Project Management Templates and Their Benefits

Project Management templates are an excellent tool for any project, large or small. They reduce the time necessary for documentation, and can ensure no steps of the project are neglected.

Project Initiating Process Group Templates

Project Charter Template: The Project Charter is developed during the initiation phase to formally authorize a project. The Project Charter is required before any work on the project can begin.

• Paragraph 1: Formally authorizes the project.
• Paragraph 2: Project Scope – Its deliverable, and what business needs, problems or opportunities the project addresses.
• Paragraph 3: Identify the Project Manager and give him authority to apply organization resources to the project
• Paragraph 4: Provide the summary milestone schedule
• Paragraph 5: Project Budget – state the budget for the project and identify funding sources

Preliminary Project Scope Statement: The Preliminary Project Scope Statement is created after the Project Charter has been signed. This Statement is completed during the Initiation Phase to ensure the successful planning of the project.


Project Planning Process Group Templates

Communications Management Plan Template: defines the communication requirements for the project and how the information is to be distributed.

Cost Management Plan Template: details how the project costs will be measured and reported upon. It indicates the control thresholds and the corrective actions to be taken if the thresholds are exceeded.

Procurement Management Plan Template: identifies the processes for evaluation, selection and management of procurements required for a project.

Scope Management Plan Template: ensures that the project includes the work and only the work necessary to successfully complete the project.

Project Management Plan Template: states how the project is executed, monitored and controlled and closed. These documents feed into the development of the project management plan.

Risk Register Template: a list of all project risks including their risk rankings, responses and risk owners.



Project Executing Process Group Templates


Expense Report Template: is designed for both domestic travel and International travel (a tab for each at the bottom of the spreadsheet).

Employee Annual Review Template: for conducting performance reviews. Useful as an annual review or as a tool for the Project Manager to perform an employee review.


Project Monitoring and Controlling Process Group Templates

Project Status Report

Project Change Request

Project Performance Report


Project Closing Process Group Templates

This document establishes formal acceptance of all the deliverables for the project.



Project Document Templates

Project Meeting Agenda Template: key to presenting a well planned and well executed meeting.

Project Meeting Minutes Template: clearly documents the discussion topics of the meeting, any decisions which were made and assigns new action items to individuals. Promptly distributing clearly written project meeting minutes is important to success in project management.


With so many project management templates available, it is easy for the project manager to find those that are the most applicable and useful for the project. The initial time investment that a project manager makes in finding the right templates will save time during the project itself.


Other articles on Project Management Templates:

The Project Management Template – Guiding the Way to a Successful Project
Using a project management template not only saves time, money, and effort; it also ensures that all aspects and phases of a project are included in the project plan.

10 Tips for Boosting Team Performance
10 Tips for Boosting Team Performance.There are lots of different ways that you can boost your team performance. We’ve listed here our Top 10 Tips. We hope they help you…

Managing Project Management Template Risks
If all of our projects just smoothly followed our project schedule we’d have it made.  No issues, no budget overruns, no cranky customers, no scope changes.  But that’s not the case. 

Why Project Management Templates are an Essential Tool for Project Managers
The reason why project management templates are an essential tool for project managers is simple.

Why Project Management Templates Are Useful
Knowing why project management templates are useful when carrying out large projects is the first step to a smoothly-running project.

Essential Project Management Tools

4 Essential Project Management Tools

Project Managers have four essential tools to help them bring a project from start to finish, on time and within budget.  Without these tools in place and effective use, a project will most likely fail in delivery and client satisfaction.
Specifically, the tools addressed in this article are:

• The budget;
• Work breakdown structure;
• Network diagram;
• Risk management plan.

Effective use of these project management tools is the core of a successful project.  When put into use, they can help the Project Manager and support team stay on track and deliver the objective as required.

1. The Budget.
The budget is the project management tool that will be used the most throughout the life cycle of the project.  The Project Manager begins by allocating resources and assigns tasks within the budget allowance.  During the execution of the project plan, it is not unusual for the Project Manager to make adjustments to keep the project within the budget parameters.
For small or simple projects, spreadsheet software is enough to create budgets and reports.  There are templates available to save time and effort.  However, for larger or more complicated projects, a better software solution is needed.  There are online programs to fit any size project and any number of shareholders.

2. The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
A hierarchical structure, the WBS breaks down the project into tasks and sets the duration of those tasks.  This project management tool enables the Project Manager to identify independent tasks, allocate the needed resources for each task, and assign them to the appropriate stakeholder.
The WBS is often represented in such forms as diagrams, tables, or outlines.  These can, like the budget, be created using spreadsheet software or the programs dedicated to project management.

3. The Network Diagram.
The network diagram is the project management tool that picks up where the WBS leaves off.  This diagram provides a graphical view of task dependencies and sequence; this tool can identify those tasks that can be done at the same time by different support personnel.
There are both desktop and online software solutions that can render the Network Diagram into a flow chart that shows in greater detail the information provided by the WBS.

4. The Risk Management Plan.
This project management tool is a system used by Project Managers to identify, assess, and respond to project risks: project management risks, resource risks, client risks, technical risks, and other risks appropriate to the specific project.

Like the other tools, basic office productivity software (spreadsheet, word processor, etc.) can be utilized for the  Risk Management Plan, especially if the project is of small scale or simple scope.  Online software solutions can help with projects that are too complicated for a productivity suite.
In conclusion, these Project Management tools help to ensure the Project Manager can deliver a successful project objective.  Whether manual methods or sophisticated software are used, utilizing the four essential tools will help keep the project on track.

Manage Projects Within Budget

One could say that your biggest challenge as a Project Manager is delivering "within budget".

If you are late then you can consider adding more staff, if the quality of your deliverables is not good enough then you can consider scheduling more time, but if you are over budget, then there are not a lot of options for you. So to help you out, we have described here how to:

Manage Projects "Within Budget"

Every Project Manager has a fixed budget. It is one of those things that makes a "project" a project. If you had an on-going annual budget, then you would be managing an operational activity, not a project.

The budgeting challenge for a Project Manager is that often by the time that they are allocated to a project, the budget has already been set by the Sponsor. The Project Manager does not have any real "say" in the matter. So how to can you manage your project within budget, when you have not created the budget in the first place? Here are 10 top tips on how...

Tip 1: Revise the budget
As soon as you are allocated to a project, make it one of your first jobs to revise the budget set. Even if the budget has not formally been set, the Project Sponsor will have some ideas on the overall amount of budget available for use. If you think that the budget is insufficient, tell your Sponsor as early as possible.

Tip 2: Create a Financial Plan
Whether a budget already exists of not, your next step is to create a detailed Financial Plan for your project. This plan will set out all of the planned expenses and when they are likely to occur. Make sure that your Sponsor accepts your plan and that you are comfortable that you can deliver the project against it.

Tip 3: Baseline the plan
Right, so you are now managing the project against a detailed Financial Plan, not a loose budget or general guide on what should be spent. You have a detailed view of the forecast project costs, against which to measure project progress. You should now baseline the plan by getting your Sponsors endorsement and communicating it to your team leaders.

Tip 4: The plan is the plan
Many people manage their project against the total amount of expenditure available. Do not fall into this trap, as you will always think you have enough funds to complete the project. Instead, manage the project against the detailed Financial Plan you have set out. If some items go over budget, investigate why and fix the issues. Only by managing at this level of detail can you build an accurate view of the projects performance against budget.

Tip 5: Get serious
If you are serious about delivering your projects within budget, then you need to implement some form of Cost Management Process. This process will give you formal procedures for the identification, recording and tracking of project costs.

Tip 6: Use Expense Forms
Ensure that your staff record all expenses using Expense Forms. Only by formally recording expenses can you build an accurate picture of the overall cost of the project to date.

Tip 7: Register your expenses
By using an Expense Register or log, you can create a summarized view of the project cost to date, at any point in time.

Tip 8: Report progress We have seen some Project Managers tell their Sponsor that they are likely to be over budget the week before they were due to finish! If you even have an inkling that you might be over budget, tell your Project Sponsor about it as early as possible. It will help you gain buy in and they may even be able to help you out.

Tip 9: Do not be afraid If you need more money and you have exhausted all other options, then ask for it. Do not be afraid to tell your Project Sponsor that you have reached this point. Remember, there are quite often very valid reasons for needing more money throughout the project.

Tip 10: Balance time, cost and quality evenly Remember, your goal is to deliver the project on time, to cost and quality. Never compromise time and quality to bring your project in under budget. It is a challenging job, but always try and balance time, cost and quality fairly. You can do it!

If you would like help managing projects within budget, then these 2 products will give you all of the templates and methods you need...

	Project Management Templates
	Project Management Methodology