your project. 
• Continuous Monitoring: Once the project begins, it's essential to monitor all activities, resources, and expenditures almost constantly. You will likely find that you’ll need to make adjustments to some elements in every project. You will want to monitor the execution of tasks against milestones, keep an eye on quality, track whether you are on schedule, and verify money is spent according to plan. 
• Make Relationships a Priority: Stay in touch with clients, vendors, and internal team members to stay informed about project status and build relationships. Once the project concludes, check in with stakeholders to see what worked and what didn't so that you can apply winning strategies and tactics to subsequent projects.

Setting Success Metrics

For the best results, the only way to measure project failure or success is by collecting and tracking data from the first day until the project closes. "You can't manage what you don't measure" is Peter Drucker’s time-honored adage for setting project success metrics. 

Management consultant Drucker's gold standard in project management metrics is his specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals framework, known as SMART . To start setting those strategic types of project metrics, the Performance Management Institute (PMI) suggests asking three questions to inform the metrics you will use to measure the success of your project .

 The key questions to help set metrics are the following:

• Why is the project needed? Understand the purpose or goal of the project or work.
• What are the success factors? Determine what critical success factors are mandatory for you to succeed and achieve the goal.
• What are the metrics? Identify how you will measure the fulfillment for each critical success factor for the project or program, and collect and share data.

Common Project Management Success Metrics

Metrics for on-target project management track productivity, assess resource utilization, monitor the scope of work changes, and measure quality. Assuring a low number of defects throughout the project and providing a quality deliverable at its end should be a metric for any project. 

Examples of crucial project metrics include the following:

• Resource Utilization: This metric assesses how individual team members or the project team spend their time against the total number of hours allocated for the project. Periodically checking time spent on the project can help assess how human energy is being used. For organizations that bill hours, this is an important metric to monitor and review at the end of a project.
• Schedule Variance: This metric helps project managers determine if projects are running according to the planned budget or ahead of it. A negative schedule variance means the project is behind schedule.
• Cost Performance: This metric measures efficiency. Divide the work performed or earned value by how much money it took to accomplish tasks. Accurate budget estimates rely on forecasting cost performance. 
• Cost Variance: This metric pinpoints how you are operating within a planned budget. The purpose is to see if you are running below or within budget. If cost variance is negative, the project is over budget. If it’s under budget, that means you are achieving budget and project success.
• Gross Margin: A strategically planned project aims to contribute to the company by increasing profits. The gross margin is the difference between the total income and total project spend. It’s best to establish the gross target margin before a project begins and measure it on an ongoing basis. Achieving or exceeding a gross margin is the primary mark of project management excellence.

With project metrics in place and the right tools to track that data, it is easier to crunch the numbers on previous projects to see what went right and what task ended up causing a significant delay.

What Skills and Tools Support Project Management Success?

You need various tools and skills to guide projects to the desired goal. Soft skills are people skills or emotional intelligence. Hard skills are specific to project managers and can be learned through formal training or on the job. 

The exact project management techniques and tools you need depend on your industry, company, and team preferences. The vital foundation for success is to create your project plan and lean into best practices that focus on organization, communication, and team leadership. "There are many methodologies project managers employ," says 120VC’s J. Scott. "Waterfall, Agile, Lean, and more – but the most important skill to have is leadership and a people-centric framework since it is people that get [expletive] done.”

Project management skills and tools to help you meet project management challenges – and win –  include the following:

• Soft Skills: Soft skills are interpersonal skills such as communication, flexibility, leadership, teamwork, and time management.
• Project Management Tools: Tools is another word for software. Purpose-built project management software supports teams in the planning, tracking, and managing of projects to meet stated goals on time and within budget. These also serve as a repository for data that will inform the post-project analysis.
• Project Management Methodologies and Frameworks: The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide describes all the PM methodologies and techniques available to manage projects. Project managers choose frameworks such as Critical Chain Project Management, Lean, Scrum, and Waterfall for their projects.

Reasons Projects Fail and How Modern Project Software Supports Success

Projects fail for many reasons. Those include inadequate preparation, poor documentation and tracking, and poor communication. Modern project software can help solve those problems and support success. 

"Project management, particularly at the enterprise scale, is about getting to desired outcomes as efficiently as possible under any conditions," says 120VC's Scott. "You must be agile (with a lowercase a) to get things done to reach those outcomes." Modern software is the way forward.

“IT projects have an exceptionally high failure rate of 44 percent,” says Scott. “These projects fail due to a lack of alignment between business and project objectives. As software project failure statistics show, the lack of alignment of projects with the business objectives is why nearly half of the strategic initiatives fail.”

5 Famous Project Management Failures and How They Could Have Been Solved

Project management failures are part of most projects. The key is to learn from past failures and track projects closely to get back on track when things go awry. 

1. Citibank Interest Payment Failure Citibank intended to make a $7.8 million interest payment to creditors of its client Revlon. Instead, the company paid $900 million because of errors due to aging software. Citibank's employees set up a transaction as if they were paying off the entire loan to calculate the interest correctly, then check numerous boxes to deliver the majority of the sum to an internal Citibank account. Three different people signed off on this transaction, most of which wasn't due to creditors until 2023, but the Citibank employees didn’t check all the proper boxes. Creditors kept more than $500 million of the payment. A judge ruled that they didn't have to return the money because he said it was not believable that one of the largest and most sophisticated financial institutions on earth could make such a mistake. 

• Takeaway: The big lesson is to modernize your software and user interfaces, so employees can perform their duties in a streamlined, logical fashion. Remember: You might suffer less when you make mistakes if people aren't angry enough to take advantage of those errors.

2. J.C. Penney Rebrand Failure Ron Johnson, who has a successful branding track record, took over as J.C. Penney's CEO in 2011. Johnson's "cheap chic" rebranding for Target was enormously successful, as was his previous work with Apple to generate its outstanding and consistent brand experience. Defying expectations, Johnson's rebrand for Penney's was a dismal failure. His goal was to revitalize the chain by making "hip" changes. He wanted to shake things up at the company by doing away with sales and coupons, nixing some of the legacy merchandise, and modernizing the store’s physical layout. It failed miserably. Revenues dropped from an already low level, and after 17 months, Johnson was out.

• Takeaway: No matter how cool or innovative a new brand concept seems, robust market research is mandatory. J.C. Penney's poor financial state forced Johnson to act too quickly. As such, he failed to align the likes and dislikes of J.C. Penney's loyal existing customer base with new tactics. That's not to say the change involved in rebranding has to be totally at the mercy of your customers' extant preferences. When a brand has long-standing customer favorite factors such as discounts and coupons, it may be best to roll out changes slowly rather than all at once to acclimate existing customers to a new direction.

3. McDonald's Arch Deluxe Burger The fast food giant put an unprecedented $150 million into advertising for the Arch Deluxe Burger, only to discover its customers weren't interested in the sophisticated, ”gourmet” menu option. Mistakes include marketing to a new, disinterested Gen X demographic while neglecting the brand's core audience, overpricing the burger to cover the additional costs it took to create, and franchisee disinterest. 

• Takeaway: The message is to never ignore your buying base and pick the right metrics when you start and run a project. If McDonald's had a more accurate picture of what its customers wanted and conducted more testing with existing customers, the company could have saved its money, resources, and reputation. 

4. Dyson Electric Car James Dyson spent a small fortune – more than $600 million – on a seven-seat electric car with a 600-mile range. Then Dyson scrapped it before the prototype ever hit the road. Electric vehicles are costly, and the battery, battery management, electronics, and cooling system are much more expensive than an internal combustion engine. Tesla — hailed as a success by many — has burned through $19 billion of investor cash and is still not profitable. It turned out that each Dyson would have had to fetch roughly $183 million to break even. 

• Takeaway: The British government wants to ban sales of all fossil-fuel cars by 2035, so Dyson shifted its focus. The company continues to work on solid-state battery manufacturing. Solid-state batteries are the key to making electric vehicles functional and desirable. Highly efficient, as well as smaller and lighter than ion batteries, solid-state batteries generate less heat and are easier to recycle. Dyson says he could return to electric vehicle production when commercial and financial circumstances change.

5. Coca-Cola and New Coke The company tested New Coke with 200,000 consumers. Most people who tried it preferred New Coke over the traditional product. Based on that information, Coca-Cola launched New Coke in 1985. But the new product did not sell, and product loyalty and people’s old-fashioned habits got in the way. The cost to the company was $30 million in unsellable backstock and $4 million lost to development. New Coke remains one of the most famous failures in marketing history.

• Takeaway: While Coca-Cola researched the market, it missed the mark when assessing the power of brand loyalty. Understanding customers is imperative in product development. Ensure your information is comprehensive and those insights are realistic and accurate.

How Modern Project Management Software Cures Common Project Woes

Modern project management software provides real-time visibility into work conducted across projects, programs, and processes. Store, track, manage, and automatically report on all work, so you can save time and help your team focus on the work that matters most.

Take Charge of Your Next Project with Real-Time Work Management in Smartsheet

From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover a better way to streamline workflows and eliminate silos for good.

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Get inspired: 4 great project management examples

We’re all familiar with is project management example. The moment when (eek!), your boss says, “Could you just…[insert incomprehensible but seemingly important task]?”

There is quite a wide range of project management tasks out there, all demanding that you complete the project on time and within budget. An example of an IT project could be creating a system to manage issues tracking, while one for operations could be creating a roster of employee dietary needs against package deliveries from start to finish.

No matter how simple or complex the project, we have it on good authority—and so do groups like the Project Management Institute — that starting with a sample project methodology is a great way to start.

In this article, we’ll cover that, identify the four key factors common to successful project examples, and share some top project management examples you can draw inspiration from.

First, here’s a high-level overview of the project management process.

The 4 common phases of a project

First, let’s talk about the phases that a project goes through from initiation to completion. The project lifecycle contains four main phases – initiating, planning, executing and closing. It’s a structured path that helps make sure that the project goes from conception to completion, ensuring that all stakeholders are in the loop and all project objectives are delivered at each phase.

Let’s look at each phase:

1. The initiation phase

This is when you get everyone onboard. The project manager needs to define the organization, client, customer’s goals, identify key stakeholders and define the project’s goals. They also need to define the project scope and determine the measurable objectives (SMART goals) for the entire team.

2. The planning phase

Next, map out the project. Define the key elements and numerous tasks involved in the project. Look at the project timeline and decide on who does what. It’s important to create a project plan with a checklist to properly manage the project budget, resources, costs, and timelines. Also, don’t forget to define deliverables at each key milestone or stage of the project.

Pro tip: the project manager should also account for potential risks and have a really good communication plan ready in case something goes wrong. This is especially critical for complex project that require multiple teams’ involvement.

3. The execution phase

Now it’s go time. In this phase, the project manager’s job is to oversee the process, making sure that everyone understands what is required of them, what project tasks need to be done, and make sure that everyone completes those tasks on schedule.

A few things that help during the project execution phase are:

• Use collaboration tools to make sure everyone are on track and working together
• Communicate time frames and goals regularly
• Use the right project management methodology (be it waterfall, lean, agile, or the critical path method or Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ) to execute your project seamlessly.

4. The closing phase

At the final stage of the project, the project manager checks that every team completed all of the tasks and project deliverables, presents it to the stakeholders and gets them to sign off and officially close the project.

Why do the best project management examples start with a methodology?

Identifying a methodology during the project planning phase is both good project management practice, and common sense.

Organizations that invest in good project management practices, waste 21  times less money than those without an effective project management approach.

Methodologies set you up for success by providing the big picture perspective on each part of the project schedule and how the project is going to run.

There are traditionally 2 methodologies used for managing projects and they both have pros and cons:

The Waterfall framework

This example of a project management methodology is a linear, step-by-step approach where each new project phase follows the end of the previous one. It provides a great visual representation to every part of your entire project.

With this methodology, having a robust project plan is vital and lots of work needs to be done upfront to get really clear on the project goal. Examples of project teams who may use this method are those with fixed timelines and budgets, such as aerospace or defense teams.

The Agile framework

The Agile project management method in contrast is a more iterative approach where the project team members and project stakeholders work together to refine the project outcome through feedback and review.

Project activities are delivered through short “sprints” or iterations and a list of what needs to be done next — usually called the “backlog” — is prioritized according to feedback. Project activities are delivered through short “sprints” or iterations and a list of what needs to be done next — usually called the “backlog” — is prioritized according to feedback. IT projects are examples where Agile might be used.

Whichever type of project management or methodology you choose, there are a number of things you can do to increase your chance of a successful project and start earning kudos from your boss.

What are the critical success factors?

The Association for Project Management (APM) says there are 12 conditions for project success. It came as no surprise to us here at monday.com that proven methods and tools were one of the 12. After all, that’s what we’re in the business of. Read on for a list that could make you rethink how you craft project management project ideas.

These 12 conditions fall into 4 main factors:

• Visibility . From the outset, the project’s goals need to be clear to all key stakeholders (and match with business objectives). During the life cycle of the project, it’s important to understand who is working on what and when. A well-defined project management plan reduces confusion and makes sure the workload is evenly spread across the project team.
• Efficiency . To maximize the project’s value you need to minimize waste during the project lifecycle. Whether that’s wasted time, effort, or money, these things need to be monitored and well-controlled to determine project progress.
• Communication . Communication between members of the project team and the wider business is key for successful implementation. Effectively communicating the benefits of the project can improve the chance of its outcome lasting longer than ice cream on a hot day.
• Collaboration . Few projects run independently. Most success in project examples is attributed to collaboration across teams, and with internal or external stakeholders for creating a project and getting the job done.

How can project management tools help?

Ok, you’ve picked a methodology and you’re ready to get started. So why exactly does the APM think tools are so important for project success in any business project example?

Well first of all, you need a place to organize all of your information and to craft a smooth and automated workflow. Check out what one user had to say about monday.com as their project management tool .

monday.com is excellent at planning. Personally, we think it’s the best. What might surprise you is how intuitive it is to use. And how it integrates with all your other favorite tools. And inspires you more than a gantt chart . Which might be just what’s needed after that stakeholder meeting on a dreary November afternoon.

monday.com makes it easy to monitor the project through its lifecycle, keeping a keen eye out for scope creep with intuitive and customizable templates. Our project management software can also help you out with  resource management , time tracking,  and managing project risk.

And, what about a more Agile approach? Well, good visibility and communication are key.

Using a project management tool, such as a Kanban board , to help you track what’s been done, is being done, and needs to be completed is important for managing the backlog.

Using a sprint retrospective tool  allows you to review the sprint and collect the feedback necessary to decide on the next steps. Without an ability to gather and track this feedback it’s likely that effort will be spent doing the wrong things, decreasing the project’s overall value.

4 great project management examples

To get an inside look at how monday.com is the perfect platform to get your optimized project management workflow up and running, here are four examples from real monday.com customers.

1. The National Hockey League (NHL)

Challenge: Increase visibility

After first loading NHL game stats onto the web over 25 years ago, NHL developers have managed 100s of requests for custom applications. In-house developers now share the workload with a team in Belarus.

Relying on email and text to collaborate over different time zones was causing several challenges including unclear prioritization and ineffective workload management.

Solution: Development roadmap and sprint planning

Using the monday.com platform has brought transparency across the development cycle. Now, at any moment, everyone on the team can see who is working on what, and when.

Using the bar graph view, the business can easily track which units have commissioned the most development cycles across the year. The team also uses the Calendar and Chart app to organize and track fan engagement programs.

While initially focused on improving their sprint planning , the NHL has also begun to exploit other capabilities of the monday.com Work OS. Building workflow apps within the platform has reduced the need for custom development, reducing the development time by 4+ weeks per cycle.

For more on how the NHL increased their visibility and saved 4 weeks per development cycle, check out their case study .

2. Zippo scaling their business globally

Challenge: Improve efficiency while scaling globally

Zippo compiled their product catalog on paper-based worksheets before transferring them to a digital version. The process took around 2 weeks for 20–30 active projects and became outdated almost as soon as it was completed. Zippo knew if they wanted to scale their business their processes needed to become more efficient.

Solution: In integrated Work OS capable of managing internal workflows and external suppliers

Initially signing on 10–15 users with a monday.com Pro account, Zippo now has around 125 users on an Enterprise solution. Building the product catalog has become a collaborative effort with users able to drag-and-drop projects into the catalog and shift things around in real time as priorities change.

Through the dashboard views, stakeholders can track progress across all the projects and monitor the overall workload of the team. This means people can be matched to resource gaps speeding up delivery.

Zippo also set up an automated system for workflow approval. A reminder is sent to the task owner if there is an outstanding request. This makes the approval process faster and increases efficiency.

These changes mean that, over the last 8 months, Zippo could focus on global expansion, acquiring new businesses, and entering new markets.

For more on how Zippo improved their efficiency and saved £82k/year while expanding into new markets, check out their case study .

3. Deezer centralizing business development

Challenge: Enable global collaboration while keeping the ‘local hero’ approach

The music streaming service, Deezer has a team of editors worldwide who understand local music tastes and market towards them. Coordinating this dispersed team from the European HQ was challenging and campaign management was siloed within countries.

Business development was also managed regionally. With no centralized system, it was hard to prioritize support requests to other departments such as finance and legal. This meant new deals took a long time to reach the market.

Solution: An integrated, intuitive workspace that brings multinational collaboration

Deezer used monday.com to build a centralized pipeline of all business development projects which meant work could be analyzed and prioritized globally. This streamlined the work required from the support departments improving time to market speed.

There were also benefits for the customer engagement team. With the monday.com Work OS, campaign planning , management, and evaluation are now visible to teams in all countries.

For more on how Deezer improved global collaboration and increased their customer engagement by 483%, check out their case study .

4. The Israeli Government setting up a National COVID-19 Center

Challenge: Ensure effective communication during a global pandemic

As the number of cases grew, Israel set up a National COVID-19 Control Center. The Control Center brought together civilian and military agencies, for the first time, to manage the crisis and support front-line workers. Each agency had its own processes and way of working but a coordinated response was needed immediately if the situation wasn’t to grow out of control.

( Image Source )

It was proving incredibly challenging to get accurate testing information from labs and hospitals meaning it was impossible to create a “big picture” perspective of the situation. Essential equipment and suppliers were sourced in an ad-hoc manner and there was no central communication channel to monitor or follow up leads on potential suppliers.

Solution: A centralized, flexible platform with customizable permissions

Communication around procurement is now seamless, with multiple connected workflow apps integrating information on requirements, suppliers, approvals, and financing. These have customized permissions so the right people approve each step at the right time.

It’s also easier for hospitals and labs to communicate with the Control Center. The team worked with monday.com to create web and mobile forms to collect up to date information. These can be submitted at any time and entered into the centralized system immediately.

For more on how monday.com is continuing to support the Israeli government with their COVID-19 response check out their case study .

Be your own project management example

At monday.com we provide you with the features and solutions to help you feel more confident in tackling your next project with more ease and efficiency. What do you want to manage better?

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