How to Create a Project Management Plan

A project management plan defines how the project team will execute, monitor, control, and close a project. It also documents the baselines for the scope, schedule, and costs for a project. A project management plan helps you ensure that your project team understands and agrees to the defined processes and procedures to execute your project and improves the performance of your project.

You draft a project management plan based on the information from the project charter and stakeholder register. Next, you collect input from the project team and client stakeholders at the project kickoff meetings. Shortly after the project kickoff meetings, you finalize the project management plan based on the input from the project team and client stakeholders. Setting and agreeing to a project management plan early decreases misunderstandings and increases productivity.

"Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now." - Alan Lakein  

Access our Project Management Plan Template (includes examples)!

Steps for How to Create a Project Management Plan

Keep reading to learn about the information to include in a project management plan:

• Background  
• Scope  
• Assumptions and Constraints
• Stakeholders  
• Knowledge Management  
• Change Management  
• Scope Management  
• Schedule Management  
• Cost Management  
• Quality Management  
• Resource Management  
• Communication Management  
• Risk and Issue Management

Background

A project management plan should start with the background for why the team is working on the project, including the problem or opportunity they will address. You should get this information from the project charter statement of work.

Scope

A project management plan should include the high-level scope statement, deliverables, project schedule (or time) and project costs (or budget). It should also define what is not in scope. You should get this information from the project charter or statement of work.

Assumptions and Constraints

A project management plan should include a list of all the project assumptions and constraints. You should get the project assumptions and constraints from the project charter or statement of work.

Stakeholders

A project management plan should include the key project stakeholders’ name, contact information, role, and responsibilities. You should get the list of stakeholders from the project charter, statement of work, or stakeholder register.

Ways of Working

A project management plan should include the management plans for the project team’s ways of working. These management plans address the strategies, guidelines, processes, and procedures that govern how your project team operates, interacts, and accomplishes their tasks. Below are the management plans you can include in your project management plan, to ensure that your project team is on the same page regarding expectations, standards, and operating procedures.

Knowledge Management

A knowledge management plan should explain how the project team creates, communicates, and stores project knowledge throughout the project, such as project documents, emails, decisions, deliverables, and lessons. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to create and store project knowledge throughout the project.‍

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the knowledge management plan:

• ​Who will manage the project information and knowledge?
• What project information and knowledge do we want to create?
• When will we store project information and knowledge?
• Where will we store project information and knowledge?
• How will we ensure that the team knows how to access project information and knowledge?

Change Management

A change management plan should explain how you get changes authorized for the scope baseline, schedule baseline, cost estimates, or resources and incorporated into the process throughout the project. This plan will help you minimize the negative impact that changes could have on the project scope, schedule, cost, or resources throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the change management plan:

• Who initiates change requests?
• What changes can we request?
• What changes cannot be requested?
• When can we request changes?
• How can we request changes (e.g., formal change request, email, etc.)?
• How do we approve changes?

Scope Management

A scope management plan is more than just documenting the project scope and deliverables in a scope statement. The scope management plan should explain how the project team develops, monitors, and controls the project scope and deliverables throughout the project. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to develop the project scope and deliverables and manage the scope throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the scope management plan?

• ‍‍Who will create the scope baseline?
• What will we use to create and store the scope baseline?
• When will we create the scope baseline?
• Who validates and signs off on the scope and deliverables?
• When do we make changes to the scope?
• How do we make changes to the scope?

Schedule Management

A schedule management plan is more than just creating and documenting the project tasks and due dates in a task board, schedule, or Gantt chart. The schedule management plan should explain how the project team develops, monitors, and controls the project schedule throughout the project. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to develop the project schedule and to keep the project schedule updated throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the schedule management plan?

• Who will create the schedule baseline?
• What will we use to create and store the schedule?
• When will we create the schedule baseline?
• Who signs off on the schedule baseline?
• When do we make changes to the schedule baseline?
• How do we make changes to the schedule baseline?
• Who will keep the schedule updated?

Cost Management

A cost management plan is more than just documenting the project cost or budget in a budget tracker. The cost management plan should explain how the project team plans, documents, and controls project costs throughout the project. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to develop the cost estimates and to keep the cost estimates and forecasts updated throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the cost management plan:

• Who will create the cost estimates?
• What will we use to create and manage the cost estimates?
• When will we create the cost estimates?
• Who signs off on the cost estimates?
• When do we make changes to the cost estimates or forecasts?
• How do we make changes to the cost estimates or forecast?
• Who will keep the cost estimates and forecasts updated?

Quality Management

A quality management plan should explain how the project team implements quality policies, methods, and standards throughout the project, such as implementing peer reviews and using a quality checklist. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to implement quality reviews and quality controls throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the quality management plan:

• ‍‍Who will manage the quality?
• What will we use to manage quality?
• When will we perform quality control?
• How do we request feedback from stakeholders?

Resource Management

A resource management plan should explain how the project team acquires and manages team members and physical resources throughout the project. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to acquire, assign, manage, and release team members and physical resources throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the resource management plan:

• Who will identify team members?
• Who will acquire team members?
• How will we acquire team members?
• What information will we share with new team members?
• Who will manage the team member performance?
• How will we develop the team?
• Who will manage the team member calendars?
• How will we manage the team member calendars?
• Who will identify physical resources?
• Who will acquire physical resources?
• How will we acquire physical resources?
• How will we release team members and physical resources from the project?

Communication Management

A communication management plan should explain who, what, when, where, why, how, and by whom the project team shares information about the project throughout the project. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to communicate all project updates, changes, and questions in the agreed upon channels throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the communication management plan:

​General communication

• Who communicates information?
• Who do we communicate information with?
• What information do we communicate internally?
• What information do we communicate externally?
• Where or to what channels do we use to communicate information?
• When do we communicate information?
• Why do we communicate information?
• How do we communicate information?

Meetings

• What meetings do we need? How often?
• Who schedules or reschedules the meetings?
• How do we schedule meetings?
• Who facilitates the meetings?
• Who will attend the meetings?
• Who creates and shares meeting agendas?
• Who creates and shares meeting minutes?
• Where do we store meeting agendas and minutes?
• How do we share meeting agendas and minutes?
• When do we cancel meetings?

Reporting

• What do we include in status reports?
• Who creates status reports?
• Who do we share status reports with?
• When do we share status reports?
• Where do we store status reports?
• How do we share status reports?

Risk and Issue Management

A risk and issue management plan are more than just creating and documenting the project risks and issues in a log. A risk and issue management plan should explain how the project team performs activities to identify, document, plan for, and mitigate risks and address issues throughout the project. This plan will ensure that the project team uses the agreed upon processes to identify, document, and plan for any risks or issues throughout the project.

Ask the project team these questions to confirm the risk and issue management plan:

• Who will document the risks and issues?
• What will we use to document the risks and issues?
• When will we document the risks and issues?
• When do we make changes to the risks and issues?
• How do we make changes to the risks and issues?
• How will we develop and document the mitigations plans to stop a negative risk from occurring?
• How will we develop and document the contingency plans to address a risk or issue that does occur?
• Who will keep the risks and issue tracking updated?

What’s Next?

After you create a project management plan, you are ready to create the other planning documents for your project.

Check out How to Plan Your Project for more information on the next steps to plan a project.