How to Write a Project Plan: Step-by-Step Guide

The key to starting a project that will be delivered on time, on budget and meeting quality standards is simple: writing a project plan. How to write a project plan is not as simple. It involves smaller plans that all add up to a means of completing the project successfully.

After defining what a project is, we’ll explain what should be included and the steps to writing a project plan. We’ll also include a free project plan template and a few others related to the planning process.

What Is a Project Plan?

A project plan is a structured document that outlines the objectives, scope, timeline, resources, risks and responsibilities needed to complete a project. It serves as a roadmap, guiding the project team through each phase while ensuring alignment with stakeholders. A project plan typically includes details such as deliverables, milestones, communication strategies and budget allocations to keep the project on track and within scope.

By clearly defining these elements, a project plan helps mitigate risks, allocate resources efficiently and ensure timely execution. It also provides a reference for monitoring progress, managing changes and ensuring accountability throughout the project lifecycle.

After writing a project plan, project managers will have the fundamental details to structure a timeline, tasks, dependencies and milestones. It also outlines the scope, objectives, key deliverables and estimated timeframes, all of which can be translated into a Gantt chart to create a clear, sequential workflow. To get the most out of the project schedule, most will execute this process on project management software.

ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with robust Gantt charts that schedule tasks, resources and costs, but also link all four types of task dependencies to avoid cost overruns, filters for the critical path and sets a baseline to track variance in real time. Plus, plans are shared on kanban boards and task lists for teams to execute their tasks and calendar views for stakeholders to stay updated on progress. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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What Should Be Included in a Project Plan?

A project plan is a comprehensive document made up of several subsidiary plans that detail various aspects of project management. These subsidiary plans provide structure and guidance on key project elements, ensuring smooth execution and alignment with goals. Below are the essential components of a project plan.

• Scope Management Plan: Defines the project’s scope, including deliverables, boundaries and how scope changes will be managed to prevent scope creep
• Schedule Management Plan: Outlines how the project schedule will be developed, monitored and controlled to ensure timely completion
• Resource Management Plan: Identifies the personnel, materials and tools needed for the project, along with strategies for resource allocation and management
• Cost Management Plan: Details the project budget, cost estimates, funding sources and financial controls to keep expenditures within approved limits
• Stakeholder Management Plan: Defines how stakeholders will be identified, engaged and managed to ensure their expectations are met throughout the project
• Risk Management Plan: Identifies potential risks, their impact and mitigation strategies to minimize disruptions to project progress
• Communications Management Plan: Establishes protocols for information sharing, including reporting frequency, communication channels and stakeholder updates
• Procurement Management Plan: Outlines how external vendors and suppliers will be selected, contracted and managed for project needs
• Quality Management Plan: Specifies quality standards, testing procedures and assurance measures to ensure deliverables meet requirements
• Change Management Plan: Defines how changes to the project scope, schedule, or budget will be evaluated, approved and implemented

By incorporating these subsidiary plans, a project plan provides a structured framework for managing all critical aspects of a project, ensuring efficiency, accountability and successful completion.

How to Write a Project Plan

A project plan is a structured document that outlines how a project will be executed, monitored and controlled. It’s made of various subsidiary plans that guide different aspects of project management, ensuring smooth execution and stakeholder alignment. Below are the key steps to writing a comprehensive project plan.

1. Define the Project Scope

How to write a project plan starts with the project scope, which establishes the project’s boundaries and details deliverables, tasks and exclusions.

• Make a Work Breakdown Structure: Break down the project into smaller, manageable tasks to clarify the scope and assign responsibilities effectively
• Set a Scope Baseline: Establish a reference point for the approved scope, ensuring any changes are formally evaluated
• Write a Scope Management Plan: Document how the scope will be defined, controlled and monitored to prevent scope creep

2. Create a Project Schedule

The next step in how to write a project plan is a well-defined schedule. It ensures timely project completion and efficient resource allocation.

• Use Project Scheduling Methods Like CPM and PERT: Apply techniques such as the critical path method (CPM) and program evaluation review technique (PERT) to optimize scheduling
• Set a Schedule Baseline: Define a fixed project schedule against which progress can be measured
• Write a Schedule Management Plan: Outline how the schedule will be maintained, updated and adjusted as needed

 

3. Identify What Resources Will Be Needed

Proper resource planning is also part of how to write a project plan. It ensures the project has the necessary manpower, materials and tools.

• Make a Resource Breakdown Structure: Categorize resources by type and availability to facilitate allocation
• Make a Resource Schedule: Plan the timing and usage of resources to prevent conflicts or shortages
• Write a Resource Management Plan: Document strategies for resource acquisition, allocation and optimization

4. Estimate Costs and Make a Budget

Effective cost management ensures financial feasibility and control over expenditures, which makes it financially one of the most important aspects of how to write a project plan.

• Set a Cost Baseline: Establish the approved project budget to track actual versus planned costs
• Write a Cost Management Plan: Define methods for estimating, monitoring and controlling costs throughout the project

5. Identify Stakeholders and Create a Plan to Engage Them

Stakeholder engagement is crucial for project success and alignment with expectations, which is why it’s part of how to write a project plan.

• List Stakeholders with a Stakeholder Register: Identify individuals, groups and organizations impacted by the project
• Analyze Stakeholders with a Stakeholder Map: Assess stakeholder influence, interest and engagement needs
• Write a Stakeholder Management Plan: Define communication strategies and engagement techniques to address stakeholder concerns

6. Identify Potential Project Risks and Make a Plan to Manage Them

The next stage in how to write a project plan is risk management, which minimizes uncertainties and enhances project resilience.

• Log Potential Risks in a Risk Register: Document potential risks, their impact and likelihood
• Use a Risk Analysis Matrix to Prioritize Risks: Assess and categorize risks to focus on the most critical threats
• Write a Risk Management Plan: Outline risk response strategies, mitigation measures and contingency plans

7. Create a Plan to Manage the Communication Efforts of the Project Team

How to write a project plan continues with emphasizing the need for clear communication, which ensures project transparency and stakeholder alignment.

• Define What Project Reports Will Be Used Throughout the Project: Specify reporting formats, frequency and key metrics
• Establish Channels of Communication and Reporting Frequency: Define how and when project updates will be shared among stakeholders
• Write a Communications Management Plan: Document communication protocols, responsibilities and escalation procedures

8. Define Guidelines for the Procurement of Project Resources

Procurement planning ensures the timely and cost-effective acquisition of necessary materials and services and is the next step in how to write a project plan.

• Identify Potential Vendors: List possible suppliers based on quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness
• Create a Vendor Eligibility Criteria: Define requirements that vendors must meet for selection
• Write a Procurement Management Plan: Detail procurement processes, contract management and vendor evaluation strategies

9. Establish Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures

Next in how to write a project plan comes quality management, which ensures the project meets predefined standards and expectations.

• Define Quality Assurance and Quality Control

1. Quality Assurance (QA): Focuses on preventing defects through planned processes
2. Quality Control (QC): Involves inspecting deliverables to detect and correct defects

• Write a Quality Management Plan: Document the standards, testing procedures and quality review methods to use.

10. Establish a Procedure for Managing Changes to the Project Plan

The last step of how to write a project plan involves change management. This part ensures that modifications are assessed and approved systematically.

• Assemble a Change Control Board: Designate a team responsible for reviewing and approving change requests
• Create Change Order Request and Approval Forms: Standardize the process of requesting and documenting project changes
• Write a Change Management Plan: Define the procedures for handling scope, schedule and cost changes to maintain project stability

By following these structured steps, a project plan becomes a comprehensive roadmap, ensuring clarity, efficiency and successful project execution.

Project Plan Template

A project plan template provides a structured framework for developing a detailed project plan. Download this free project plan template for Word that lets project managers organize key elements such as scope, schedule, budget and risk management. The template ensures consistency, improves efficiency and helps teams align with project goals.

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The free template includes defining the purpose, goals and success criteria of the project as well as its governance. There are sections on team and stakeholder management, scope management, project schedule, resource management, procurement, budget and cost management, as well as changes and risk.

More Free Project Management Templates

A project plan template, like a project plan, is made up of smaller plans. To help create those plans, below are three related free project management templates from the over 100 that can be downloaded from our site. Get these templates and then look over the others, which touch on every aspect of managing a project across multiple industries.

Project Budget Template

Download this free project budget template for Excel to help estimate, allocate and track costs throughout the project lifecycle. It ensures financial control, prevents overspending and aligns the budget with project objectives.

Project Charter Template

Use this free project charter template for Word to authorize a project, define its objectives and provide a high-level overview of its scope, stakeholders and key elements. It serves as a foundation for project planning and execution by outlining responsibilities and aligning expectations.

Project Dashboard Template

Once the project plan has moved to the execution, monitoring and controlling stages, a project dashboard template is a visual tool that provides an overview of project performance, key metrics and progress toward objectives. This free project dashboard template for Excel helps project managers and stakeholders track important data, enabling better decision-making and efficiency.

How to Manage a Project Plan With ProjectManager

While it can be helpful to write a project plan with templates, it can get frustrating quickly. All that work is now isolated on static documents that have no way to connect with project management tools. Worse, as the project changes, someone will have to manually import that new data into the templates. Who has time for that? Rather than try to plan, manage and track projects with templates, use project management software.

ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has multiple project views that allow managers to schedule on Gantt charts, teams to execute their tasks on kanban boards and task lists, while stakeholders stay updated on the calendar view. There are also resource management and tracking tools.

Keep to the Project Plan by Managing Resources

Human and nonhuman resources are scheduled on Gantt charts. Then, teams will be assigned tasks to complete by the deadline. To ensure the right resources are assigned to the right tasks at the right time, set team availability when teams are onboarded.

Project managers can view resource allocation on one or multiple projects by viewing the workload chart, which is color-coded to make it easy to see who is overallocated or underutilized. The team’s workload can be balanced without leaving the chart. This keeps everyone working at capacity without worrying about burnout. A team page provides a daily or weekly summary of their activities, which can be filtered by progress or priority and tasks can be updated from that page.

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Monitor Projects with Real-Time Dashboards and Reports

To make sure the project is progressing as planned requires constant monitoring is required. Our software does that for you without having to take time away from the project to set up real-time project or portfolio dashboards. They collect live data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts that show time, cost, workload and more.

For a deeper understanding of status, variance, workload, timesheets and more, use our customizable reports. They can be filtered to focus on key data points or summarize progress and be shared with stakeholders to keep them updated. Even our secure timesheets help by monitoring labor costs and helping projects get delivered on budget.

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Related Project Management Content

How to write a project plan is just the beginning of the larger story of project management. For those who want to read more about the big picture, below are some recently published articles from our blog covering the project life cycle, documentation and much more.

• What Is the Project Life Cycle? Project Phases Explained
• Project Documentation: 15 Essential Documents
• How to Write Effective Project Objectives & Goals Every Time
• Project Management Tools & Techniques
• Project Management Basics: Definitions, Methods and Tools

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere in between. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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