Key takeaways
- Strategic project planning is key to ensuring efficient project execution. It’s an essential part of the resource management process, and must take place before budgets are confirmed, resources are allocated, and project execution commences
- The key components of project planning include defining scope, setting goals and objectives, determining roles and responsibilities, allocating resources, setting a timeline, and outlining deliverables
- Project planning tools, such as templates, checklists and dedicated software, can help professional services firms to standardize the engagement planning process, streamline workflows, and improve efficiencies
Project planning is an essential stage in the project lifecycle, ensuring all parties are clear on the scope of a project and expected deliverables. In this guide, we explore the vital components of project planning, examine its importance for professional services firms, and look at the benefits of engagement planning tools.
Contents
1. What is project planning?
2. What is a project plan?
3. Essential project planning components
4. Why is project planning important?
5. What is the project lifecycle?
6. 3 key types of project planning
7. What are the 7 phases of project planning?
8. Project planning best practices
9. The benefits of using a project planning template
10. 5 tips to keep project performance on track
What is project planning?
Project planning is an essential project management process, used to define goals, resources, budget, deliverables, timelines, and more. Strategic project planning is integral to ensuring efficient project execution and completion in the professional services sector. It should define:
- Exactly what work needs to be completed
- The individual tasks that make up that work
- Who needs to complete each task
- When tasks need to be delivered by
There are other aspects to engagement planning, such as resource allocation, capacity planning, and budget forecasting, but in simple terms, it’s about outlining the scope and requirements of a project.
What is a project plan?
A project plan is a roadmap document that outlines key details of a project, and provides a framework for its delivery. A project plan will typically include:
- Project scope
- Goals
- Objectives
- Expected deliverables
- Budget details
- Cost estimates
- Timelines
- Resource allocations
Essential project planning components
There are key components that the project planning process must be centered around, regardless of the specific project. The essential components of planning a project are as follows:
- Scope: this defines the terms of the project, outlining what is and isn’t covered under its remit. Scope needs to be defined before detailed resource planning or any work commences to set boundaries and manage expectations
- Goals and objectives: set SMART goals and clear objectives for the project to provide a framework for success
- Roles and responsibilities: it’s important to identify all stakeholders, and to set out roles and responsibilities for all departments and individuals working on the project
- Budget: an educated project cost estimate should be compiled to determine the overall project budget
- Timeline: break down tasks and assign a timeline to each to work out the overall project schedule. Dependencies should also be considered to identify any tasks that rely on others to be completed before they can begin, as this will impact the timeline
- Deliverables: outline the expected deliverables, and identify key milestones that will take place during project execution to act as a benchmark for assessing whether everything is going to plan
- Resource planning and allocation: identify all resources necessary to complete the project, including people, materials, equipment, and finances. Use resource management software to ensure resources are allocated in the most effective way
- Risk management: risk must be considered as part of the project planning process, with all potential risks identified. Strategies to mitigate risk can then be introduced to ensure the most efficient project delivery
- Communication strategy: as part of the engagement planning phase, a communication plan should be drawn up to outline how and when updates will be shared with stakeholders
Why is project planning important?
The importance of thorough project planning cannot be underestimated. Every professional services project needs a clear roadmap, and that’s what the project plan provides. It defines responsibilities, ensures alignment across departments, and promotes collaboration. Project planning also plays a key role in identifying potential risks and challenges.
What is the project lifecycle?
Engagement planning is typically the second stage of the project lifecycle, which comprises five key phases: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure. Every project should go through this cycle, and it can be a helpful way to break down the different steps required to ensure efficient project delivery.
1. Initiation
The first stage of the engagement lifecycle is initiation, which is when the project’s purpose, scope, goals and objectives, and stakeholders are defined. The project manager will usually be required to compile a business case for the engagement, outlining how it aligns with overall strategy. This will be referred back to throughout the rest of the project cycle to ensure continued alignment.
2. Planning
Project planning is traditionally the second stage of the project lifecycle, and involves the creation of a detailed project roadmap. This will encompass:
- Timelines
- Resource allocation
- Budget
- Cost estimations
- Engagement scheduling
- Potential risks and mitigation plans
- Communication strategy
3. Execution
The next stage of the engagement lifecycle is to execute the work required to deliver the project in line with the goals set during the initiation phase and the project plan. Resources will be engaged and coordinated, and deliverables produced.
4. Monitoring and control
The monitoring stage of the project lifecycle tends to run alongside the execution phase. It involves tracking and measuring performance, reporting on progress, and making any adjustments required to ensure continued alignment with the wider organizational strategy.
5. Closure
The final stage of the project lifecycle is closure or completion. This step kicks in when all work has been delivered, reporting is complete, and resources are released ready for their next engagement. During this phase, project managers will need to:
- Obtain approval from named stakeholders
- Document all lessons learned
- Deliver a final project report
- Formally close the contract and finalize all related administrative tasks
3 key types of project planning
Engagement planning can take many forms, depending on the specifics of the project. Some of the different types of project planning include resource, people, and budget planning.
1. Resource planning
Resource planning is the act of identifying and allocating the resources necessary to deliver a project. Resources can include:
- Personnel
- Materials
- Equipment
- Technology
- Finances
Resource planning helps ensure resources are allocated in the most efficient manner, ensuring optimal resource utilization. Accurate resource planning informs budgeting and supports decision making by providing a clear view into resource availability.
Explore how Dayshape supports resource managers
2. People planning
People planning is the process of aligning people and skills with a specific task. Also referred to as ‘workforce planning’, this type of project planning puts talent at the center of resourcing decisions, enabling organizations to build an agile, adaptable workforce. It also provides people with the opportunity to upskill and work towards their career development goals.
Discover people-first workforce planning
3. Budget planning
Budget planning primarily concerns finances, and involves forecasting the money required to deliver a project successfully. Budget planning typically begins with a project cost estimate, and calculates expected spend, including direct and indirect costs, in line with available budget. Detailed budget planning is vital for identifying potential areas of overspend, as well as efficiencies that can be introduced to ensure projects can be delivered on time and within budget.
Transform project budgeting with Dayshape
What are the 7 phases of project planning?
There are 7 key phases of engagement planning. The first step is to define scope, before setting goals, planning resources, and assessing risk. The 7 stages of project planning are as follows:
1. Define project scope
The process of defining project scope is also known as the ‘initiation’ phase. This is crucial for identifying a project’s purpose and objectives, and for setting boundaries for the tasks that will or will not be covered within its remit. Defining scope should be a collaborative process, engaging key stakeholders to ensure alignment and clarity from the start.
Clearly setting out project scope is important for preventing ‘scope creep’ further down the line, where extra requests may creep in, impacting the project delivery timeline.
2. Set SMART goals
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. At the beginning of the project planning process, make sure goals and objectives are clear so individual tasks can be planned with these in mind. All resources assigned to a project should be aware of its goals to ensure continued alignment.
A project’s goals should set out what needs to be achieved and by when, with milestones identified to track progress at key stages. SMART goals also assign a deadline to tasks, further helping to keep a project on track.
3. Break the project down
The next phase of project planning to support effective resource management is a work breakdown structure, sometimes referred to as a WBS. This involves breaking the project down into smaller, more manageable tasks, which can make exact requirements clearer. Estimate a timeline and cost for each individual sub-task to inform the overall project schedule.
4. Resource and budget planning
All necessary resources then need to be identified, including budget. Resource managers are responsible for allocating these in line with overall goals and priorities, and regularly monitoring their usage to ensure continued efficiency and optimization to minimize waste.
5. Create the project plan
Once the above elements have been considered, the project plan can be created, with dedicated software or project planning tools helping to automate many aspects of the process, saving valuable time. The plan must be shared with all relevant stakeholders for full visibility and transparency.
6. Assess risk
Evaluating potential risks is another important part of the engagement planning process. Risks can be identified by analyzing the project’s scope and assessing external factors that may impact delivery. Risks should be categorized according to their severity, and a mitigation strategy should be implemented to keep them to a minimum.
7. Devise a communication plan
The final phase of project planning before work begins is to outline a communication plan to keep all stakeholders updated once execution is underway. Devise a communication schedule and identify preferred methods; ultimately, a communication plan should determine who needs to be informed of what, when, and how. This is essential for ensuring visibility and transparency throughout the project’s timeline.
Project planning best practices
Every professional services project plan will be unique, but there are some best practices to follow for each project to ensure efficient execution. These include:
- Host a kickoff meeting: it’s important to hold a kickoff meeting to officially launch the project to ensure everyone is aligned on expectations
- Clear communication: regular, open communication needs to be encouraged at every stage of the project to keep everyone updated on progress or changing requirements
- Track progress: tracking is an essential part of project management to ensure work completed continues to align with KPIs. Progress needs to be monitored regularly to keep everything on track. Tracking can be automated when you use project planning software
- Monitor scope creep: ‘scope creep’ refers to requests that fall outside of the agreed project scope. Some requests may have to be honored, but it’s important to prevent too many of these from creeping in, as this will disrupt overall project delivery
- Evaluate performance: once a project has ended, holding a retrospective meeting allows the project’s success to be evaluated, and learnings gathered for future engagement planning
The benefits of using a project planning template
Project planning templates can help professional services firms to standardize the process. With a template, you can save time and effort, freeing up resources to focus on other priorities. The many benefits of using a project planning template include:
- Save time: using a template means you don’t need to create a new plan every time, saving valuable time at the beginning of the engagement planning process
- Standardized format: project planning templates bring consistency and standardization to all of your projects, providing a familiar framework to follow each time. This makes it easier for everyone involved to understand scope and expectations
- Increase efficiency: templates help to streamline and optimize workflows, improving overall efficiencies
- Improve collaboration: provide visibility to all stakeholders to promote enhanced collaboration across teams. Transparency and cross-department alignment will be key to successful project delivery, and informed decision making
- Reduce risk: consider using a project planning checklist to identify any potential risks in your resource management plan, so dependencies can be identified and risk mitigation strategies can be introduced where necessary
5 tips to keep project performance on track
Engagement planning is only one step in successful project delivery. Resource and project managers are responsible for keeping project performance on track throughout the entire project cycle. Monitor project performance by following these top tips:
1. Define metrics: ensure all work is measured against metrics clearly defined during the project initiation and planning process. Keep revisiting the original objectives and KPIs throughout engagement delivery to prevent the project veering too far from the overall goal
2. Continuous monitoring: the process of tracking project performance needs to be ongoing, continuing throughout the execution and monitoring stages of the engagement lifecycle, and following project completion to evaluate effectiveness
3. Regular check-ins: schedule regular progress update meetings or virtual check-ins to create a culture of open communication. This can help to identify any issues or potential deviations from the plan so adjustments can be made accordingly, before too much time or money is wasted
4. Facilitate collaboration: provide all teams with up-to-date insights into project progress to encourage a culture of transparency, accountability and collaboration. This level of visibility can encourage resources to take responsibility for keeping their work on track, ensuring everyone is working towards a common goal
5. Automate reporting: use automated reporting tools within your resource management software to keep track of progress and measure project performance. Receiving real-time insights into project execution or alerts when timelines are at risk allows for prompt adjustments and enhanced expectation management
Book a demo, or get in touch to find out how Dayshape can support your organization’s project planning.
