Project Planning Template
Create a source of truth for teams to visualize and reach project milestones.
About the Project Planning Template
Project planning helps you prepare for any project. The first step is getting approval from a key decision-maker like upper management. Once you get permission to move forward, you’ll need to map out the project's who, what, when, where, and how.
Keep reading to learn more about project planning and the Project Planning Template.
What is a project plan
A project plan is a single source of truth that helps teams visualize and reach project milestones..The plan typically includes:
Goals defined, and tasks you need to complete to achieve them
Scope of the project
Outlining task schedules
Delegating task management to your team members
Cost estimates for each phase of the project
Planning for unexpected events
Project timeline
Deliverables expected at the end of the project
When you’re in the production phase of any project, planning documents will save you time and money by encouraging teams to consider hidden costs and the tasks involved from start to finish.
When to use a project plan
Project plans are most useful when you outline the project’s “what” and “why” to anyone who needs to give you project buy-in. Use it to proactively discuss team needs; expectations; and baselines for timeline, budget, and scope. The plan will also help you clarify available resources before you kick- off a project, as well as expected deliverables at the end of the project.
Create your own project plan
Making your own project plans is easy. Miro’s whiteboard tool is the perfect canvas to create and share them. Get started by selecting the Project Planning Template, then take the following steps to make one of your own.
Invite other stakeholders to help define your plan. Before you start filling in the different sections, invite your team, clients, and other stakeholders to join you on a voice or video chat (up to 25 participants can join at any given time).
Define project goals. Align with your team on the problems you’re trying to solve. Document these pain points in the relevant sections.
How will your team measure success? The more specific your metrics, the better chances for your team to reach them. Try agreeing on specific numbers or percentage changes you’d like to see in certain areas of your business.
Confirm who else needs to be involved. Everyone on your project should have a defined role. Even if they’re not available to participate in the meeting, you should include them in the planning document.
Get an estimate of project cost. This includes your financial budget and can also extend to time and resources for your team.
Identify what resources already exist. Are you starting from scratch or piloting a new initiative? Figure out what assets you already have access to, and note how they can boost your project.
Know what obstacles stand in the way of success. Prepare for roadblocks or time lags throughout your project timeline. Stay proactive and anticipate how you can stay on track.
List your action items. Outline your next steps after the meeting, and allocate responsibilities to each team member.
Confirm your project timeline. Deciding on dates and deadlines will keep your project on track. If you’re already using an Online Monthly Planner [], you can copy over important milestones to this template. Revisit the plan regularly to ensure that you’re working together toward your goals, and revise as needed.
Get started with this template right now. It’s free
STAR
STAR is a framework that stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Use this strategy to answer interview questions with concrete examples to show that you have the skills and experience you need. Many hiring managers or interviewer panels will ask prospective employees competency-based questions such as, “Tell me about a time when you …” or “Share an example of a situation where. …” If you’re an employer, you can use STAR to clarify with your team what skills and personality traits make someone a successful, high-level performer.
Production Workflow
Whether you’re producing a podcast, a marketing campaign, a TV show, or a piece of content, establishing a production workflow is crucial. A production workflow creates a visual guide to the different steps in a process. It can be used to train new team members or give a high-level overview to stakeholders. Although production workflows vary by team and business, they generally contain information about who the stakeholders are, how you brainstorm ideas, what your timeline looks like, and what resources you need to succeed.
Timeline Workflow
A timeline is a visual tool that chronologically plots out projects step by step. It’s an ideal tool for your team to tell stories (such as an overview of events in your organization) and visualize your projects or processes. The Timeline Workflow template is perfect for any project that relies on visual content. You may find it beneficial to use with your team and also to share with other stakeholders or clients to keep them in the loop on your progress.
RAID Log
A RAID log is a project planning tool that focuses on four key areas: risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies. Risks are events that could have an adverse effect if they occur, assumptions are things you assume will happen to contribute to the project’s success (and that will have negative consequences if they don’t occur), issues are risks that have already occurred and had a negative impact on the project, and dependencies are things that must start or finish so your project can progress. RAID logs are often used when beginning a new project, but they’re also useful for promoting alignment and sharing status for projects that are already underway.
Risk Assessment
A risk assessment matrix is a simple framework you can use to plan your project or product development cycle. Also known as a probability and severity risk matrix, the framework can enable you to figure out how to prioritize project or product-related risks based on likelihood and potential business impact. Risks can be ranked according to low probability and severity (1, color-coded green) to the highest possible likelihood (10, color-coded red). Ranking each risk lets you and your team prioritize risks and tackle the biggest threats with a strong action plan. The grid format allows you to control the amount of risk you’re likely to face during the project by visualizing and qualifying it.
Stakeholder Map
A stakeholder map is a type of analysis that allows you to group people by their power and interest. Use this template to organize all of the people who have an interest in your product, project, or idea in a single visual space. This allows you to easily see who can influence your project, and how each person is related to the other. Widely used in project management, stakeholder mapping is typically performed at the beginning of a project. Doing stakeholder mapping early on will help prevent miscommunication, ensure all groups are aligned on the objectives and set expectations about outcomes and results.