How to Create a Free Project Plan?

Many difficulties can arise during the stages towards achieving the goal. It can be difficult to follow steps to manage a project. Therefore, you need to make a detailed project plan so that the employees are aware of all the developments. There are free project plan templates at Pandadoc that can be used for such purposes.

What is a Project Plan?

It is a carefully compiled list of actions to be performed at certain stages. Depending on the type of project and the basic needs, the plan may consist of a schedule, certain employees, and a budget. Managers who handle the project use such a plan to organize the processes of meeting the goals and tracking the budget. This way, it is possible to track the progress of the plan. It is also used to create reports to be shared with stakeholders.

Benefits of Creating a Plan

There are ready-made project management planning samples that businesses can use. Let’s look at the main benefits of creating a project plan:

1. Improved communication. All employees can see the creation and execution of tasks, new assignments, deadlines, and other important information that is needed in the execution of the plan. In this way, it is easy to ensure that important information is shared among the team of employees.
2. Notification of delays/budget issues. Each phase of the project is documented and all employees are notified of any delays that are related to the budget. It is very convenient as there is no need to notify everyone. Other team members can manage the workflow accordingly. Most project plans include a budgeting feature, so employees can be notified of potential issues in advance so that corrections can be made and negative consequences can be avoided.
3. Accountability and transparency. The team of employees and other stakeholders can observe the fulfillment of each task at a certain stage of the project. This way, it increases the transparency of the workflow and promotes accountability.
4. Reducing stagnation. When working on long-term and cross-functional projects, it can be easy to get confused about the execution of various steps. When this happens, employees start correcting mistakes and the projects stagnate accordingly. If there is a detailed plan in place, each stage is broken down into specific actions, so they are easier to follow.
5. High discipline. Using a project plan, you can keep your team organized and not get bogged down in the workflow. In addition, managers stay more organized by keeping track of the progress of all the steps and monitoring them. If mistakes occur, you can quickly correct them.

You can appreciate these benefits directly in the workflow. Both large companies and small corporations can use a project plan. Choose templates and samples that meet your requirements.

Benefits of Using Project Plan Templates

A project plan is created to help manage the workflow. It can sometimes seem very difficult to create one, so it is best to use ready-made templates. With their help, it is easy to get the necessary techniques that involve different prompts, reminders, and deadline notifications. In addition, such templates can create a roadmap and help in identifying the problems of plan fulfillment.

In general, project plan form can include main criteria, features, tasks, assignments and deadlines. Let’s take a closer look at popular free project plan templates:

1. Basic plan in Word or Excel. Depending on your budget and needs, you can use these programs. Such templates include task activities, due dates, duration, status and many other useful things. It is a pretty good option if there are no overlapping tasks in your project.
2. Agile template in Google Docs. Project management is the ability to track roles, budget responsibilities, progress, and deadlines for all activities. All steps can be broken down into specific actions and adjustments and comments can be made at the end.
3. Weekly plan. If your project has daily tasks that need to be scheduled for the whole week, such a plan will be very convenient to use.
4. Gantt project plan. Many managers use such diagrams. All the necessary information is provided in the form of a horizontal bar chart. The template allows you to break down the project into stages and tasks. It will also include start and end dates, assigned responsible parties and status.
5. HR Project Planning Template. The HR department is working on several tasks and projects that have different deadlines. This plan is employee-centered and will help keep track of all activities. Prioritized performer metrics for each task and status are included here.
6. Product marketing project planning template. When a new product is launched, marketing professionals can use this plan for planning and tracking tasks. It also includes customizable view options and you can share it with other employees or stakeholders.
7. Content calendar template. Suitable for teams that create and publish content. This template makes it easy to see exactly what is being published and when. Employees are able to distinguish between tasks and content with the help of color-coded marks.
8. Kanban scheduling template. Kanban board represents some project management tools through which you can easily manage tasks, control workflow and communicate with other employees. Tasks can be classified into different categories and make the workflow more comfortable.
9. New product planning template. If employees plan to develop and produce new products, different steps in the project process can be followed. Such a template is a roadmap.

The use of Pandadoc software will be helpful. It is a well-known tool that has different templates and helps to manage documents. The program offers a free version, which you can familiarize yourself with and understand whether it is worth buying the paid version. Clients can use the digital signature for convenient contracting anywhere. The large selection of project plan templates is one of the main advantages.