What should you include in a Project Plan?
It depends on the cost of the project. As a guide, I’m basing my answer on what has successfully gained funding for my clients in the past.
Unless the funder provides a template, when creating applications for $250,000 or greater, we include the following elements. The finished document usually contains 12-15 pages. Feedback from national funders indicates this is exactly what they are after.
- Project aim / Summary
- Project scope / Deliverables
- Quality criteria
- Resources: human; other resources
- Implementation schedule / milestones
- Tolerences
- Dependencies / Approvals
- Procurement process
- Budget and cost estimates
- Risk management plan: external context; internal context; risk identification and analysis; risk chart (and accompanying likelihood, consequence and risk matrix charts)
- Appendices containing: site plans; floors plans; and other relevant photos and information.
This list does not include the items that would be included in a Business Case, Feasibility Plan, or Cost-Benefit Analysis.
It’s imperative for larger projects that you consider the risks and address these in the document, explaining what will be put in place to manage them.