How to build a project plan? our tips

Since any project management requires starting from a solid base and knowing in which direction you are going, it is essential to establish a project plan in advance.

But how?

In a competitive environment in which companies have to work on increasingly complex and innovative projects, how can you ensure that you take into account all the elements essential for their successful conduct? Is it possible to accurately consider all the tasks to be performed, the deadlines to be met and the resources to be allocated?

The answer is yes.

However, to achieve this, proper project planning requires the monitoring of a precise and structured methodology.

In this article, we explain how to plan the phases of a project to arrive at a successful end result. And since this activity requires the execution of a series of rather complex tasks, we also present a selection of supporting software and an Excel template of the Gantt chart.

But before we go any further, let us return in more detail to the definition and benefits of project planning.

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What is a project plan?

The life cycle of a project comprises a number of phases. However, before you can start working on the project itself, you need to dive into the essential phase of the project planning process.

Planning a project consists of

• identifying the different tasks
• prioritising these tasks
• defining their duration and deadline
• identifying the costs and human resources needed to carry out the project
• planning all the steps clearly

This preparatory work requires a high degree of precision, but there are many advantages for the project manager.

What are the advantages of a project plan?

Usually presented as a table or chart to be more visual, a project plan includes the essential data. By providing teams with an overview, it allows them to:

• structure ideas in advance. In fact, planning requires a series of questions to be asked. Which tasks are really essential for the realisation of the project? Which ones are superfluous? What resources are to be sought? What should the end result be? Planning a project means organising your ideas.
• Accurately monitor the progress of the project. On the basis of a project schedule, you can identify during the course of the project which objectives have been achieved or not and react accordingly. Furthermore, it is better to anticipate the impact of problems over the entire project life cycle.
• Promote communication and collaborative work. All project actors have the possibility to refer to the programme to manage their daily activities. In addition, they can more easily identify their place in the project, the hierarchy of tasks and thus the impact of their work.
• Allocate the right resources. By including factors such as the duration of each task or possible overlaps between them, planning allows projects to be carried out more realistically, thus avoiding unnecessary sources of stress.

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What are the planning phases of a project?

Now that we have seen all the aspects of planning a project, let us look at the stages of its development.

Understanding the objective and conditions of the project

Understanding the objective of the project remains the basis. This preliminary thinking minimises the risk, along the way, of realising that you have gone in the wrong direction.

Before any planning, be clear about

• the different products, expected results and deadlines
• time requirements
• the budget available to you

That said, we can take the next step.

Define the different tasks that make up the project

The success of the project depends to a large extent on this crucial step.

💡 The method that could help you:

To precisely define the different tasks that make up your project, and make sure you don't forget any of them, use the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) method.

It consists of identifying the most important deliverables and then dividing them into subsets. Each of these subsets is then broken down to define the tasks or tasks.

The WBS method in detail:

Task scheduling

Once all your tasks have been identified, it is time to link them together so that they can be sorted . This is called task planning.

In each task sequence there is a start task and an end task, all the tasks in between are linked by a logical sequence. These links are divided into four types:

• End-to-start links: task B cannot be started until task A is completed.
• End to end links: task B cannot be completed until task A is completed. However, it is not obligatory to wait until the completion of A for the start of B.
• Start-to-start connections: Activity B cannot be started until Activity A has been started. On the other hand, it is not mandatory to start B at the same time as A.
• Start-to-finish links: Activity B cannot be completed until Activity A has been started.

Note that the project manager can plan different scenarios for scheduling activities. Therefore, depending on the progress of the project and the difficulties encountered, it is still possible to use another plan.

💡 The methodogy :

The planning of activities, particularly in complex projects, is often done using the PERT diagram.

Generally used in parallel with the Gantt chart, its construction reveals the connections and interdependencies between tasks, as well as their execution time.

In practice, a task is represented by an arrow surrounded by two nodes that materialise the steps. Each step has a first and last date.

The PERT diagram method in detail:

© R. Martelli

Estimating the duration of each task and project

With this decisive step, a correct overview of the overall project duration is obtained.

However, it requires the involvement of all players: everyone is better able to provide a correct estimate of the time needed to complete the tasks that concern them.

Also, always take into account the different time constraints to optimise your planning. For example, some tasks, for legal reasons, absolutely must be completed by a specific date.

💡The methodology :

While the PERT diagram seen above helps determine the start and end dates for each task, the Critical Path Method allows you to estimate the entire duration of the project.

Indeed, we have seen with the PERT diagram how to calculate the total margin of each activity (i.e. the difference between the first and last date). But if a margin is 0, then the task in question is on the Critical Path of the project .

In other words, the sequence of tasks on the Critical Path should not be delayed.

The Critical Path Method in detail :

Allocation of resources for the various tasks

The question here is "who does what?".

To this end, define the working time that each actor in the project (including external service providers) can devote to the execution of the tasks, taking into account all constraints: holidays, public holidays, time dedicated to other tasks, etc.

Organisation of a calendar

Once the previous steps have been completed, all you have to do is build your calendar.

💡The methodology :

Thanks to the PERT diagram, you can now construct a Gantt chart.

This represents in a table the different tasks of a project with horizontal bars, delimited by a beginning and an end. It therefore offers a clear and quick visualisation of the progress of the project.

The Gantt chart is also a good tool on which to visualise milestones, i.e. the key stopping points in the project life cycle (end of a phase, important event such as a product launch, budget, etc.) Attention, once a milestone is passed, there is no turning back.

Finally, note that for small projects, for which you benefit from easy time management, it is customary to use the Gantt chart directly without going through the PERT chart.

What are the tools for planning your project + Excel template

WBS, Gantt... Needless to say, a sheet of paper or a whiteboard is not enough to draw up a readable and accurate project plan. That is why we present some essential tools. The first one we can think of is Excel. With a simple spreadsheet you can draw a basic Gantt chart. Here is our free Excel template for you:

However, Excel shows its limits in more complex projects because of the ease with which mistakes can be made. That is why today we present some of the most suitable project management software.

Project management software

Why use project management software to create your project plan?

• They take into account the many parameters of the project and facilitate the implementation of previously developed phases;
• They are versatile, and also allow you to ensure post-planning follow-up and react more easily in the event of problems;
• They facilitate exchanges and communication between project actors.

But which solution should you choose in relation to your needs? Focus on a few proven software products.

Monday.com

Monday.com is a project management software that has earned worldwide fame and the trust of some of the most important brands on the market. It is not you who adapts to the platform, but it adapts to you through the different templates it provides. Thanks to this tool, you will be able to "plan, monitor and collaborate" without stress.

Its functionalities include:

• Time tracking
• Various visualisation possibilities
• Dashboards

Trello

Trello ranks as one of the leading free project management software in terms of visual representation. Because of this ease of interaction, it is a favourite tool for students and professionals to manage their activities.

Thanks to trello you will be able to:

• Have visualisation in Kanban mode
• Create Gantt Charts
• Manage your tasks

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Thanks to the project plan, no more unpleasant surprises!

As you will have understood, planning a project involves taking many variables into account. You must therefore ensure that you strictly apply the required project management methodology.

We therefore recommend using software that can intelligently accompany you in your processes, thus avoiding the problems of deadlines, resources and budgets that are sometimes difficult to anticipate.

Moreover, these software packages go beyond a simple task planning tool to include the management of the project as a whole: management of the project lifecycle until completion, KPI tracking, collaborative exchanges, document sharing, etc.

Thanks to them, no more unpleasant surprises for the project manager and for all stakeholders in general.

And you? what methodologies and software do you use? tell us your experience!!!