Project Planning Continued
Task
Each Each of the tasks in your project plan should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timescaled). Decide how to split tasks and whether similar tasks need to be grouped together. The steps required to complete a task may be obvious and not require explanation or complex and need to be listed clearly. Grouping similar tasks together may help you when deciding the task owner and time scales.
Task Owner (Who)
Select the person with the best skills, experience and knowledge to complete each task. However ensure that you take each person's work load into account. In this column record the person's name and their job title. The job title may be help if the task owner needs to be replaced. If the task will be completed by a person outside the project team you may decide to allocate the line manager of the team that will complete the task as the task owner.
Task Start and End Dates
Carefully think about how long it will take to complete each task and then add some extra time, just in case something unexpected happens. Remember some tasks may need extra time because of a third party such as a supplier, client or another department. Also consider the order in which tasks need to be completed. Some tasks may need to be completed before others, whilst some may need to be completed at the same time. Finally try to timescale tasks that can be completed at any time during the project, at a time when the person responsible for completing such tasks has the least amount of project tasks or other work.
Task Percentage Completion
A column showing how much of the task has been completed will help you judge whether the task is on track for completion by the deadline. If a task is behind schedule early identification will give you enough time to implement a solution so that you can get it back on track.
Conclusion
As we can see a project plan is an essential part of project management. It will allow you to allocate people and resources effectively, quickly identify issues and meet project deadlines within budget. Finally an effective project plan should minimise the possibility of "project creep" by keeping the project within its scope.
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