An implementation timeline is a visual tool where tasks are placed in chronological order on a horizontal bar chart. The key purpose of creating an implementation timeline during the planning phase of a project is to give project leads a quick, high-level view of the whole project plan from kickoff to closure.
Our Implementation Timeline template, designed in Excel, breaks down your project into phases. Depending on the nature, size, or complexity of your project or the general practices in your specific industry – you can plan any project intervention in at least four to five logically connected phases, including for example, initiation, planning, execution, closure, and review phases. These phases are subsequently divided into tasks; each task is then mapped out on a horizontal calendar as a time bar, making it quicker & easier for you to visualize your overall project workflow.
If you want to create a more comprehensive implementation plan that factors in planning details such as who is responsible for what, or how important a certain task is in the grand scheme of things – you might find it more useful to use our Implementation Schedule template!
Build your next project timeline using our designer-developed, customizable templates. Now, let’s find out what makes our Implementation Timeline Plan template so useful:
How Our Template Works
Our template has been designed to help you plan individual tasks during each project phase.
But first, you need to identify the project and the project lead (usually, the Project Manager) who is responsible for overseeing each phase of the project.
Now divide each phase into individual tasks and then place each task within a specific time frame. In our template, we have used the first of every month as the standard implementation date for each phase/task but you can adjust this in the configuration sheet we have provided to align more closely with your project calendar.
Our template also allows you to understand how two or more tasks may be connected. In project management literature, this is called task dependency. As you can see, some tasks can only be started after another task (preceding it) has been finished. The use of time bars in our template makes it easier for you to visualize your workflow in a more quick and effective way.
To Sum Up
Any company, large or small, needs a way to foresee when tasks falling under each phase of a project will start and finish. To this end, project managers and team leaders can use our customizable template to monitor the effective implementation of their project strategies and action plans!
Our free & customizable Implementation Timeline template is available for download and use in .xlsx, .xltx, and .ods formats.
