Planning and executing a project is no easy feat. From detailed financial plans, complex task schedules, and pre-emptive risk mitigation strategies to finding the right metrics for measuring success – there is a great deal of thinking & research that goes into creating a viable project model.
Lucky for you, our team of professional researchers & designers has developed a series of Word & Excel-based templates to help you document and track project activity. Whether you are a manager overseeing the running of a whole project, a busy investor who wants to know where the money is going, or simply a new project hire seeking to understand how one task is related to another in the grand scheme of things – our Project Management templates offer great value and utility while saving you hours in research and design work.
What’s a Project?
Okay, let’s start with the basics here. What is the defining feature of a project that makes it different from other forms of organizational activity?
According to the PMBOK Guide (Project Management Book of Knowledge), a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique project service or results”.
From this definition, we gather two key points. Firstly, a project is ‘temporary’ – that is, all projects operate within a specific time frame with a pre-defined start and end date. Secondly, all projects are geared to create unique results or outcomes; in other words, every project has a clear and specific goal it is working towards.
Our 12-part Project Suite is created to mirror the documentation needs of each successive stage in a project’s lifecycle. As shown in the table below, we divide this lifecycle into five distinct stages: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closure. For each stage, we have identified specific templates you will find relevant and useful.
| Project Stage | Templates |
|---|---|
| Initiation | SMART Goals, Prioritization Matrix |
| Planning | Project Timeline, Gantt Chart, Resource Planning, Project Budget, Risk Matrix, Risk Register, Action Plan |
| Execution | Action Plan, Resource Planning |
| Monitoring and Controlling | Change Log, Risk Register, Risk Matrix |
| Closure | Lessons Learned, Change Management Plan |
Initiation is the first step in starting a project where you need to clearly define what you are trying to achieve (goals) and what strategic action steps (tasks) will help you get there. During the next stage, you need to develop more elaborate and concrete documents that outline your project’s timeline, budget, and action plan. In the third stage, you finally expend material and human resources to implement these plans into action. This is followed by the Monitoring & Controlling stage which allows you to document and tackle the effects of any potential risks and hazards faced, or any adjustments or revisions made, along the way
In the end, before you formally close the project, you must analyze the project’s successes and failures to identify the best practices and experiential lessons you can pass on to teams working on similar projects in the future.
In the next section, we delve deeper into how you can formulate the perfect project goals.
Defining Your Project’s Goal: The S.M.A.R.T Framework
First proposed by George Doran in the November 1981 issue of Management Review, S.M.A.R.T is one of the most popular goat-setting frameworks used by project planners. It stands for Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. In our editable SMART Template, you simply address and justify each component of the framework in light of a specific project.
Each criterion plays an important role in strategic planning and objective development:
- Specific: Clearly defined and precise.
- Measurable: Quantifiable to track progress.
- Achievable: Realistic and attainable.
- Relevant: Aligned with broader objectives.
- Time-bound: Set within a defined timeframe.
By providing a structured approach to setting and achieving objectives, you can address the common issues of vagueness, inefficiency, and misalignment in project management. In other words, clear and reachable goals make it easier for you to plan and achieve your desired project outcomes.
Our print-ready, free SMART Template is available in WORD and PDF formats!
Identifying & Prioritizing Tasks: The Task Prioritization Matrix
Now that you have an overarching goal in mind, it’s a good idea to chalk out the specific steps that will help you achieve that goal.
Throughout our template series, we refer to these as tasks or action items. Tasks are units of work that form the practical basis of every project. The team or individual team members responsible for completing a task are called Task Owners, and the status of each Task is checked as ‘In Progress’, ‘Completed’, and ‘On Hold’ – allowing you to track overall project progress by task.
Once you have a list of tasks figured out, it’s time to prioritize them and optimize your workflow. One effective way of doing this is by using a Task Prioritization Matrix where you can prioritize tasks based on their impact on overall project goals as well as the effort they require on behalf of the project team.
In our free Prioritization Matrix template, we use a grid with four quadrants to identify four different types of tasks (Quick Wins, Major Projects, Fill-Ins, and Thankless Tasks). We use the x-axis to assess the impact of a task, and the y-axis to assess the effort needed to complete the task. By using High and Low as the only options to describe the impact and effort of each specific task, you will be able to easily categorize them into one of these four task categories.
Our fillable, print-ready WorldLayout template is spread over two pages – and available for download in PDF format!
Developing an Action Plan
So far, we know what our end goal is. We also know the small practical steps needed to reach that goal. But is that enough?
Well, not really. Without a systematic Action Plan where you have a definitive checklist of the milestones, timelines, resources, and responsibilities associated with each task – you are missing out on a critical project management tool.
In our Action Plan template, each task is assigned to a Task Owner before being assigned a Priority level based on urgency or impact. We then set a time frame for it using a Start and End Date before identifying the amount of resources (human or material) needed versus those available. In the next two columns, we expand upon the Desired Outcome and Potential Risks associated with each task to ensure all team members are aligned and aware of what the task entails.
Our editable Action Plan template can be instantly accessed in .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
Creating a viable project timeline: The Gantt Way
A project timeline is a formal schedule of your entire project from start to finish where all tasks are mapped out in chronological order with a deadline assigned to each. For project leads and stakeholders, it offers a quick, high-level view of the entire project in one location.
In addition to creating our own Project Timeline, we also base one of our templates on the Gantt Chart – one of the most commonly used project schedules which uses a visual representation of a project’s timeline with a user-friendly design.
Our Gantt Chart template is essentially a horizontal bar chart designed in Excel with everything you need to get an overview of your project available to you at a glance — a task list, start and end dates, task duration, task dependencies, and task status, all in one single location. But the most useful feature of our Gantt Chart template is how it visualizes the way two or more tasks are connected over a single project timeline.
In our Gantt Chart templates, we use differently colored bars to show how different tasks feed into each other. In particular, you will notice three different kinds of task dependencies in a typical Gantt chart:
- Finish-to-start dependencies. Only possible to start Task B when Task A has finished. This is the most common type of dependency.
- Start-to-start dependencies. Only possible to start Task B when Task A has started.
- Finish-to-finish dependencies. Only possible to finish Task B when Task A has finished.
Our editable Gantt Chart Template can be downloaded in .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
Managing Project Finances
Whether you are starting your own business, or designing an upcoming campaign to market your goods or services – you need a detailed financial plan to ensure you have the resources you need to successfully execute your project.
Ideally, these two documents should be created together for the most effective resource planning and accurate budgeting. While a resource plan is a strategic document used for identifying, acquiring, allocating, managing, and tracking the resources needed to deliver a project – a budget is a financial blueprint for your project, where you can estimate, implement, and gauge projected versus actual project costs.
Resource plan
In our Resource Planning template, we use an Excel spreadsheet to track two different types of resources: (a) Human resources, i.e., all the individuals or entities you intend to hire to complete different project tasks, and (b) Material resources which may include any special equipment, raw materials, tools, and workspaces needed to execute the project. For each of these, we use Excel functionalities to calculate the total costs based on hourly pay rates and rates per unit (respectively).
Project budget
Our Project Budget template is also incredibly useful as it not only allows you to enter and analyze three different types of costs in the same spreadsheet (Labour, Material, and Fixed) – but also calculates the total variance in your project finances – that is, the difference between what you expected to spend (Estimated Costs) and what you end up spending (Actual Costs), helping your project stay in its financial limits.
Our editable and free Resource Plan and Project Budget templates can be instantly accessed in .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
Managing Project Risks and Potential Hazards
With budget and project schedule out of the way, it might seem like you are ready to hit the ground. But think again. Are you prepared for the unexpected risks and potential hazards that might come your way?
Risk matrix
To identify and prioritize risks, you need a simple yet powerful risk analysis tool called the Risk Matrix. By increasing risk visibility, a risk matrix can help you develop risk management strategies and contingency plans, as well as allocate resources for mitigation efforts in a more effective way.
With those goals in mind, our team developed a Risk Matrix template to qualify project risks based on (a) how likely they are to occur (Likelihood), and (b) how severe their impact will be (Consequence). The result was a 5 x 5 color-coded grid system where the individual values of Likelihood and Consequence are combined to determine the overall risk level.
Risk register
Once you have identified and prioritized risks using our Risk Matrix template, it’s time to identify ways to manage and mitigate using a Risk Register. A Risk Register (or a Risk Log) is a live, strategic document used to identify, assess, and manage any potential risks associated with a project. A Risk Register uses a systematic approach to report on project risks while proactively laying down preemptive strategies and response plans to mitigate their potential impact.
In our template, we create an itemized list of risks divided by category & identified using a Risk ID. We then prioritize each risk based on two variables: Impact and Likelihood, before identifying any mitigation strategies and their expected outcome. In the end, we assign the responsibility of managing each risk to a specific member of the team to ensure accountability and overall project success.
Proactively assess and manage project risks using our Risk Register template! Our editable template can be accessed in .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
Managing Change in Dynamic Project Contexts
All projects are sensitive to change and must learn to adapt to the dynamic internal and external factors that affect them. But here’s the tricky part – how exactly do we track and manage changes in a project while still making sure they align with its overall scope & goals?
Change log
In our Change Log template, we use a simple Excel Sheet to help you understand and manage changes in a project over time. Each change is assigned a unique Change ID, categorized and described. We also use drop-down menus to help you prioritize a change and track its status. We use separate columns to identify the person(s) requesting and implementing a change as a way to ensure team accountability. Another crucial part of our template is ‘Impact Assessment’ where project teams are expected to highlight how each change affects a project’s scope, timeline, and budget.
Remember, a change log should only represent changes that have been made to the project, not instructions or other tangential notes related to those changes. While our template offers a simple yet incredibly useful document to track changes, for more complex project schemas, you might want to consider managing changes automatically through web-based tools or software such as GitHub, Noticeable, or Changelogfy.
Our editable Change Log template can be easily accessed in .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
Change management plan
Whether you are adapting to market fluctuations, budget overruns, or increased employee turnover – a Change Management Plan is a strategic tool used to plan, implement, and monitor changes in a project. From small, relatively easy adjustments in a task timeline to large, complex changes in a project’s scope or budget – you can use this tool to initiate, record, assess, approve, and resolve any project change.
Our Change Management template is free, editable, and easy to use. We assign a unique identifier to each change (Change ID) for trackability. We then identify the specific actions needed to ‘resolve’ the change before spotlighting the specific area or domain of the project it affects. We also give you a simple Yes or No option to decide if an individual change requires an ‘escalation process’. In the next two columns, we specify dates when a change was first noticed, and when it was resolved, in order to create a chronological record of all project changes and their impact on a project’s teams, processes, and systems from start to finish.
Analyzing Project Successes & Failures: Lessons Learned
Just when you think you have achieved all your project goals – take a step back because there is still one essential step left before your project officially closes.
Recording lessons learned from your project is a way to identify, document, analyze, store, and retrieve both formal and informal project knowledge. These lessons can be applied in future project planning – with the basic idea being to replicate those strategies and modalities that worked well, and avoiding those that resulted in increased risk, delays, or disruptions.
In our Lessons Learned template, you identify the major accomplishments and challenges faced during the project’s lifecycle. You then identify the root cause of the challenge that must be addressed for its effective resolution and the impact of the challenge on the project’s overall operations, teams, and processes. This is followed by developing a corrective action plan to implement lessons. Make sure your action plan is based on a thorough review & analysis of each challenge, its impact, and improvements recommended by relevant team members.
Our print-ready, free template is available in WORD and PDF formats.
Wrap Up
And there you have it! A complete project toolkit to help you at each step of the way. From the initial planning stage where we formulate SMART goals and prioritize tasks to the development of a project action plan, budget and timeline – it’s equally important to foresee and tackle the possibility of any risks or changes during the project execution that directly affect your project’s success and performance. Lastly, every finished project comes with a potential learning curve marking an opportunity to learn from what went well, and what went wrong.
Use our free, print-ready, and customizable Project Management templates to plan, execute, and review your projects in a more effective and efficient way.
Note for Excel-based Templates
Be aware that spreadsheets are somewhat prone to error. Even if the spreadsheet is completely free of errors at the time you download it, there is always a possibility that you might accidentally introduce errors as you edit it. That’s why we would recommend using our templates only if you are comfortable using Excel and can identify and fix errors that may be introduced. With that said, download and enjoy!
But before you start using our template, make sure you macro-enable the downloaded file to benefit from the advanced functionalities programmed into our spreadsheet. Before opening your file in Excel:
- Step 1: Right-click on the file icon.
- Step 2: Go to ‘Properties’
- Step 3: Select the option ‘Unblock’ under ‘Security’
