10 Project Planning Best Practices

Any project manager worth their weight in gold will tell you the importance of project planning. A crucial component in the project management process is how much time and effort you put into project planning can be what makes or breaks your project. In this article, I’ll talk about the importance of project planning, what it involves, and how to best create a project plan.

The Importance of Project Planning

It goes without saying that a well-planned out project has a higher chance of succeeding than one that doesn’t. That’s not to say, however, that just because you have a plan means your project is infallible. There are many complex reasons why projects fail, but having some kind of a game plan in place can be one less reason.

Project planning is the second phase of the project management life cycle. It takes place after the initiation phase which is where ideas are explored, preliminary research gets done, and the decision for the project to proceed has been made. The project planning phase involves discussing client requirements and stakeholder concerns, establishing project goals and objectives, assembling a team, and creating a project plan.

What Is a Project Plan?

Creating the project plan is perhaps the most important aspect of project planning. Projects come in all different shapes and sizes, from introducing new software into a company to a high scale corporate office relocation. But they all serve the same purpose — to deliver tasks and activities with the hope of achieving an end goal. In order to do this, the project is guided by a project plan.

The purpose of a project plan

Having a project plan in place ensures a smarter way of working. Sure, you can proceed with a project without a written strategy, but just how effective do you think that will be? The purpose of a project plan is to provide direction throughout the duration of the project. At the very least it should cover the why, what, who, and when details of the project.

The project planning document should detail both individual and group objectives and instructions. Having everything laid out on a written document will ensure everyone involved knows the purpose of what’s happening and have something to refer to throughout the project implementation. Another advantage of having everything written out on a document will highlight any anticipated roadblocks, hiccups, and hidden costs. It will prepare you for what’s to come and so the purpose of your project won’t be too affected negatively.

What goes into a project plan

Having a well-developed project plan is essential to a project’s success. Often mistaken for only outlining the project timeline, the project plan should contain everything involved in the project planning process. This includes the execution, management, and control of the project, which should cover details pertaining to goals, deadlines, timeframes, measurements, budget, staffing, and resources.

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Elements of a project plan:

Scope management
Requirements management
Schedule management
Financial management
Quality management
Resource management
Stakeholder management
Communications management
Project change management
Risk management

The project plan should not only aim to coordinate all of its components, but it should also foresee any challenges and risks associated.