Plan effectively

Project Planning: What It Is and How to Plan a Project

A project can have a great idea behind it and still fail without a clear plan. Project planning gives your team a roadmap for turning an idea into a finished result.

Good project planning helps you understand what needs to be done, who is responsible for each task, when work needs to happen, what resources are needed and what could cause problems along the way.

In this guide, we'll explain what project planning is, why it matters and how to plan a project step by step. We'll also look at project planning tools, common mistakes and how project management software can help keep everything organised.

What Is Project Planning?

Project planning is the process of deciding how a project will be delivered before the main work begins.

It involves defining the project goals and scope, identifying the work that needs to be completed, assigning responsibilities, setting deadlines, planning resources, estimating costs, identifying risks and deciding how progress will be tracked.

In simple terms, project planning answers five important questions:

• What are we trying to achieve?
• Why are we doing it?
• Who needs to do the work?
• When does everything need to happen?
• What could go wrong?

The result is usually a project plan that gives everyone a shared view of the work. A project plan normally brings together areas such as scope, schedule, resources, risks, costs, milestones and responsibilities.

If you're looking for a deeper explanation of the finished document, read our guide to what a project plan is and how to create one.

Why Is Project Planning Important?

Project planning matters because projects rarely go exactly as expected.

People become unavailable. Deadlines move. Requirements change. A task takes longer than expected. A supplier misses a deadline. A new risk appears.

Planning does not prevent every problem. Instead, it gives your team a way to understand the work, spot problems earlier and make better decisions when something changes.

A well-structured project planning process can help teams:

• Set clear project goals
• Understand the project scope
• Break large pieces of work into manageable tasks
• Set realistic deadlines
• Assign clear ownership
• Identify task dependencies
• Plan people and other resources
• Estimate and control project costs
• Identify and manage project risks
• Track progress
• Keep stakeholders informed

Project planning is also useful because it creates a baseline for monitoring the project once work begins. The plan can then be compared with actual progress, costs and timing throughout delivery.

What Does Project Planning Include?

There is no single project plan that works for every project. A small internal project may need a simple task list and timeline, while a large programme may require detailed resource, budget, risk, communication and dependency planning.

However, most project planning includes several core areas:

• Project goals and objectives
• Project scope
• Deliverables
• Project tasks
• Roles and responsibilities
• Project schedule
• Milestones
• Dependencies
• Resources
• Budget and costs
• Risks and assumptions
• Communication
• Progress tracking

These areas help turn a broad idea into a practical roadmap that a team can actually follow.

How to Plan a Project Step by Step

So, how do you plan a project? The exact process will depend on the type and size of the project, but the following steps provide a strong starting point.

1. Define the Project Goal

Start by deciding exactly what the project is supposed to achieve.

A vague goal makes planning difficult. Your team needs to understand what success looks like before deciding what work needs to be completed.

For example:

Weak goal: Improve the website.

Clearer goal: Launch a redesigned website that improves the customer journey and increases completed enquiries by the end of Q4.

A clear goal gives the rest of your project planning process something to work towards.

2. Define the Project Scope

Next, decide what is included in the project and, just as importantly, what is not.

Project scope sets the boundaries of the work. Without clear scope, projects can quickly become difficult to control because new requests are added without considering their impact on time, cost or resources.

Your scope should explain:

• What the project will deliver
• What work is included
• What work is excluded
• Any important limitations or constraints
• The expected outcome

Clear scope also gives you something to refer back to when new requests appear during the project.

3. Identify the Deliverables

Deliverables are the specific outputs the project needs to produce.

For example, a website project might have deliverables such as:

• New website designs
• Written website content
• Developed web pages
• Testing results
• Final website launch

Breaking the final outcome into deliverables makes the project easier to organise and track.

4. Break the Work Into Project Tasks

Once you know what needs to be delivered, work backwards and identify the tasks required to produce each deliverable.

Try not to create enormous tasks such as "build website". A task should be specific enough for someone to understand what needs to happen.

Instead, you might have:

• Create homepage wireframe
• Approve homepage design
• Write homepage content
• Build homepage
• Complete accessibility checks
• Complete user testing

Breaking work into smaller tasks makes it easier to assign ownership and track progress.

5. Assign Task Owners

Every important task should have a clear owner.

This does not mean that one person has to complete every part of a task. It means there should be no confusion about who is responsible for moving the task forward.

Clear ownership helps prevent the classic project problem of everyone assuming someone else is dealing with it.

6. Create Your Project Schedule

Now you can start building your project schedule.

The schedule should show when tasks will start, how long they are expected to take and when they need to be completed.

Don't simply choose dates because they look good on a calendar. Consider:

• How much work each task requires
• Who is available
• Existing workloads
• Task dependencies
• External deadlines
• Potential risks

A realistic schedule is more useful than an ambitious schedule that the team cannot meet.

7. Add Project Milestones

Project milestones are important points in the project that show meaningful progress.

For example:

• Project approved
• Requirements signed off
• Design completed
• Development completed
• Testing completed
• Project launched

Milestones make it easier for project managers and stakeholders to see whether the project is moving towards its key outcomes.

8. Identify Project Dependencies

A dependency exists when one piece of work relies on another piece of work happening first.

For example, you cannot properly test a new website feature until the feature has been built.

Understanding project dependencies helps you put tasks in the right order and identify work that could delay other parts of the project.

Dependencies are particularly important when several people or teams are working on different parts of the same project.

9. Plan Your Resources

Projects need resources to get work done. These might include people, equipment, technology, suppliers, information or budget.

Resource planning means checking that you have what you need before the work begins.

For people, consider:

• Who is available?
• What skills are required?
• How much time do they have?
• Are they already working on other projects?
• Are external specialists or suppliers needed?

Good resource planning can also highlight problems before they become project delays.

10. Create the Project Budget

Project planning should also consider cost.

Depending on the project, the budget might include staff time, software, suppliers, equipment, contractors, marketing, travel or other expenses.

Your budget should be connected to the work being planned. If the scope changes significantly, the project budget may need to change too.

For more practical advice, read our guide on how to keep a project on budget.

11. Identify Project Risks

Ask a simple question: what could stop this project from going to plan?

Possible risks might include:

• A key team member becoming unavailable
• A supplier missing a deadline
• Technical problems
• Budget increases
• Changes in requirements
• Delays in approvals
• Dependencies on another project

For each important risk, consider its potential impact and what you can do to reduce or manage it.

Risk planning is not about predicting everything that could happen. It is about making the team more prepared when something does happen.

12. Decide How You Will Track Progress

Your project plan should not sit in a folder and disappear after the kickoff meeting.

Decide how you will measure progress while the project is running.

You might track:

• Completed tasks
• Remaining tasks
• Upcoming deadlines
• Milestones achieved
• Budget spent
• Outstanding risks
• Issues and blockers
• Overall project progress

Regular progress tracking helps you spot when the actual project is starting to move away from the original plan.

Our guide on how to keep a project on track goes into more detail on monitoring project progress.

What Is the Project Planning Process?

The project planning process is the series of activities used to turn a project idea into an actionable plan.

A simple project planning process looks like this:

1. Define the goal
2. Understand the scope
3. Identify deliverables
4. Break deliverables into tasks
5. Assign task owners
6. Set dependencies
7. Create the schedule
8. Add milestones
9. Plan resources
10. Estimate the budget
11. Identify risks
12. Decide how progress will be measured
13. Share and review the plan

The important thing is that these steps are connected. Your scope affects your tasks. Your tasks affect your schedule. Your tasks and schedule affect your resources and budget. Your dependencies and risks can affect your deadlines.

Project planning is therefore more than creating a list of tasks. It is about understanding how the different parts of a project fit together.

What Are the Best Project Planning Tools?

The best project planning tools depend on the size and complexity of your project.

For a very small project, a simple document or spreadsheet might be enough. As projects become more complicated, teams often need tools that connect tasks, owners, deadlines, dependencies and progress.

Common project planning tools include:

• Task lists
• Project calendars
• Gantt charts
• Kanban boards
• Project dashboards
• Risk registers
• Budget trackers
• Project management software

The key is not to use a tool simply because it has lots of features. The tool should make it easier for your team to understand the project and keep information up to date.

Project Planning Software vs Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets can work well for simple projects, particularly when only a small amount of information needs to be managed.

However, larger projects can become difficult to manage when tasks, deadlines, owners, budgets and progress are spread across different sheets.

Project planning software can bring this information together so the team has a clearer view of what needs to happen and what is happening now.

The biggest benefit is not simply having another tool. It is having a shared source of information that can be updated as the project changes.

Common Project Planning Mistakes

Even experienced project teams can make mistakes during planning.

Planning Too Much Detail Too Early

You do not always need to plan every tiny task months in advance.

Some projects change as they develop. Build enough detail to give the team direction, then refine the plan as more information becomes available.

Creating Unrealistic Deadlines

A deadline is not realistic just because someone wants the work completed by that date.

Check the workload, dependencies, resources and risks before committing to dates.

Forgetting Dependencies

A task may look simple until you realise another team has to complete something first.

Make dependencies visible during project planning so they can be managed early.

Not Assigning Ownership

If nobody clearly owns a task, it is easier for it to be forgotten.

Give important tasks clear owners and make accountability visible.

Never Updating the Plan

This is one of the biggest problems with project planning.

A plan is useful because it reflects the project. If the project changes but the plan does not, the plan stops being useful.

Review and update it regularly based on actual progress, changes, risks and new information. Microsoft also recommends keeping project plans accurate, realistic and up to date throughout delivery.

How to Make Project Planning More Effective

Good project planning does not have to mean creating a huge document nobody reads.

The best plan is one the team can understand and actually use.

Keep your project planning practical by:

• Keeping goals clear
• Using straightforward task names
• Giving tasks clear owners
• Making deadlines visible
• Showing important dependencies
• Tracking progress regularly
• Keeping risks visible
• Updating the plan when things change
• Giving stakeholders access to the information they need

A project plan should help people do their jobs, not create extra administration.

Project Planning Checklist

Before starting a project, use this simple checklist:

• ☐ Is the project goal clear?
• ☐ Is the project scope defined?
• ☐ Are the deliverables clear?
• ☐ Have all major tasks been identified?
• ☐ Does every important task have an owner?
• ☐ Have dependencies been identified?
• ☐ Are the deadlines realistic?
• ☐ Have key milestones been added?
• ☐ Are the required resources available?
• ☐ Has the project budget been considered?
• ☐ Have the main risks been identified?
• ☐ Is there a way to track project progress?
• ☐ Does everyone understand the plan?

What Is the Difference Between Project Planning and a Project Plan?

These terms are closely related, but they are not exactly the same.

Project planning is the process of working out how the project will be delivered.

A project plan is the documented result of that planning process.

Think of it this way:

Project planning = the process.
Project plan = the roadmap created by that process.

Both are important because a good project plan needs good thinking behind it.

How CombinedWork Can Help With Project Planning

Project planning becomes much easier when the information your team needs is connected.

Instead of keeping tasks in one place, deadlines somewhere else and project progress in another spreadsheet, CombinedWork gives teams a central place to organise and manage their work.

You can use project management software to make tasks, ownership, deadlines and progress easier to see throughout the project.

The goal is simple: make the plan useful long after the planning meeting is over.

Final Thoughts on Project Planning

Project planning is about creating a clear route from an idea to a finished result.

It helps teams understand what needs to happen, who is responsible, when work needs to be completed and what could get in the way.

Start with the goal. Define the scope. Break the work into tasks. Assign ownership. Build a realistic schedule. Identify dependencies, resources, costs and risks. Then keep tracking the project as the work progresses.

Most importantly, remember that a project plan is not something you create once and forget. Projects change, so your plan needs to change with them.

For more practical project management advice, explore our guides on what makes a project successful, how to keep a project on track, how to keep a project on budget and what a project plan is and how to create one.