The project planning process is essential to laying the groundwork for

a successful project.

But planning a project is not linear. The project manager might need
to change things on the fly to adjust plans to reality. For example, you
could need to adjust the project timeline after planning your resources
to avoid burning out your employees. As a result, the project planning
processes can quickly become complicated!

In this guide, we’ll share a structured approach to project

management planning that will help you plan your future projects
better.
What are the stages in project planning?
There are nine essential stages in the project planning process that
should be adhered to. Follow these steps to create your project plan:
1. Determine the project goals and
objectives
The first step in the project planning phase is to define the goals and
objectives of your project.

Project goals and objectives help you decide if the project should be
prioritized (or even undertaken—essentially you need to use a proof
of concept). They also assist you in deciding what to deliver to the
client and in identifying problems early on, e.g., a short deadline.

Your project goals provide a broad idea of what you’re trying to

accomplish and help dictate the direction of your project.

Your project objectives are similar to your goals, but they define the
project in more specific terms like cost, time, and quality. Once you
have your project objectives, it's easy to determine the deliverables.

To set your project goals and objectives, refer to the information

gathered in the project initiation stage. For example, the project brief
or project proposal state that the client needs an e-commerce store to
handle the volume of orders on their social media pages. Their goal, in
that case, is to launch an e-commerce website. Their objectives might
be to launch a fast and user-friendly e-commerce website by the end
of Q4 at a cost of $20,000.

If you're wondering where to start, take a look at our project planning

templates or the more specific project charter templates that will help
you save time and effort.

2. Determine the project scope

Stakeholders often request extra tasks or significant changes in
direction (sometimes several of them) during a project that could
derail it.

Your project scope protects you from unrealistic expectations,

conflicting interests, and unattainable demands as the project
progresses.

To determine your scope, look at your project goals and objectives.

What do you need to do to achieve them? What isn’t necessary? For
example, the scope of a new housing project may be limited to
erecting and finishing the building but might not include landscaping
or the construction of an outdoor pool. And it certainly does not
include switching the design to a skyscraper!

It’s normal to feel uncertain about all the details. Stephen Whitworth,
co-founder of incident.io, recommends being flexible in your
approach. “You can scope with different levels of detail in your scope.
It’s helpful to start vague, get early feedback, and then go precise.”

Using a scope document or a scope statement ensures you can refer

back to it if the need arises (this can be achieved in several ways).
3. Build your work breakdown structure
(WBS)
At this stage, start determining which tasks, subtasks, and deliverables
must be carried out to complete the project. You can do this by
referring to your scope and creating a work breakdown structure—a
structured decomposition of tasks needed to complete a project.
In his book Project Management for Humans, Brett Harned
emphasizes the importance of work breakdown structure: "Creating a
work breakdown structure for any plan or set of tasks helps you get
granular about the work that needs to be done on any given project."

You can create a written work breakdown structure by:

• Breaking down your project using a Kanban board like Trello

• Mapping out tasks and timelines using Gantt charts in a project

management tool like Asana

Start by taking the project itself and breaking it down into large
chunks or workstreams. For example, your initial workstreams for an
e-commerce website would be setting up the site infrastructure and
authentication, creating the cart system, and connecting the payment
gateway.

You can go further by breaking your workstreams into smaller

deliverables (don’t forget to add managerial tasks at each level!). For
the e-commerce website, tasks like buying a domain name, instituting
website hosting, and load balancing all fall under setting up the site
infrastructure.

Set timelines
 Now that you have individual tasks created, you can set
timelines for each activity.
 Project timelines help you estimate the completion date and
keep things on track. Timelines are usually plotted on a Gantt
chart or in a resource management tool like Float.
 You can set timelines by comparing the duration of tasks in
similar projects or asking your team how long specific tasks take
them.
 Remember to add a buffer period for unplanned events like
switching hosting providers or delays in getting approval from
building control inspectors. "If there's a project I can get done in
a week, I'll estimate two and half weeks for it. In case of
unforeseen circumstances, I'd like to overestimate so I'll have
more time," says David Ibia, CEO of BoxMarshall LLC.
  Here are some other things to keep in mind when creating
timelines:
 Set milestones for project phases: An example of a milestone
could be that 2 months from the start date, the engineers will
have completed their work on the backend of the e-commerce
site.
 Be conscious of time constraints: Your timeline might have to fit
the deadline given by clients. In this case, you may need to follow
the critical path.
5. Determine and plan resources
For a project to succeed, you need the right people and resources.

The resource planning process in project management involves a lot

of project assumptions and making estimates. But from the past
steps—especially your WBS, scope, and goals—you should have a
rough idea of what resources you need.

For example, if you’re building an e-commerce website, you’ll need a

developer, a designer, and a copywriter. You’ll also need to purchase
hosting and a domain name for the website. If they are a co-located
team, you should provide a meeting room for collaboration.

For a new house construction project, you’ll need masons, plumbers,

electricians, HVAC technicians, and materials like sand, rocks, wood,
pipes, and wires.

When planning your resources, ensure you:

• Determine the skills/criteria you need

• Confirm future availability of resources

• Identify costs of resources, e.g., hourly rates

• Find out about special requirements, e.g., do you need to find a

contractor who is licensed through a guild?

You’ll want to make sure that you have the people with the right skills
and capacity to make the project a success. Also, ensure your plan
shows clear ownership of tasks. One easy way is to use your WBS to
create an organizational structure.
6. Estimate costs
One of the challenges in the project planning process is balancing your
budget with your stakeholders' desire to save money.
However, if you underestimate costs, you might find yourself without
funds in the middle of the project. To approximate the cost of the
project, you can use:
• Ballpark estimation: What do you think the entire project will
cost based on project objectives and client expectations? This is not an
exact figure. It could cost less or more, so let your clients know. Use
this method when you need to give a cost estimate before determining
things like your WBS or resources.
• Parametric estimation: Use historical data in your resource
management tool and the cost of variables to estimate costs. Turn
your WBS into a cost breakdown structure. You can take the prices of
a unit of labor, such as a mason working at $23 an hour, and multiply
it by the amount of time the project will take.
Choose your method and establish an initial cost baseline. Make sure
to include details about the contact person and processes for releasing
the funds. For example, the team lead could approve spending for
limited amounts, while larger amounts must be approved by the
finance department.
7. Determine risks and constraints
No project exists without risks or constraints. The key to avoiding a
project failure is identifying the potential pitfalls and creating an
action plan to handle them.
One way to properly prepare is to create a risk register—a document
that lists all of the potential risks and information about them. Also,
include an action plan to counter each project risk in your risk
register.
8. Plan out communication
Creating a communication blueprint is essential in developing a
project plan. "No matter what role you’re playing on a project, if you’re
not making a strong effort to communicate with your team, you will
likely fail," says Harned.
 Be sure to include details about the following:

• Communication channels: This may be via email for clients,

while team members might communicate primarily over Slack.

• Frequency: This may be weekly, on-demand asynchronously, or

per milestone.

• Communication type/details: Execs typically need fewer details

and more high-level information, while team members who are
actively working on the project need more granular information.

• Contact persons: Define who you go to and with what type of

information to avoid delays.
9. Make plans for quality control and assurance
Planning for project quality control involves providing guidelines for
managing, assuring, and maintaining standards within the project.

Without a plan, it will be very tough to achieve your desired results.

You might end up with a slow e-commerce website or a leaky
plumbing system!

To set quality control metrics, you should:

 Leverage in-house experts' knowledge of best practices
 Reference industry standards—for example, e-commerce sites need
to have a secure and fast payment system
 Work with key stakeholders to determine expectations of quality

Your plan should also include acceptance criteria, define the people in
charge of verifying work, and set any corrective actions.

What are the components of a project

plan?
The elements will vary from project to project, but here are some
essential components every successful project plan should have:
• Scope: Define the boundaries of your project. What will be
included and excluded in the entire project?

• Deliverables: Define what products/deliverables need to be

submitted at the end of the project.

• Budget: Define how much the project will cost. One easy way is
to use your WBS to create a cost breakdown structure by assigning
costs to each task.

• Quality: Define how quality will be assured and controlled on the

project.

• Schedule: Assign time to each project activity and people to

tasks.

• Resourcing: Define what human and material resources will be

needed to complete the project.

• Stakeholder management/communication: How will you

communicate with your stakeholders and keep them in the loop?
Define which stakeholder will be given what information at what
times.

• Governance: To keep your project transparent and compliant,

define which team members are responsible for project monitoring
and decision-making.

• Risk: Enter all risks in a risk register. Also, include details about
each risk and plans to combat them.