Let’s say you’ve just started a new project—your stakeholders are aligned, your charter is signed, and now you need to get down to brass tacks. How do you begin?
With a work plan, of course.
We break down what a work plan is and why your project needs one below. You’ll also find some sample work plan templates to help you get started!
What is a work plan?
Project managers employ so many tools, templates, and techniques to carry out their work that it can sometimes be tricky to keep them all straight.
You can think of a work plan, also known as a project plan, as a progressive elaboration of the project charter. The charter summarizes the purpose of the project and the high-level scope. The work plan takes the scope and breaks it down into the steps required to execute it. Whereas the project charter is an executive-level document, the work plan is geared towards the project team.
The work plan and the project charter are distinct from the project management plan, which explains how you’ll manage the project throughout the life cycle.
Who should be organizing project work plans?
As the project manager, you are on the hook for developing the project work plan.
Traditionally, the project sponsor writes the charter, and then the project manager adapts the charter into a work plan for the team. In theory, the project hasn’t officially kicked off at the charter stage, so there is no project manager yet. Therefore, the person commissioning the project is responsible for the charter.
The difference between theory and practice? In my 15-year career, I have yet to work on a project where I didn’t write the charter. Bottom line: project managers are responsible for it all!
What to consider when crafting a work plan
Remember that the work plan is formed from the project charter. So you’ll need to dedicate a bit of real estate upfront to remind the reader what the project is about and why it’s essential.
While you should absolutely share the project charter with your team, the primary audience for that document is executives. The charter grounds the project in the company strategy and explains the business drivers. It deliberately doesn’t say too much about execution—that’s where the work plan comes in.
The work plan is a blend of the visionary and the tactical. It’s geared towards the team members that are engaged in project delivery and helps set them up for success throughout the project life-cycle.
Once you’ve oriented the reader, pivot from the big-picture goals and strategy to the details of execution. Focusing on the tactics is important for two reasons: 1. To avoid regurgitating the charter and 2. To make the work plan useful to its intended audience.
Elements of a work plan
Here are some suggested elements to include in your work plan:
- Purpose and background – Sets the stage for what the project is trying to accomplish, the context behind it, and the business drivers
- Goals and objectives – What are the goals for this project? How do these goals align with company objectives? What does success look like?
- Level of effort – What is the expected level of effort for this project? What is the high-level timeline, including milestones and deliverables? What is the work breakdown structure (i.e., the list of activities required to complete the project?)
- Roles and responsibilities – What are the roles on this project, who is assigned to these roles, and what activities will they perform?
- Budget – The expected project costs by phase. Who is funding this project? What are the funding sources? How does the budget align with the estimated level of effort?
- Risks, assumptions, and constraints – What are the risks that could derail the project? What are the assumptions at the project outset? What are the known constraints?
Benefits of work plan tools and templates
Work plan tools and templates offer several benefits that support accountability, alignment, and execution of your project. Specifically, they help you:
- Translate high-level project mandate into a tactical action plan that the team can execute
- Boost team morale and engagement by clarifying how the team’s work supports company objectives
- Offer a useful mechanism for thinking through project level of effort, timeline, and staffing
- Justify budget requests based on the estimated level of effort
- Plan for contingencies that may arise in the course of project execution by identifying risks, assumptions, and constraints
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Sample work plan templates
To help you get started, we’ve included free downloadable work plan templates in both document and spreadsheet format:
Work plan template
Detailed Work Plan Template
Work plan template [Doc]
How to customize your work plan template
Project management documentation can (and should) vary based on organizational maturity, project complexity, business needs, and preferred ways of working.
Our suggested work plan template offers a starting point for you to iterate on what is most effective for your team and your organization. Feel free to add and subtract sections as you see fit. As long as the content is covered somewhere in your foundational project documentation, it doesn’t matter too much how it’s organized.
Happy work planning!
