Project Management Plan

Project Management Plan (DOCX)

Purpose of Project Management Plan

The project management plan is a single, formal, dynamic document that outlines how the project is to be managed, executed, and controlled.  It contains the overall project governance and related management plans and procedures, timelines, and the methods and accountabilities for planning, monitoring, and controlling the project as it progresses.  This document evolves with the project and will be updated to reflect any relevant changes throughout project execution.  This document should ensure there are no surprises through execution on how the project is managed or how decisions are made.

This document is also the final source of all approved changes to budget, schedule, scope, success criteria, and benefits when it comes time to close the project and assess project success.  The project management plan is part of the project planning phase of the life cycle and is required for all large sized projects.

Project Management Plan Participants and Audiences

Input into the project management plan may come from many different sources including, but not limited to, Sponsor, senior leadership, project intake proposal, project charter(s) and business case(s), initial analysis/research done when proposing the project, subject matter experts within business unit(s), governance bodies, and other stakeholders (such as staff, students, faculty).

The author is the Project Manager for the project.  The document should initially be reviewed by and approved by the Project Sponsor (recorded in the revision history) and governance.

Instructions

  1. Write preliminary project management plan and create required baselines (budget, scope, schedule). Obtain agreement from teams and governance, and approval from sponsor. Record revisions and approvals in the Revision History.
  2. Execute the document according to the documented management plans.
  3. Update the document, as required, to reflect approved project changes as the project evolves.
  4. Before project completion, make any final updates and use the final schedule, budget and expenditures, success criteria, benefit, scope, et cetera to assess project success during project closure.
  5. Upload to the project's document repository.

Next Steps

Execute the project according to the strategies and plans laid out in this document.  Update this document to reflect any approved changes during project execution.  Reflect final project results in this document at the end of the project and use this document during project closure to assess project success.