What Is Project Planning? Benefits, Tools, and More

Project planning is the backbone of successful project management, transforming ideas into actionable steps. You can use this skill in several careers requiring you to meet deadlines and stay within a budget, including project manager, business analyst, event planner, and more. Learn more about the components of project planning and explore tools and software you can use to support your work.

What is project planning? 

Project planning is the second stage of the project management lifecycle, which includes initiation, planning, execution, and closing. It involves determining the actual steps to complete a project, including laying out timelines, establishing the budget, setting milestones, assessing risks, and solidifying tasks and assigning them to team members.

Components of a project plan

During the planning phase of the project management lifecycle, you'll determine the steps to achieve your project goals. This involves outlining your project scope, objectives, and timeline to make sure all stakeholders are on the same page. At its core, the planning phase underscores the "how" of completing a project.

The components of project planning are: Tasks, milestones, people, documentation, and time. Below is an overview of each.

• Tasks: Tasks are activities you must accomplish within a set time. You assign these to different team members according to their roles and skill set.

• Milestones: Along with tasks, milestones are important points within the schedule that indicate progress. They tend to signify the completion of a deliverable or phase of the project.

• People: A project plan also includes the people working on your team and their roles. Each team member must understand their role and the tasks they're responsible for completing. Ensuring everyone is clear on their assigned tasks frees you up to focus on managing the project, ultimately creating a sense of personal responsibility for team members.

• Documentation: During the project planning phase, it is a good idea to draft a project plan that links to relevant documentation. Besides your project plan, you can include documents like a RACI matrix, which defines roles and responsibilities for individuals on your team. Another document is your charter, which defines the project and outlines the details needed to reach your goals. You can include a budget and risk management plan, if relevant.

• Time: Project plans should include the estimated duration of the project. How much time will you spend on each part? The schedule will be the anchor of your project plan. It includes dates for starting and completing tasks, and dates (deadlines) for reaching specific milestones. Indicating the project's start and end dates helps situate this project among competing priorities, and help determine resources (including people) needed and when you'll need them.

Check out this video that outlines the components of a project plan:

Benefits of project planning

Project planning is important because it helps form the steps you need to complete a project successfully. Planning helps teams avoid potential problems and roadblocks to ensure the project stays on track. Notable benefits of a good project plan are as follows:

• Helps ensure everyone completes projects on time, within budget, and to the required standard

• Facilitates effective communication between all members of a project team

• Helps identify potential risks and issues at an early stage

• Helps you communicate your vision and objectives to your team

• Keeps everyone focused on the goal

Tools used in project planning

Project planning tools can be manual, involving tangible items like pen and paper. They can also be software tools that produce visual elements that can connect teams across departments and time zones. You can manually conceive a Gantt chart and risk register or on software.

• Gantt chart: A horizontal bar chart in which members can see what tasks to complete in what order and how long each is expected to take.

• Risk register: A chart that lists risks associated with the project, along with their probability, potential impact, risk level, and mitigation plans.

Project management software for planning

Project planning software helps you track and manage your project from start to finish. It can help you plan your project, assign tasks, track progress, and more. Project software has become more sophisticated, and cloud technology enables anyone to access project data anywhere.

The following are some planning tasks you can perform with project management software:

• Prioritise, organise, and allocate responsibilities using charts and graphs.

• Create a timeline with milestones and task dependencies.

• Keep track of your progress, costs, and resources.

• Adjust timelines and maintain flexible scheduling as obstacles arise.

• Share project plans with relevant parties.

• Prepare data-driven reports and updates for stakeholders.

7 popular project planning software 

Each project planning software has its own unique features and benefits. Outlined below are some of the most popular options:

1. Asana

This is a great option for small businesses because it offers task management, time tracking, and file-sharing features. You can create projects and assign tasks to team members. It even has a built-in calendar so you can plan your upcoming workload.

2. ClickUp

ClickUp is a cloud-based software for managing projects, teams, and tasks. It allows you to create projects, organise tasks, assign tasks to team members, track progress, and more. ClickUp also offers integrations with other popular apps, including Trello, Jira, Google Docs, and Slack. 

3. Freedcamp

Freedcamp is a web-based project management tool designed specifically for people who need help managing multiple projects at once. It features task lists, calendars, file sharing, and other features needed by teams who want to collaborate on a project simultaneously.

4. Hive

This is a very simple and easy-to-use project management tool that's great for teams of any size. It offers time tracking, progress reporting, and task management features. Like ClickUp,  Hive supports integration with Slack, Google Drive, and Jira, among other tools.

5. Scoro

This is another popular project management tool with great features, like Gantt charts, resource planning, and issue tracking. You can also add comments on tasks, assign tasks to specific users or teams, and collaborate with them through chat.

6. Trello

Trello is a popular free project management app for managing projects and collaborating with teams. With Trello, you can manage projects across teams or solo efforts using cards representing tasks or ideas for future projects. The tool offers flexible sharing options so team members can collaborate on specific cards from anywhere.

7. Wrike

Wrike is a project management and collaboration tool that allows you to manage projects from inception to completion. It has a clean, easy-to-use interface and features like time-tracking and resource management. Wrike can integrate with communication channels like Slack and Gmail like other tools.

Learn project management with Google.

Project planning is an important part of project management. Knowing how to delegate tasks, meet deadlines, and stay within budget are valuable skills for many jobs. 

Google offers the popular Project Management Professional Certificate, which covers the basics of project management using traditional and Agile methodologies. Available on Coursera, this certification programme doesn’t require a degree or prior work experience, and earning this Professional Certificate can equip you with the skills needed for an entry-level project management role.