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Making a Risk Management Plan for Your Business
It’s impossible to eliminate all business risk. Therefore, it’s essential for having a plan for its management. You’ll be developing one covering compliance, environmental, financial, operational and reputation risk management. These guidelines are for making a risk management plan for your business.
Developing Your Executive Summary
When you start the risk management plan with an executive summary, you’re breaking apart what it will be compromised of into easy to understand chunks. Even though this summary is the project’s high-level overview, the goal is describing the risk management plan’s approach and scope. In doing so, you’re informing all stakeholders regarding what to expect when they’re reviewing these plans so that they can set their expectations appropriately.
Who Are the Stakeholders and What Potential Problems Need Identifying?
During this phase of making the risk management plan, you’re going to need to have a team meeting. Every member of the team must be vocal regarding what they believe could be potential problems or risks. Stakeholders should also be involved in this meeting as well to help you collect ideas regarding what could become a potential risk. All who are participating should look at past projects, what went wrong, what is going wrong in current projects and what everyone hopes to achieve from what they learned from these experiences. During this session, you’ll be creating a sample risk management plan that begins to outline risk management standards and risk management strategies.
Evaluate the Potential Risks Identified
A myriad of internal and external sources can pose as risks including commercial, management and technical, for example. When you’re identifying what these potential risks are and have your list complete, the next step is organizing it according to importance and likelihood. Categorize each risk according to how it could impact your project. For example, does the risk threaten to throw off timelines or budgets? Using a risk breakdown structure is an effective way to help ensure all potential risks are effectively categorized and considered. Use of this risk management plan template keeps everything organized and paints a clear picture of everything you’re identifying.
Assign Ownership and Create Responses
It’s essential to ensure a team member is overseeing each potential risk. That way, they can jump into action should an issue occur. Those who are assigned a risk, as well as the project manager, should work as a team to develop responses before problems arise. That way, if there are issues, the person overseeing the risk can refer to the response that was predetermined.
Have a System for Monitoring
Having effective risk management companies plans includes having a system for monitoring. It’s not wise to develop a security risk management or compliance risk management plan, for example, without having a system for monitoring. What this means is there’s a system for monitoring in place to ensure risk doesn’t occur until the project is finished. In doing so, you’re ensuring no new risks will potentially surface. If one does, like during the IT risk management process, for example, your team will know how to react.
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Implementation Plan Template
Get your Implementation Plan Template for Excel or open it in ProjectManager, the best way to manage your projects online.
First you have an idea, then you need a way to turn a concept into reality. How do you move that idea from planning to action? That is done with an implementation plan.
Using our free implementation plan template helps you create the steps that end with the delivery of your idea. Download the free implementation template in Excel from ProjectManager and start your project on the right foot.
Or you can open the implementation plan template directly into ProjectManager, where you can manage it with a Gantt chart, spreadsheet, task list, kanban board or calendar—all in an online collaborative space. Update your plan and invite your team, so you can work together in real time and track progress along the way. Get started for free and make a better implementation plan.
Why Use an Implementation Plan Template?
It’s not hard to see why implementation planning would lead to project success. Project management is all about planning , so having a plan to implement your strategy is only going to reduce the risk of having any surprises negatively impact your project.
The implementation plan is a document that defines three things: the strategy, process and actions required. In other words, the implementation plan is a process that takes your strategy and makes it happen. Using ProjectManager’s implementation plan template gets you started faster.
While our implementation plan template is a great starting point, most project managers advise using robust project planning software such as ProjectManager, to assist you in the process of developing an idea, creating an implementation plan and tracking your success.
Who Uses and Updates the Implementation Plan Template?
While C-level executives might be instrumental in defining the overall strategy of the organization, the creation of an implementation plan and the use of the implementation plan template is the purview of the project manager. A project manager is the one who organizes all aspects of the project and supervises its execution.
Naturally, the project manager is likely to bring in others from their project team to offer their perspective and expertise. They might also seek other professionals and research historical data to learn how others have dealt with similar situations. But the buck stops with the project manager, who acts like a proxy for upper management.
Once your project team has figured out the process and actions, however, you might find that this implementation plan template only takes you so far. Project management software connects all elements of your plan to create efficiencies and boost productivity.
ProjectManager does this by having multiple project views so you can work how you want, while all the data is shared across every view. Our tool delivers real-time data for better decision-making and connects teams to get more done by working better together. Try ProjectManager today for free.
How to Use ProjectManager’s Implementation Plan Template
Now that you understand what an implementation plan is, and why it’s important to the success of your project, it’s time to start working with the implementation plan template. Here’s how:
- Project Information: The first couple of rows on the implementation plan template for Excel are dedicated to the name of the project, the project manager, a list of stakeholders and the date when the implementation template was last updated.
- The Spreadsheet: Following that is the main section of the spreadsheet, which is broken up into three parts. The first is the strategy, then the process and finally the actions you’ll take. Each section has the same column headings, broken up into tasks, who are assigned and what percentage of complete the task is.
- Timeline: There’s a timeline section that takes each task and gives it a planned start and planned finish date, which is the duration you estimate the task to take to be completed. There follows an actual start and an actual finish, as things don’t always go as planned.
- Planned Hours: Finally, in the timeline section is a column to note the planned hours you have estimated each task to take and another column that allows you to mark if it’s ahead of schedule, behind schedule or on schedule.
- Resources: The last third of this template is dedicated to resources. Here you can note what department handles each task, the materials required to execute the task and how much each task will cost. The last column is reserved for notes in which to capture any data that fall outside of the previous columns.
- Terms Used: There’s a second sheet in the Excel file that defines the terms used. But mostly, the template is a straightforward tool to help you organize your implementation plan and better achieve success in your project.
Executing an Implementation Plan with ProjectManager
If you want to give your implementation plan template a greater chance to succeed, upload the template into ProjectManager . Our award-winning software organizes your work, whether you’re managing one or many projects, with features that plan, track and report back to stakeholders.
Schedule Deliverables, Resources and Costs
It’s easy to upload the implementation plan template for Excel into our tool. Once you add the duration to your tasks, they’re displayed on a visual timeline in our interactive Gantt chart. Now you can do things that a static template just doesn’t have the bandwidth to do.
For example, you can link dependencies and set milestones, but unlike other Gantt charts, we filter the critical path for you to see which tasks are essential and which can be put aside if time and money become an issue. Once you have a schedule, set a baseline to capture that data and compare it to your actual process. ProjectManager does this in real time.
Work in Multiple Views
There are multiple views that let managers and teams work how they want. Managers tend to use Gantt charts. They can also use our sheet view, which is the Gantt without the timeline, giving you more screen space for columns. You can then decide which columns you want to see on the Gantt timeline.
Teams tend to use the kanban board. It provides transparency for managers to see what their teams are working on and identify roadblocks to reallocating resources before it slows down productivity. Teams can manage their backlog, make to-do lists and plan their sprints.
Track Resources and Report
When things change and your plan needs to update, our resource management tools make reallocation quick and easy. A workload chart is color-coded to see at a glance who has too many or too few tasks. You can balance the workload right from that page and keep everyone working at capacity.
Stakeholders are going to want to know how the project is progressing. To manage their expectations, use monitoring and tracking features, such as a real-time dashboard and one-click reporting. Unlike lightweight tools, our dashboard doesn’t have to be configured. It’s set up and ready to give you a high-level view of progress and performance. Reporting features can be filtered to show just what stakeholders want to see and then shared with a keystroke.
What Other Templates Can Help With Planning
If you’re not ready to upgrade, there are plenty of other templates you can use to help with your project planning. We have scores of free project management templates on the site. Visit our template page, but in the meantime here are a few to get you started.
Resource Plan Template
Your implementation plan requires resources to execute the action items. You can organize those resources by using our free resource plan template. It lists the resource, what team they’re on, the total effort, rate and overall cost. Then you can schedule them across the time chart to make sure you’re not overspending during the project.
Work Breakdown Structure Template
The implementation plan is partially made up of actionable items. It’s important that your implementation plan is thorough in collecting all these actions. The best way to do this is with our free work breakdown structure template. This tree diagram puts your final deliverable on top and allows you to chart all the steps that get you there.
Project Budget Template
The implementation plan costs money and it’s part of any plan estimating how much those costs will be. The free project budget template is a great tool to detail the financial part of your implementation plan and your entire project. The template is color-coded to show you when you’re in the red as you monitor how much you’re spending over the course of the project’s life cycle.
Related Content
The ProjectManager tool is great, and the ProjectManager site is a hub for all things project management. As you know, there are many free templates. Beyond that, though, there are blogs published each week, tutorial videos and guidebooks to help the journeyman and the apprentice alike. Here are a few planning-related content published on our site. Explore if fully for answers to all your project needs.
- Strategic Planning Models: An Introduction to 5 Popular Models
- How to Run a Planning Meeting (Checklist Included)
- Strategic Planning in Business
Take your time exploring the site. Download as many templates as you want. When you’re ready to take your project management to the next level, the next time you’re working on an implementation plan, try ProjectManager. See why tens of thousands of teams are using the tool to succeed at organizations from NASA to Ralph Lauren and the United Nations. Try ProjectManager today for free.
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Implementation Plan Template
Use this implementation plan template to plan, track, and manage each stage of an implementation project. Gantt and Kanban views help users visualize the progress and status of tasks, and to quickly answer the essential question, "what am I personally responsible for?"
This template also features an "Overall Progress" row and "Days Until Launch" cell to keep teams up to date on their progress and stay aware of deadlines.
What is an implementation plan?
An implementation plan is a detailed plan of all the steps you need to take in order to implement or achieve a specific result. If a strategic plan is what you're going to do, the implementation plan is how you're going to actually do it. It's important to have both; implementation with no strategic plan leaves you doing things for no reason like a wind-up cymbal-playing monkey, and strategy with no implementation plan is like daydreaming, because you may have good ideas but you're not making a concrete plan of action in order to accomplish them.
A good implementation plan will lay out every task you have to do at each stage of the process, along with a timeline for ensuring you meet your goals. This provides you with a step-by-step guide of exactly what you need to do in order to implement your strategic plan, and bring it to fruition. A bad implementation plan will kick you in the head.
The spreadsheet template below will help you put together a good implementation plan that lays out the specifics of everything you need to do -- as well as who is going to do it, when it needs to get done, and how it's going so far. And having an organized plan will make sure that your business goals aren't just strategized, but that they get implemented as well.
Did you know?
Any good strategic plan deserves a good implementation plan in order to see it carried out. Strategic plans and implementation plans are best friends. They go to the movies together. They eat ice cream together. One day they're going to get married.
If you plan to upgrade the sound system on all 12 theaters in your multiplex, you should probably have an implementation plan. If you are sad that all your old speakers aren't good enough and plan to go home and cry about it, that's an amp lamentation plan.
Some people think implementation plans are unnecessary for wide-scale computer upgrades, because things will probably go smoothly and people will just be happy to get an upgraded system. These people's names when mentioned to co-workers are often preceded by negative adjectives.
How does it work?
Enter the Launch Day at the top of the sheet, and the number of Days Until Launch will automatically count down.
Break the implementation project down into stages, and put each stage of the project into one of the blue parent rows. Use the child rows beneath each parent row to break each stage down into individual tasks, each with their own row.
For every step of the process, select an Owner to be responsible for it, and fill in the Start Date, Deadline, and Duration of that step. Track the progress on that step by selecting a Status tag (Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, Completed), and filling in the Completion Percentage.
For tasks that rely on another task being complete, simply tag the relevant task as a Predecessor. Any additional relevant information can be added as an Attachment or in the Notes field.
Use the Timeline View on the left to see a chart of all tasks and stages plotted across a timeline, where parent stages bracket component tasks, and predecessor tasks are connected by arrows.
Use the Status and Owner views for a Kanban sorting into columns to quickly identify which tasks need attention, from a specific person or overall.
Why do I need an implementation plan template?
Because good intentions aren't enough.
It's great to strategize about how you're going to improve your business, and have an idea of your goals and the results you're looking for. But if you want to achieve those goals, the best thing you can do is to have a plan for how you're going to get there. Companies with a good implementation plan tend to outperform those that don't have one, because good ideas are helpful, but knowing how to implement those good ideas — and then actually doing it — is what really leads to success.
So this implementation plan example can be useful for laying out exactly how you're going to achieve your strategic plan. And there are many benefits to doing this sort of preparation. Planning out your implementation timeline allows you to identify potential issues before they happen, and make sure everyone knows what they need to do by when, so you can stay on track and on deadline.
More generally, an implementation plan lays out every step of the process to ensure that everyone is on the same page. When everyone knows exactly what is going to be done and when, there are fewer unpleasant surprises, and more opportunities for synergy, alignment, buy-in, and other corporate buzzwords you may be sick of hearing but which still describe good and desirable things for your business that can be achieved through clearly communicating a detailed plan to your team.
Who benefits from an implementation plan?
Anyone with a complicated project to implement.
Not everything needs an implementation plan. If your current project only contains a few simple steps with no sub-tasks, and you just need to know when things are done and don't need to track completion percentages or a countdown to a launch deadline, you'd probably be fine with a standard To Do List .
But if you've come up with a strategic plan and the process of actually implementing it is going to be a little complicated — whether that's because each step involves a number of smaller tasks, or because it's a company-wide rollout that needs to adhere to a tight time schedule — then it's a good idea to use an implementation plan template like this one to write down and track every step that will be required for your ideas to come to fruition.
The Top Project Plan Templates
Smartsheet Contributor Kate Eby
June 8, 2018 (updated March 3, 2023)
A project plan is an essential part of any project manager’s toolkit. While it can be tempting to get started on completing tasks as soon as possible, taking the time to map out your strategy can help you save money and resources. Your project will constantly be shifting, and you need a project plan template that can keep up.
But, with so many available templates, how do you know which one to use? We’ve sorted through them all and found the best project plan templates in Excel and Microsoft Word. We’ll explain the different types of templates and when you should use each one. We’ll also provide a selection of free downloads of project plan templates in Microsoft Word and Excel. You’ll learn what a project plan is and how to make one from scratch in Excel. Or you can try a pre-built template in Smartsheet, a project management platform that empowers you to efficiently manage projects with real-time collaboration and process automation.
How Would You Like to Create Your Project Plan?
Time to complete: 3 minutes
Time to complete: 30 minutes
Project Plan Templates
A project plan template can be as simple or as complex as you need, depending on your style of project management and the requirements of your project planning . You can choose to include a static timeline or a dynamic Gantt chart, and focus on action items or business goals.
A project plan is most often used in a project management context, with Gantt charts to plan and report progress as the project changes. The main difference between a project plan and a work plan is the Gantt chart, making it a more integrated project plan complete with a way to track tasks against timelines. A Gantt chart is a dynamic, horizontal bar chart to visualize a project schedule and is an important asset to share with stakeholders to communicate project status. This type of template caters toward project managers who are managing larger projects with many people.
Download Excel Template Use Free Smartsheet Template
Project plan templates, complete with a Gantt chart, are used most often in instance like construction project management , or where there’s a need for a more agile project plan . Sometimes, people prefer to use project management software to create more complex project plans, enabling them to easily update and manage their plans with greater flexibility.
Simple Project Plan Template
Track project details, manage timelines, and visualize how your project is progressing with this simple project plan template. Document all key details, like task start and end dates, resources needed, and budget details, with this comprehensive, easy-to-use template.
Download Word Template
Work Plan Templates
A work plan template is designed to break down your large project goals into smaller, actionable steps. This kind of template outlines what needs to be done, by whom, and when. It also includes a timeline to help set expectations and improve transparency, keeping everyone on the same page about deliverables and deadlines. A work plan template is best for larger teams working on big projects with many tasks and due dates.
Project Implementation Plan Template
Ensure you don’t miss or overlook any key steps and that all your bases are covered as you move through your project. Use this professionally designed template to keep key internal and external stakeholders, clients, and upper management in the loop on all phases of the project.
Action Plan Templates
An action plan lists all the steps that must be taken to achieve a specific goal. The template includes information about the actions that need to happen, the people that will complete them, due dates, priority, and status. While an action plan and work plan are similar, an action plan focuses on goals, whereas a work plan template focuses on phases of tasks that are usually listed in chronological order. An action plan template is best for individual use or by smaller teams.
Project Action Plan Template
Establish the main goals of your project, identify the actions needed to achieve those goals, and assign a person to be responsible for each task with this complete project action plan template. Assign priority to tasks, view status, and list start and end dates to keep your project moving forward.
Business Plan Templates
A business plan template highlights business goals and the plan for achieving them. It focuses on your business’ future and how you intend to reach your objectives. Business plans are much more strategic than a work plan or action plan and often include a vision statement, business profile, economic assessment, and more. A business plan is most appropriate for people who are starting their own business, growing their business, or seeking outside help.
Get started quickly with Project Plan templates in Smartsheet
Your projects may be complex, but your project management tool doesn’t have to be. Combine a rich set of features with flexibility, simplicity, and ease of use to deliver projects quickly. Try Smartsheet for 30 days and get access to hundreds of pre-built, easily customizable templates to jumpstart your project. After your trial, you can choose the plan that best suits your needs or opt for the Free plan as a no-cost alternative.
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What is a Project Plan?
A project plan is designed to deliver the intended scope of a project, facilitate communication among stakeholders, and track planning assumptions and decisions. It is a living document that can include a stakeholder list, a scope statement, a project schedule, schedule and cost baselines, baseline management plans, communication plan, and it can change over the course of a project. It is worth noting that a project plan is not just a project timeline, although that is an important component of the plan.
You should always create a project plan before starting a new project. Start with what you want to achieve from the project and break it down into the things you need to do in order to accomplish the goal. Then, once you have a high-level plan of all the things that need to be done, you can think about timing, budget, resources, and more.
At the very least, a project plan should answer the following questions about a project:
- Why? - Why are we starting this project? What is the problem that this project will address or solve?
- What? - What are we working on? What are the major deliverables and goals?
- Who? - Who will be involved in the project and what will be their responsibilities?
- When? - When should the project start and end? What are the milestones?
What to include in a Project Plan
Project plans differ, but they all contain similar information. In your project plan, include an executive summary, project goals, milestones, deliverables, an estimated timeline, potential risks, and budget details. We’ve outlined some common topics covered by a project plan below:
To learn how to create your own project plan, check out our comprehensive guide to project planning.
- Executive Summary: The executive summary should summarize the information contained within your project plan onto a single page for easy reading.
- Project Goals: Outline the end goals of your project and how you will measure its success.
- Target Audience: Identify the target audience of your project, or who it will affect and who will use the results.
- Key Responsibilities: Outline the roles and responsibilities of each team member.
- Key Tasks and Deliverables: Highlight the most important tasks and deliverables throughout the project, with estimated deadlines.
- Available or Needed Resources: List the resources you will need to secure to complete the project.
- Risk Analysis and Mitigation Plan: Identify possible risks and put a plan in place to manage them before they become problems.
- Key Milestones: Identify the key milestones you will use to measure progress.
- Proposed Project Timeline: Create an estimated timeline for tasks, milestones, and deliverables.
- Costs and Budget Details: Create an estimated timeline for tasks, milestones, and deliverables.
- Contingency Plans: Include any contingency plans for project elements that don’t pan out as planned.
- Communication Strategies: Create a communication plan for reference throughout the project’s lifecycle.
- Evaluation Strategy: Determine how you will evaluate the successes and failures of your project.
To learn more, check out our comprehensive Project Management Guide .
What Is the purpose of a Project Plan?
A project plan is one of the most important ingredients for a successful project. It is used to document and communicate expectations, to control schedule and delivery, and to calculate and manage risks. In general, it acts as a roadmap for everyone involved in the project.
Here are the four biggest benefits of a project plan:
- Improves communication : By outlining your whole plan for everyone to see, stakeholders can provide feedback early in the process if things are going in the right direction. A project plan also helps facilitate expectation management by letting you update milestones and timelines as the project progresses.
- Increases transparency : With a project plan, stakeholders and team members know exactly where to look to get information every step of the way. Expectations and the project timeline are clearly defined, so everyone is on the same page about priorities and objectives.
- Increases organization : Many projects have dozens of tasks, dependencies, and milestones, and it can be hard to track how everything is progressing. A project plan makes you think through the timing of each activity and how it affects the rest of the project. You always know how much time to spend on each task and how many things you can accomplish at the same time.
The project planning process
The project planning process involves thoroughly mapping out your project from start to finish. At this time, determine your goals, estimate a timeline for key deliverables, create a budget projection, and assess your risks before launching your project.
- Concept and Initiation: Start by determining the overall concept of your project and how you plan to complete it.
- Roadmap Creation: In this phase, determine a rough timeline of the tasks necessary to complete your project.
- Deliverable Listing: Each project must have specific deliverables, which you should identify during the beginning portion of your planning phase, so each team member is aware of what is expected of them.
- Project Milestone Identification: Figure out specific points in the project that you consider to be key milestones. These milestones can consist of certain tasks that you complete, a budget target that you reach, or a team that you assemble.
- Budget Creation: Creating a predetermined budget is one of the most important parts of a project plan. You should adhere to that budget as your project moves forward. This way, you can allocate specific resources and budgets to certain tasks, without exceeding spending projections.
- Team Member Identification: As with any project, you’ll need to assemble a team of people to implement the project. Work with others to target the specific people who will be most helpful in carrying out the project.
- Risk Assessment: You must identify all potential risks or threats to your project, including those that could cause budget issues, project delays, and more. List all those potential risks, and detail how you plan to mitigate the issues if they do occur.
- Project Communication: Once you’ve outlined the key components of your project, you need to communicate these plans and goals to the greater team — including key stakeholders and any external parties. Develop a way to appropriately and efficiently communicate the project plans to everyone involved.
- Project Launch: At this point, your project should be ready to launch. Ensure that you’ve covered all your bases and outlined all the details before starting. Then, you’re set to begin.
How to create a Project Plan in Excel
Here are some step-by-step instructions for making a project plan in Excel. You’ll first create the table with your project information, then we’ll show you how to make your project timeline.
1. Add Headers to the Table
First, you’ll need to add some headers to your table.
- Leave the first row in your spreadsheet blank. On the second row, type in the headers. In this example, we’re using Tasks, Responsible, Start, End, Days , and Status . You could also add more headers for extra granularity, like Budget, Cost , and more.
- Highlight the text and in the Alignment group, click the center icon to center the text in the headers.
- To format the headers for proper spacing, highlight all the text you just typed and on the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format . Select Column Width and set the width for around 15-20 so you have enough space to enter in your project information.
2. Add Your Project Information
- Start with the Task column and enter the tasks for your project plan. You can enter as many or as few tasks as you want. To visually organize your project plan, we recommend adding a title for each group of tasks or each phase. In this example, we use Prerequisites, Initiation, Development, Operations and Launch .
- Then, enter the person responsible for each task and the start and end dates.
- To automatically calculate the number in the Days column, click on a cell in the Days column and type =, then click the End date cell, type the minus (-) symbol, then click the Start date cell. Click enter. Drag the bottom right-hand corner of this cell down the entire column and the rest of the values will be automatically calculated for you with this formula.
- Enter the status of each task. We use Complete, In progress, Overdue , or Not started .
- All the information should now be in your table, but you’ll notice the spacing is off depending on the length of your text. To fix this, highlight all your information and in the Cells group, click Format . Select Autofit Column Width to automatically adjust the column width to your content.
- To center your content, highlight the text and in the Alignment group, click the center icon.
3. Add Colors to Convey Project Status at a Glance
It’s easy to customize your project plan with colors and visual hierarchy. By changing the styling and font sizes, you can highlight key information and convey project status at a glance.
- To change font color, click on the cell with the text you want to change. In the Home tab, select the color you want from the color drop-down list.
- To change the background color of one or more cells, select the cell(s) you want to change. Click the paint bucket icon and select the fill color.
- To format fonts, select one or more cells. In the Home tab, you can change the font type, font size, and make the title bold, italicized, or underlined.
We recommend adding a background color to the main header and to each group or phase of tasks, as well as your target completion date or launch date. You can also change the font color of in the Status column to reflect current progress (in this example, red represents Overdue , green represents Complete , etc).
4. Create the Project Plan Timeline
You’ve already added all your project information to the table, now it’s time to make the corresponding project timeline. Including a timeline in your project plan will help set expectations and increase transparency, keeping everyone aligned around priorities and due dates.
Add and Format Dates
- On the same row as your table headers, in the next available column, enter the two dates of your project timeline. Then, hold down Shift, select the two dates, and drag the bottom right-hand corner across the row until you’ve reached your end date.
- If you’d like to change the format of dates, select all the dates and right-click. Select Format Cells .
- In the pop-up box, select Date under the Category section and select the date type you’d like.
- You’ll notice that the cells are very wide. To make the timeline more compact, select all the dates, and select a smaller font size. In this example, we’ve selected font size 9.
- Then, select all the dates again and in the Cells group, click Format . Select Autofit Column Width to automatically adjust the column width to the dates.
Add Colors to Make the Project Timeline
- First, extend the same background colors and font formatting from your table to your timeline.
- Now, you’ve created a type of matrix. You have a row that corresponds to each task, and on the right-hand side, on your timeline, you can simply fill in the cells that represent each task’s start and end date. To do this, select a cell (or more than one cell) and click the paint bucket icon. Select the color you’d like to use.
5. Final Touches
- To add grid lines to the project plan, select the entire project plan, both the table and the timeline, and in the Font group, click the borders icon. Select All Borders .
- If you want to add more project information, select the first column, right-click and select Insert > Entire Row . Repeat until you have 8 empty rows.
- Then, in the first column, enter the following: Project Name, Project Manager, Project Deliverable, Start Date, End Date , and Overall Progress . Then, fill in the corresponding information.
How to create a Project Plan in Smartsheet
Smartsheet’s pre-built project template with a Gantt chart makes it even easier to organize tasks, foster communication, and improve transparency. In this template, duration is automatically calculated for you and the interactive Gantt chart lets you drag-and-drop task bars to adjust dates. Smartsheet’s powerful collaboration features let you have discussions directly in the project plan, attach files, and set alerts and reminders.
Here’s how to use a project plan template in Smartsheet:
1. Select a Project Template
- Go to Smartsheet.com and login to your account ( or start a free 30-day trial )
- From the Home tab, click Create and choose Browse All Solutions .
- Type “ Project with Gantt Timeline ” in the Search box or select Projects from the category list.
- Click on the Project with Gantt Timeline tile, then click the blue Use button.
- Name your template, choose where to save it, and click the Ok button.
2. List Your Project Information
A pre-made template will open, with sample content filled in for reference and the sections, sub-tasks, and sub-sub-tasks already formatted. With Smartsheet, it’s easy to add or delete columns depending on the scope of your project.
Simply right-click on a column and select Insert Column Left/Insert Column Right to add a column or Delete Column to remove a column.
- Add your tasks under the Task Name column. You’ll notice that the hierarchy is already formatted for you. So, be sure to enter the project phase name or group name to the Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3 fields (this is called the parent row. For more information about hierarchy, click here )
- Enter your tasks and sub-tasks under the parent rows.
- On the left side of each row, you can attach files directly to a task (perfect for attaching stakeholder lists, budgets, and more) or start a discussion about a certain item.
3. Add Start and End Dates
- Add start and end dates for each task. If you click and drag either end of the task bars in the Gantt chart, Smartsheet will automatically adjust the dates in your table.
- Click a cell in the either date column.
- Click the calendar icon and choose a date. You can also manually enter a date in the cell.
4. Enter % Complete and Assigned To Information
The % Complete and Assigned To columns provide more information about your project and improve transparency by allowing team members to see who is doing what and the status of each task.
On the Gantt chart, the thin bars inside the task bars represent the percentage of work complete for each task.
- In the % Complete column, enter the percentage of work complete for each task. Enter a whole number and Smartsheet will automatically add the percentage sign.
- In the Assigned To column, choose a name from your contact list (in the drop-down menu) or manually enter a name.
Customize your project plan in Smartsheet
With just a couple clicks, you can customize the appearance of your project timeline.
1. Customize Fonts and Colors in Your Project Plan
- To change the font type and size, or bold, italicize or underline text, click the cell with the text you want to change. On the left-hand toolbar, you will find all the text formatting options.
- To change the background color of a row, click the far left gray cell to highlight the entire row. Then, click the paint bucket icon and select the color you’d like to use.
2. Change the Colors in Your Gantt Chart
- Right-click on a task bar and click Color Settings .
- Select the color you’d like to use from the color palette.
- If you want to apply the same color to more than one task bar, click the bars while holding down the Shift key. Then, release the Shift button, right-click on any of the selected bars, and click Color Settings .
Discover a better way to manage your project plans with Smartsheet
From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done.
The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.
When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.
Additional Resources
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6+ Sample Project Implementation Plan Templates Free Download
Planning is the key to success. No company has every succeeded without planning. Important project crucial for the success of a company can also be the biggest reason for the downfall of the company in case it fails to get implemented in the right manner. Hence the first thing that is required after attaining a big project is to sit and make a project implementation plan. The project implementation plan templates can be very handy at this juncture. These are some useful templates and formats for making a proper project implementation plan .You may also see Plan Templates .
- 568+ Plan Templates in Word
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Project Implementation Plan Template
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Project Implementation Plan Executive Summary
How to create a project implementation plan template, more in plan templates.
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Excel project plan template [with project tasks], this template enables you to:.
How to use the template
How to set up your gantt chart, how to add new summary and sub-tasks, how to insert additional tasks, if(typeof ez_ad_units='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[336,280],'stakeholdermap_com-box-4','ezslot_5',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-stakeholdermap_com-box-4-0'); download the automated excel project plan template, excel download - excel project plan template (excel), office move excel project plan, acknowledgements.
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Project Implementation Plan Template
In a project management setting, project planning is a very important and must-have step. It is necessary to attain the goals of your project. A timeline Project Implementation Plan Template is very helpful in filling gaps in your project progress. It also is very beneficial in mapping out the right strategies for the timely completion of your projects.
This template will allow you to see what is Timeline Implementation , why it is important and why is this created.
You will also have a brief introduction to the format of the Project Timeline Implementation Plan in this reading.
An overview of the Project Implementation Plan
As we all know time management is very important to the success of your project. This tool makes sure that you do not face any delay because of any delay in your deliverables. And on top of that better communication also increase the chances of reaching your goals on time. This tool is very helpful in internal and external communication of your project team members and stakeholders as well
On the other hand, time or communication mismanagement can lead to serious consequences. That is why a project implementation plan template is popular and must have a tool in project management.
How Do I Create a Project Implementation Plan in Excel?
It is necessary to follow the project implantation plan successfully. The projects which are imperative in the process of progress of the project must be implemented properly to attain your goals.
To get the most out of it you must have a proper well-managed plan implemented and in place to use in critical situations. This tool not only saves you time but also is helpful in saving you money. This category of tools makes sure that the project plan is implemented properly.
Following are the important steps you must keep in mind while making a timeline implementation plan template:
- First, you must make sure that the project scope is clear to you.
- Next, you must keep in mind that you must divide the bigger tasks into relatively smaller more manageable tasks.
- Then you must markdown and highlight the task dependencies in the project. This will allow you to have a clearer picture of which task must be completed first.
- In the next step, you need to calculate the time required to complete each task separately in the project.
- It is essential to ensure that you have the right resources available to pursue the project further. This will help you in avoiding any underlying and uninvited problems in the future during the progress of the project.
- Lastly, you must also consider the milestones, this ensures the best performance and successful completion of your project. Now all set to implement the project implementation plan template and you are good to go.
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Format of Project Implementation Plan Template
To make a perfect timeline there is a dare need to highlight the specific requirements and goals of the project. To do this you must have a fully explained and clearly defined plan for each task associated with your project.
An implementation plan helps in strategic planning for different categories of business processes and practices. Implementation plan aids in strategic action and their implementation in your project.
Download Free Project Timeline & Project Implementation Plan Template
1- Project Timeline Template Excel
2- Timeline Implementation Plan
3- Project Implementation Plan
What is included in an implementation plan?
- Achievement factors and specific highlighted goals of the project.
- All the security related implementation before and even after the completion of the project
- Roles and responsibilities of your project work team at each step along the way of the project.
- Highlights of all the important tasks which need to be completed.
- Schedule and the timeline of the tasks according to their priorities and significance.
- All the necessary resources are needed to complete the tasks.
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What are the steps of implementation?
As the name suggests the implementation is carrying out or proceeding with the plan. The implementation plan is not only important for project management it has also been beneficial in other industries as well. You must act on your implementation plan to ensure the success of the tasks associated with your projects.
Following are Some of the Implementation Plan Steps:
- To start with you must make a list of all the outcomes which are imperative and are in dire need.
- Then you must allocate the specific outcomes to specifically picked persons in our project. Try to allocate one person for one task at a time for better implementation.
- After that, there comes the step in which you highlight the action which must be conducted to make sure you get a proper outcome of the process.
- You must set up a tracking project plan to see the reliability and performance of the implementation plan. It highlights the development to see ongoing and queued project tasks.
- Whenever you use an implementation plan you must ensure timely and regular check-ups of implementation change and plan development.
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Conclusion:
The project implementation plan template is of immense importance. You must have one of these tools on hand all the time for the success and on-time scheduled completion of a project and relevant tasks.
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Project planning templates for project management
Use project planning templates to get your project going faster. Organize tasks and milestones while facilitating communication by using templates product development, marketing, business plans, goals, and employee onboarding.
What are project planning templates?
Templates provide frameworks that follow best practices for specific types of projects and help you plan and manage them from beginning to end.
Simple project planning
Track progress and take notes on a calendar with an easy-to-use project planning template.
Agile project planning
Plot milestones and tasks and use charts with this agile project planning template.
Product development and launch
Plan every stage of a new product launch with this project planning template.
Project goals and objectives
Break a large project down into smaller goals with this project goals and objectives template so you achieve every milestone on time.
Benefits of project planning templates
Discover how templates help you achieve the objectives of any project.
Ready to get started?
Ramp up fast
Skip building and formatting plans for entire projects from the ground up. Just download project planning templates.
See and share information
Get an in-depth view of project status and easily communicate it with your team.
Stay on task and on track
Manage tasks and milestones throughout your project timeline.
Keep track of resources
Know where you stand at all times with employees and outside contractors.
Adapt as needed
Assess and adjust on the fly with easy-to-edit templates.
Essential reading about project planning
Explore resources that will help you save time and achieve your goals for every project, from kickoff to final reporting.
![[noalt]](https://img-prod-cms-rt-microsoft-com.akamaized.net/cms/api/am/imageFileData/RE52MuD?ver=f3eb&q=90&m=6&h=291&w=517&b=%23FFFFFFFF&l=f&o=t&aim=true "The project manager’s guide")
The project manager’s guide to planning a perfect project
![[noalt]](https://img-prod-cms-rt-microsoft-com.akamaized.net/cms/api/am/imageFileData/RE52Sjh?ver=dc19&q=90&m=6&h=291&w=517&b=%23FFFFFFFF&l=f&o=t&aim=true "5 project management tools to save time and money")
5 project management tools to save time and money
![[noalt]](https://img-prod-cms-rt-microsoft-com.akamaized.net/cms/api/am/imageFileData/RE52Sjp?ver=890d&q=90&m=6&h=291&w=517&b=%23FFFFFFFF&l=f&o=t&aim=true "How to pick a cloud-based project planning solution")
How to pick a cloud-based project planning solution
Explore microsoft project.
Discover a powerful yet simple project management tool to plan, manage, and deliver work effortlessly—from one-time projects to large initiatives.
Frequently asked questions
A project planning template is a document that follows a standard format based on the type of project and helps define the scope and objectives with a list of essential elements such as stakeholders, scope, timelines, estimated costs, and methods of communication with team members.
Project planning templates let you quickly start new projects, set organizational standards, and facilitate processes.
It’s relatively easy to find free project planning templates online that are available for download. There are project planning templates built into many apps such as Microsoft Project .
Project plan templates actually do much more than help you plan a project. They help you manage it, track information such as costs and timelines, and lets you see the big picture and communicate important information to people on your team.
There are many different types of project planning templates. Chances are the type of project or project management style you use will have planning templates. These range from Agile to Scrum and Kanban to Waterfall and everywhere in-between.
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24 Free Implementation Plan Templates (Excel / Word)
Home / Business Templates / 24 Free Implementation Plan Templates (Excel / Word)
An implementation plan template is a document made for different kinds of organizations, no matter what the scope or size is. It is a very useful document for the deployment of technology, discrete projects, inventory planning, and more. Moreover, you can make your own implementation plan for your own personal use. It helps you in accomplishing your desired goals.
Table of Contents
- 1.1 Define your objectives or goals
- 1.2 Create a schedule for the milestones
- 1.3 Allocate your resources
- 1.4 Designate the responsibilities of every team member
- 1.5 Define the metrics for success
- 1.6 Explain how you plan to adapt
- 1.7 Evaluate your success
- 2.1 Come up with a list of the required results
- 2.2 For each of the results, assign a champion
- 2.3 Identify the actions to take to get the desired outcome
- 2.4 Build the budget, roles, and accountabilities
- 2.5 Make a tracking sheet so that you can keep a record of progress
- 2.6 For project management, follow the methodology
- 2.7 Schedule a review after 6 months
- 3 Some tips for implementation planning:
- 4 Conclusion:
The elements of an implementation plan:
The following elements should be included in an implementation plan;
Define your objectives or goals
What you want to accomplish depends upon the size and scope of your project.
Create a schedule for the milestones
Project timelines and task deadlines are specified in the project’s execution plan. However, it is also suggested to create an outline of your entire schedule in your implementation strategy example.
Allocate your resources
Definitely, you should have enough resources to execute the plan successfully. These resources include money, personnel, and time. One of the core purposes of an implementation plan is allocating your resources.
Designate the responsibilities of every team member
For the project, each team member should have their own assigned role. Don’t think that an individual doing his own work but instead in a general plan for the team, individuals doing their own tasks.
Define the metrics for success
To define your metrics for success, answer the following questions;
- What is your gauge in identifying whether you’re successful or not?
- When measuring your results, what is the basis whether qualitative or quantitative?
- What are your techniques for collecting the information?
Explain how you plan to adapt
Since your plan goes into execution so it is inevitable that you will make amendments to it. You should ensure to take into account factors that are outside of your control. In addition, these factors can significantly change the success and outcome of the project. To avoid getting derailed as the project progresses, you should have contingency plans made ahead of time. Doing this assists you in building your experience on flexibility, prompt action, and agility.
Evaluate your success
You can decide on how frequently you plan to assess the progress of your project aside from establishing the metrics for your success. Monthly reviews, quarterly reviews, etc. Are some examples of these. You should also check RACI Chart Templates .
Steps to make an implementation plan:
Here are the steps to make an effective implementation plan;
Come up with a list of the required results
Before you can identify your plans of action and the priorities of the tasks, you need a list of the results that you want to accomplish in your implementation exercise. Usually, in the form of review recommendations or from a business improvement exercise, you get the items on the list.
For each of the results, assign a champion
You assign a champion for each outcome after coming up with the list of possible outcomes. The individual who is always encouraged in achieving his assignment and keeps his whole team members accountable for achieving it is a real champion. Moreover, the individual having passion and commitment to a smooth implementation is the best. You should ensure that you share the roles so that you have various champions.
Identify the actions to take to get the desired outcome
Write down all the possible actions to take in this part of the implementation plan. These possible actions should make sure that your team’s success in getting your desired outcomes. Most of the actions have a very practical nature and some may have seem quite simple or obvious.
Keep in mind that you always require a measure. This is because without this progress becomes just a matter of opinion. Also, in the course of your timeline, opinions can be easily subject to change.
Build the budget, roles, and accountabilities
You have to think about the responsibilities and roles of your team and the actions they require to do when you have defined your list of actions. This ensures the completion of the activities in your plan.
Make a tracking sheet so that you can keep a record of progress
There is always a requirement to update yourself on the current status of the project. For this, you should have a tracking sheet that provides you with the following information;
- A visual update of the status of your plan
- The completed actions
- The actions in progress
- The delayed ones
For project management, follow the methodology
This is a series of different governance structures, processes, and controls. They are designed to assist in managing your time, resources, and activities more effectively. You can even deal with issues, proactively whenever they arise via this methodology.
Schedule a review after 6 months
Some areas of your plan always require changing. This becomes a learning chances that you should review. You determine the areas in this review that worked, what didn’t, and what areas require improvement.
Some tips for implementation planning:
You should pay attention more on your plan’s substance and its implementation process instead of paying attention too much on the form of the plan. However, consider the following tips;
- You should make an implementation team and assign them task to successfully implement a certain initiative.
- You should have a team leader who has the ability to coach and educate the members of the team along the process.
- When defining prevailing problems and determining their root causes, always be very specific.
- You have to make your strategic implementation plan.
- It is a must to perform project analysis in order to analyze the project’s development.
- It’s the responsibility of the leader to encourage the participation of every team member.
- You should include the right people at the right times.
- You should maintain transparency with the stakeholders and the other teams.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, an implementation plan template is a document that plays an essential role in the improvement of a business. This document contains documented steps that are required to successfully complete your implementation activities.
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Excel provides us with a variety of templates that are very beneficial for project management professionals. One of them is the project
How Do I Create a Project Implementation Plan in Excel? · First, you must make sure that the project scope is clear to you. · Next, you must keep in mind that you
Organize tasks and milestones while facilitating communication by using templates product development, marketing, business plans, goals, and employee onboarding
24 Free Implementation Plan Templates (Excel / Word) · Define your objectives or goals · Create a schedule for the milestones · Allocate your resources · Designate