Regardless of whether you’re an accidental project manager or a seasoned veteran, building a project plan online takes time. While modern software has made it easier than ever to plan projects, successful planning starts with you––the project manager.
A good project manager is always looking for ways to improve project planning and delivery. There’s a lot of pressure to deliver value while being on time and under budget. Setting up a well–thought–out project plan ensures that stakeholders and customers have an idea of:
- What your project delivers
- How it’ll be delivered
- When your project will be completed
Building a plan that offers this level of clarity takes a lot careful planning. With the right project management solution, you can easily set up a project plan online that enables you to manage customer and stakeholder expectations––and you can do it quicker than ever, thanks to templates. 
Plan Without Fighting the Clock
Project planning isn’t something you rush through. Coming up with a viable action plan requires carefully planning your project logistics while considering the needs of your customers, teams, and stakeholders. You’ll likely have to revisit and refine your plan one or more times as you gain access to additional information or conjure up new ideas.
Creating a project plan online takes time, but with the help of templates and a good project management solution, it won’t take all your time.
You can use project templates to plan the bulk of your project with a click of a button.
Most platforms also give you the option of building and saving your own templates, so you can roll out project plans that meet the unique needs of your department and/or organization. Consider choosing a project management solution that comes with several click-and-go templates for different types of work, such as projects for:
- Marketing
- Human Resources
- IT
- Consulting and more
This enables you to quickly implement the bulk of your project plan, and you can tailor it to suit your needs by making adjustments as you see fit.
Create a Project Plan Online with Templates
The way your project is planned and executed will determine whether it succeeds or fails. Poor planning is one of the most common reasons why projects get derailed. For your project to run smoothly, you need a plan that lays out the processes that teams are expected to follow. Team members need a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and leaders shouldn’t have any problems tracking work and measuring progress. Otherwise, the project will devolve into a chaotic mess.
An ambiguous project plan is an ineffective one. If team members don’t know their goals and responsibilities, they can’t be proactive workers. This leads to unnecessary setbacks and will likely force you into a micro-managing position, because you’ll have to clarify every step of the project to your teams.
You can minimize the chances of ambiguity or forgetting pertinent information by using a template to build your project plan online.
That way, you don’t have to manually design your plan from scratch. The template will build the foundation for you, while you enter the details like:
- Client and project name
- Delivery dates
- Start and end dates for each task
- Dependencies
Once you get to the point of setting up your project plan online, you’ve probably met with stakeholders and decided on your goals and objectives, timeline, and budget. Adding this information into your template is usually a quick and easy process for most types of projects. If you’re managing a hyper-specialized project, you may need to spend more time making modifications, so your plan accurately reflects your needs and company objectives.
Fortunately, most project management platforms make it easy to modify your project plans accordingly. That way, you can use a template to lay the groundwork and build your plan as you see fit.
Start with the Right Project Management Solution
Choosing the right template can help you plan your project more effectively. A collaborative project management solution will empower you further, by keeping you and your teams connected through every step of the planning process.
If you’re still planning projects using spreadsheets or desktop software, you run the risk of unnecessary setbacks.
Teams may access outdated information when viewing your project plans. Here’s what you should look for when making the switch to a modern project management solution:
- Cloud technology: When a platform operates in the cloud, the changes you make to your project plan online will be reflected in realtime. This means everyone views the same version of your project plan.
- Easy template–building tools: If you’re managing recurring projects, creating your own templates can save you a lot of time during the planning phase. Good project management software makes it easier for you to build, save, and share custom templates with your teams.
- Support for different types of work: Go with a platform that provides both Gantt charts and Kanban boards. That way, you can choose between templates for milestone-driven work, iterative work, or a hybrid between the two.
Learn More
Want to learn more about how templates can help you set up a project plan online in minutes? Check out Projectplace and see how easy it is to plan and execute your projects.
