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The secret to success? Clear goals and planning! Thankfully, you don’t need to be a project manager or an expert in order to plan a successful project. So if your boss has just delegated you the planning for an upcoming tradeshow or a summer print marketing campaign and you aren’t sure where to start, we’ve got you covered. In this blog, we help you learn how to write a project plan in 6 easy steps!
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Ask the right questions.
By right questions, we mean who, what, where, when, how, and why. Who is this project targeting? What are the deliverables? What are the risks? Where will the project be carried out? Is it for print? Social media? When are sprints of the project plan to be met? When will other members of the team be pulled in? How will deliverables be made, and deadlines be met? And the big one, why are we doing all of this in the first place?
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Do your research.
Once you have all of your questions answered, it’s time to dive into research. If your company has done projects like this before, look back over the documents and assess its successes and failures. You can also see what your competition is doing well. Knowledge is power when it comes to project planning!
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Craft an outline.
This outline will act as a sort of timeline explaining when each part of the project will be completed by. The project plan outline will likely be very in-depth, and that’s okay! Make sure to allow time for fixing any potential mistakes or hiccups.
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Get the team on board.
Chances are, your teammates have already been helping you with the details up until this point. Regardless, it’s important to stay in constant communication. Make sure the other members of your team understand the goals, their specific roles, and the due dates. Feel free to ask for their input too! They might think of something that you missed.
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Finalize and publish your project plan.
So you’ve spoken with your team and crafted your outline. Now it’s time to create the finalized project plan. There are tools online to help you with this, such as TeamGantt. You’ll want to make sure this includes all specific information and utilizes your company’s branding.
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Prepare for more planning.
As much as we wish that all projects went smoothly – they don’t. Some of them will have you up in the middle of the night scrambling to get things done. To avoid this, plan on things not going to plan. Especially if you aren’t a go-with-the-flow type of person!
Whether or not you’re a professional, following these 6 steps will have you writing a project plan like one!
Do you have a big project coming up that requires printing, signage or promotional products? Give Davant a call to discuss your needs – we’d love to help: (317) 849-6565.