Project Management: 4 Best Steps to Make a Work Plan

Creating a work plan is a lengthy process that necessitates as many details as possible to be established before presenting to stakeholders. Here's where you should concentrate your efforts.

1.      Identify the Project Name, Purpose and General Timeline

Given the purpose of the project and the rest of the information you will fill in after this step, you can tell your project approvers that your project will take one quarter, six months, or one year.

You should also explain the purpose of your project to your project approver. Will the goal of your project be to better meet the needs of your customers? Perhaps a competitor has released an improved version of a product you already have, and you need to scale up to keep up with market demand. Whatever your ultimate goal is, make sure you state it right away.

2.      Put Your Work Plan into Context

Write an introduction and background to better explain why this project is important to you and why you decided to pursue that ultimate goal in the first place. Putting the situation in context and defining the problem will help you explain why you require the solution.

3.      Establish Your Goals and Objectives

Your objectives may sound similar to your purpose, but they're more specific and long-term in nature — for example, your team learned more about the process of releasing a bug fix or how to respond more directly to customer/market feedback.

Similarly, the goals of your project should be measurable. For example, after launch, this project's goal is to increase the number of active monthly subscribers by xx% or generate a certain amount of revenue.

It's best to use your SMART goals in this situation. Create a list of what is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and achievable within the project's time frame.

4.      Define and Coordinate Your Resources

When defining and coordinating your resources, keep the following questions in mind:

·         What percentage of the budget will be allocated to this project?

·         From which department will the funds be drawn?

·         Do you require any additional members of the team?

·         What software tools will be required to streamline the project (such as time tracking, team collaboration, and project management tools)? 

5.      Understand Your Constraints

Consider the three constraints of time, budget, and resources in particular. Because you've already listed all three in previous steps, you can now consider the risks that could obstruct those processes.

Perhaps some of your team members take a few sick days during this time; perhaps unexpected tasks must be completed; perhaps some of your tools fail, necessitating additional funds from the budget. Whatever your constraints are, consider anything that feels like a risk of becoming a full-fledged constraint, which could affect the completion of deliverables or even the project's goals and objectives.

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