Every Project Manager needs a crystal-clear plan for their project. How should you create this plan? Should it be created in the same way every time? At what stage will dependencies, baselines and actuals be recorded? To find out the answers to these commonly asked questions, read on…

How to Plan Your Projects

It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in or project you’re involved with, the help of the project plan template these 5 steps should be taken every time to properly plan your project:

Step 1: Set the Direction

Before you start out, set the direction for the project. Do this by clearly identifying the project vision, goals and deliverables. State the overall timeframes for delivery and clarify the amount of resource available. Determine what is “in scope” and “out of scope”. Identify the benefits and costs in delivering the project and any milestones and constraints. Only once this is agreed with your Project Sponsor will you know what it is that you have to achieve.

Step 2: Task Selection

You’re now ready to start planning. Identify the groups of tasks that need to be completed to build your project deliverables. Then for each group of tasks, breakdown those tasks into sub-tasks to create what is known as a “Work Breakdown Structure” (WBS). Your WBS is essentially a hierarchical list of tasks, in order. Assign start and end dates to each task, as well as task durations. Always add a little extra time (e.g. 10%) to your durations, providing you with contingency. Next add Milestones to your plan. These are tasks that represent major achievements along the way.

Step 3: Inter-linking

The next step is to add links (or dependencies) between project tasks. While there are a variety of link types, most Project Managers add “finish-to-start” links so that one task cannot start until another one finishes. To make your project achievable, only add links between tasks if there is a critical dependency between them. Remember, when one task slips, all tasks linked to it may slip as well. So use links wisely.

Step 4: Resource Assignment

Now comes the fun part, assigning resources. A “resource” may be a person, equipment, location or materials. Against each task in your plan, assign one or more resources required to complete it. As you assign resources, watch your resource utilization. In other words, make sure you don’t over-assign a specific resource to multiple tasks, so that it’s impossible for that resource to complete everything assigned to it. ProjectManager.com makes this easy for you, by telling you the resource utilization as you assign resources to projects.

Step 5: Baseline, Actuals and Reporting

With a fully completed project plan, you’re now ready to save it as a “baseline”, so that you can later compare your progress against it. Then start recording your actual progress against the plan. Every day, record the amount of time you’ve spent against each task. Also record the new planned start and finish dates, and monitor the overall project completion date. Report on progress as you go. By regularly updating the project plan with your progress, you can control the delivery of your project and meet those critical goals set.

Project Management Templates make the steps on the Project Life Cycles easier and less time consuming, method123 is owned by Jason Westland and has over 50 templatesthat are used by thousands of people worldwide.

To help you to boost your chances of success, we’ve described here…

How to Deliver Projects On Time

On a project, it is easy to get bogged down with the details, and forget about the “helicopter view”.  Other than completing Project Status Reports at the end of each reporting period, many Project Managers adopt the approach that their own knowledge and experience alone will ensure that the project delivers on time.

But the reality is that all project managers need to complete some basic steps throughout the project, to make sure that it is “on track”, otherwise it is easy for a project to go off the rails.

So what are the steps that a Project Manager needs to complete to make sure that the project is delivered on time?  As well as using the Time Management Proces Template ,   We have listed them for you here…

Step 1: Plan not to fail

There is an old project saying: “Plan not to fail, don’t fail to plan”.  By creating a detailed Project Plan with fixed delivery milestones that your customer agree with, you will gain a firm basis for measuring the progress of the project.

Make sure that your plan includes delivery milestones every month where possible and that the Work Breakdown Structure is detailed enough to show all of the critical tasks that must be completed.  Non-critical tasks can be re-scheduled later, but tasks which are on the critical path must be completed by the due dates specified.

Step 2: Clock the time spent

Almost every Project Manager these days has implemented Timesheets for tracking time.  But how many actually record that time in a Time Sheet Register and update the Project Plan with the time spent per project task?

By doing this, you can allocate a set amount of time and effort to complete every task on the Project Plan, and easily identify when you are late.  If staff spend more time than that allocated and the task is still not complete, then you will need to investigate why this has occurred and resolve the problems identified.  This process is called the Time Management Process, Project management Templates can be used to ensure that staff complete tasks where possible, in the timeframe allocated to them.

Step 3: Create a helicopter view

It is harder than it looks.  To accurately monitor and report on the project at a helicopter level, you need a crystal clear picture of the project delivery against a schedule.

You need to know for every task in your project plan, whether it is under / on / over schedule and what the overall impact on the project is. You also need to have identified the critical path and determined whether the tasks on this path are on track.

Only with this detailed knowledge can you gain a sufficient “helicopter view” to be able to report accurately to your Project Board or Sponsor. Remember, by keeping your sponsor accurately informed of the project progress, you will ensure their full support.

Step 4: Going “Belly Up”

So you have done all this but your project is going “belly up” (i.e.. slipping).  What then?  Well the first step is to investigate the reasons why. It may be that the scope of the project has grown from that originally agreed, or you have encountered complexities that were not identified when you started, or that the plan was too aggressive in the first place.

Regardless, you need to 1) Stop 2) Investigate 3) Resolve 4) Report.  To resolve the problem, you may need to formally redefine the scope of the project, hire additional resources to help out, or agree with the customer on a new delivery timeframe.  You will also need to update the Project Plan with any additional tasks required to fix the problems, and then you will need to report on the new status to your Sponsor.

Step 5: Getting the right mix

Almost every project team will encounter unforeseen changes, risks and issues.  Your level of success will depend on how you manage these when they arise.  By implementing these project processes below, you can ensure that your mix of changes, risks and issues are easily manageable:

Jason Westland has also written a project management book on the project lifecyle and has been read by thousands of people around the world and helping the with their projects.

 How to Create a Communications Plan 
Using the latest Communications Project template released today, we have described how to create a bullet-proof Communications Plan for projects. We have provided a snapshot of this template here by listing the 10 steps you need to take to create a Communications Plan for your project. 

Step 1: Situation Analysis
The first step to take when creating a Communications Plan is to perform a Situation Analysis. This is a fancy term for researching your existing communications environment.  Review the performance of all communications within your project and identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Then identify any lessons learned from past communications exercises, so that the same mistakes made in the past are not repeated here. 

Step 2: Communications Objectives
Great. So you know what your communications strengths are and where you need to improve. You are now ready to set out your communications objectives. List the top three objectives that you want to achieve from your project communications. For instance, you might want to inform stakeholders of the project progress, boost management buy-in or improve your team productivity. 

Step 3: Communications Guidelines
Then set out your communications guidelines for controlling communications within your project. For example, you may decide that: √ All messages will be distributed through pre-defined channels√ All critical communications will be pre-approved by management √ All communications will be tailored, based on stakeholder needs 

Step 4: Target Audience
Now define exactly who it is that your team will formally communicate with. Remember, formal communications are a method for controlling the messages sent out by your team. They promote a single consistent view of your project to a specified audience so that “everyone has the same version of the truth”. 

Step 5: Stakeholder Needs
Each target audience group will have their own needs. These stakeholders will require information that is specific to their role in the project. For instance, a Project Sponsor will need to be informed of high priority risks and issues, whereas a Quality Reviewer might need to be notified of the current status of project deliverables. 

Step 6: Key Messages
Then list the key messages that need to be sent to each Stakeholder. Key messages may include project status, project issues, project risks, project deliverables or project resources.  The next step is to define how you will deliver each message to them, through a delivery channel.  

Step 7: Delivery Channels
There are a huge variety of ways in which you can deliver your key messages to stakeholders (e.g. emails, articles, meetings, conferences). For each stakeholder, identify the channel that you will use to deliver your key messages. 

Step 8: Communications Schedule
Now you are ready to create the schedule of communications events, activities and actions that are required to deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time throughout the project. Create a detailed schedule of events and for each item listed, specify the timeframes for completion and any dependencies on other events in the schedule. 

Step 9: Communications Events
For each event listed in your schedule, describe it in depth. Make sure that you define the purpose of the event, how it will take place and when it should occur. 

Step 10: Communications Matrix
And finally, once you have listed the events and described them in detail, you need to identify who will manage them and who will review their effectiveness. Create a Communications Matrix which lists for each event who is accountable for the event, who will take part and who will review its success. 
Once you have taken these 10 steps, it is up to you to get your Communications Plan approved by your manager and then execute it to deliver communications efficiently across your project.  There is also other Project Management Templates than can be used to improve your project management.

 And just one last tip – to improve your communications you need honest feedback on your team’s performance. Implement feedback measures such as questionnaires, feedback forms and surveys to learn how to continually improve communications within your project team.

Create a Project Charter

A Project Charter Template can be used and completed at the very start of the project management life cycle. It sets out the project vision, objectives and scope, so that you can gain a clear picture of what it is that the project must achieve.  Not only can project management templates be used for the project charter but they can be used for other steps in the project life cycle also.

It also describes the deliverables, the people involved in producing them and the timeframes for delivery.

To create a Charter for your project, take these 5 steps:

Step 1: Set the Vision

Every team needs a “Vision”. By clarifying the vision for the project and the goals that must be met, your team will gain a single collective understanding of what it is expected of them. When setting out your vision, make sure that you:

■ Gain agreement from the Sponsor first

■ Write it using clear, meaningful words

■ Communicate it to all team members

Don’t email the vision out to your team. Instead, present it personally, so that they have a first hand understanding of what it is, why it’s important and what it should mean to them.

Step 2: Define the Scope

With a clear vision, the next most important step is to define the project scope. The scope lists the activities and deliverables that must be completed, in order to achieve the vision.

Having a detailed scope helps you to plan your project effectively. It also helps you to prevent “scope creep” which is when unplanned deliverables and activities are added to your To Do list by your customer.

Only by clarifying the project scope at the outset, can you manage your customers needs, by telling them for instance that a request is “out of scope” and therefore requires additional time or money to complete it.

Step 3: Structure the Project Team

So you know your end target (i.e. your vision) and deliverables to be produced (i.e. your scope), you now need to identify the people who are going to do the work.

Create a Project Organizational Structure chart which show all of the customers, stakeholders, team members and other people involved with your project. Depict the reporting lines between each, and where possible, add lines of communication as well.

Documenting the organization structure is important, as it clarifies the number of people needed to complete your project and the responsibilities of each member in your team. It also helps you to create Job Descriptions for each member of your team.

Step 4: Create a Roadmap

Then create a project roadmap. This is a high level project plan that lists the phases, activities and tasks that your project will pass through, to complete the entire project management life cycle.

As well as setting out the activities needed to complete the project from start to finish, you need to identify the resources needed for each project phase. And finally, identify the overall budget required to complete the project, so that you gain financial approval to undertake the project, as early as possible in the project life cycle.

Step 5: Identify Risks and Issues

The last step to take when creating a Project Charter is to list the risks and issues that are currently apparent. By listing these items, you can make your Project Sponsor aware of the overall level of risk of the project and enlist their support to resolve them early.

Creating a Project Business Case

The Business Case is the first step in project management life cycle and is used to justify the project expenditure by identifying the business benefits you’re going to deliver. Here’s how to create a Business Case in 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Identify the Business Problem

Usually, projects are undertaken to solve a particular business problem or opportunity. So you need to investigate that business problem or opportunity and describe what it is, how it’s come about and the timeframes in which it needs to be addressed.

Only with this knowledge, will you truly understand the purpose of the project and the timeframes for delivery. Without this knowledge, it’s like building a house without a solid foundation.

Step 2: Identify the Alternative Solutions

Now that you understanding the business problem/opportunity in depth, it’s time to identify a solution to address it. To ensure that you choose the right solution, take these steps:

Þ Identify the alternative solutions

Þ Quantify the benefits of implementing each solution

Þ Forecast the costs of implementing each solution

Þ Assess the feasibility of implementing each solution

Þ Identify the risks and issues associated with each solution

Þ Document all of this, in your Business Case

Step 3: Recommend a Preferred Solution

Before you rank the solutions, set out the criteria for ranking them and choose a scoring mechanism as well. For instance, you may decide to:

Þ score each solution from 1-10, based on their costs and benefits

Þ weight each based on criteria which are important to you

Þ Use a more complicated scoring mechanism

Then go ahead and score your solutions to identify the best solution. Make sure you document the entire process in your Business Case.

Step 4: Describe the Implementation Approach

By now, you have selected a solution and you have confirmed its benefits and costs. The next step is to convince your Project Sponsors that you have thought through the approach for implementing it. So document the steps you’re going to take to build the solution for your client. Remember, only with a clearly defined Business Case will you ensure you deliver the business benefits expected by your customer.

The Value of Project Templates

We’re often asked “Why are project management templates so valuable” so we thought we’d answer the question in this Article. There are 5 reasons why managers and teams find templates so useful. They are as follows:

They save you time

On every new project, you have to fill-in documents to plan, track and report on the status of your project. The process of filling in documents, takes time. Especially when many of the documents are a one-off.

By using templates, you can save time completing project documents. Well written templates should already be pre-formatted with all of the sections, tables, charts and forms you need to fill-in. This way, you can avoid having to spend time formatting your documents and purely focus on filling them in. On average, most people save 25% of their time completing project documents, by using properly formatted project templates.

They give you direction

The first step most people go through when they know they have to create a project document, is to search the internet or their file folder to work out what it is that needs to be included. But if you use good quality templates, then they will direct you through the steps you need to take to create each project document. Direction is important because if you go down the wrong track with your document, your project will be at risk.  Proper project templates will keep you headed in the right direction, by making sure you complete the right content at the right time.

They make it easier

In short, a good quality template will make the task of creating a project document, as easy as 1-2-3. You don’t have to stress about what need to go in your document, how to format it or how to write it up. The template will tell you what information needs to be entered and where. And it should include practical examples to help you along the way.This makes your job easy.

They boost your quality

It makes sense that if you’re completing a high quality template, that you will generate high quality documentation. If you want to generate documents of the quality that professional project management consultants generate, then use project templates that match this level of quality. By using top quality templates to deliver top quality documents, you will boost your project success.

They give you confidence

Have you ever been asked to write a document that you’re unfamiliar with or have never written before? If so, then by using a template, you will have the document layout, tables, charts and completion instructions at your finger tips. All you need to do is to fill-in the gaps. By using templates to complete new documents, you will gain a higher level of confidence in your work, helping you to excel.

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Jason Westland, has a lengthy Project Management career. With 15 years experience managing multi-million dollar projects, building high growth companies and creating new project management products, he knows what it takes for a project to succeed. 
 
Jason now runs a very successful <a href="http://www.method123.com">project management</a> website developing templates and training other professional managers how to reach success in the projects they manage. He is also the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Project-Management-Cycle-Step-Step/dp/0749445556">"The Project Management Life Cycle"</a> and has overseen thousands of projects around the world.