5 Steps to Creating a Project Plan
So little about me — I'm a weirdo. And planning is probably my favorite part of doing anything.
I'm sure you can guess that considering my business name (Simply Planning) and my project management background.
But something I've realized in the online space — especially with digital creators — is that planning sometimes comes as an afterthought.
You're a creator, right? You make things. You enjoy the process of making things. But everything else about business may not be your forte.
You're constantly seeing people launch new programs or products, always creating content, and seemingly doing it all "on the fly".
They make it look so easy and effortless, and you're hoping to be that way too.
But what you're about to learn, is how creating a project plan can actually decrease your stress and increase your success.
In this article, we're talking about what tf a project plan even is and the 5 steps that go into creating one.
Ready to learn? Let's go!
What is a project plan?
A project plan is basically an outline of your goals, objectives, deliverables, and scope of whatever it is you're doing.
In this article, we talked about the different stages of project management, and your project plan is drafted during stage 1 and fully fleshed out during stage 2.
Inside your project plan, you answer questions such as:
» What is the project about and what is the end goal?
» How will you achieve that end goal?
» What are the milestones or tasks?
» Who will be doing what?
As long as those main questions get answered, you're good to go.
The difference between a regular plan and a project plan
As an online creator, you have A LOT going on — if you've read any of my blogs, I say that a lot because I know it's true lol.
When you're just sitting down and creating a "regular" plan, you're most likely focusing on many different aspects at once.
Creating a specific project plan allows you to get real granular and highly focused.
If you're just planning for your next launch, you're probably including all the launch plans plus the course creation plans plus the sales plans... You get it.
But by creating separate project plans for each of those different things, you'll have a higher chance of success — and a lower chance of leaving something out.
5 Steps to Creating a Project Plan
Creating a project plan can be very simple OR very complex, depending on your specific business.
But here at The Streamlined Pro, we focus on simplicity (obvi).
01// Determine your project goals
Interesting fact here, 37% of projects fail because their goals are not clearly defined. [1]
Since I'm guessing you don't want to be part of that 37%, we're gonna focus on this before we go any further.
When it comes to setting your project goals, you want to make sure they are S.M.A.R.T.
If you're creating a project plan for a launch or sales period, these goals can include things such as income, clients closed, leads into your funnel, etc.
02// Build your task list
This is probably the most time-consuming part of the project plan.
When building your task list, you want to make sure you get as granular as possible so as not to miss out or skip any important details.
You may not realize it, but the smallest of tasks can have the biggest impact.
I also say to get granular so you can get a really good idea of how long something may take you — this list can include main tasks and subtasks.
A granular task list could look something like this:
Main task: Create content for Instagram
Subtasks: 10 IG reels, 6 IG posts, 14 Story topics, etc
You can even go even further as to write out the creation workflow, meaning including a task for recording the video, writing the caption, creating graphics, and scheduling.
03// Create a timeline
Now that you have all your tasks laid out, you can get a good idea of how long this project may take.
When determining your goals, you may have created a loose timeline for this project — or at least a deadline (as in, I'm launching X on X date).
But during this stage, you'll want to assign due dates, deadlines, or milestones for specific tasks.
If you are creating a project for something you've never done before, this step may be a bit more challenging but I have faith in you.
A common mistake I see happening is either giving yourself not enough time or too much time.
If you don't give yourself enough time to complete something, you'll be frantic and stressed.
Example: giving yourself only 3 weeks to plan a launch and build a new program.
If you give yourself too much time, you may tend to procrastinate which then leads to issue #1. It's proven that we as humans will take the full length of time to do something.
Example: give yourself all day to clean your kitchen, you'll wait til the day is almost over
04// Get organized
Up until this point, you may have just been writing in a notebook or brain dumping in a Google doc.
But to make it easier on yourself, I suggest organizing your project plan into some sort of project management software.
My favorite is ClickUp — you can go here to get started for free or save 30% on your subscription!
You can also check out the template shop with over 50 done-for-you templates to help you get organized, productive, and paid.
05// Execute
You've got everything planned out, now time for the execution!
This is honestly the hardest part of any project plan and one that many online creators seem to avoid.
If you're anything like me, planning is the fun and easy part. And the doing can get stressful.
The one thing to remember when executing is to keep your energy up and your mindset positive, especially if you're selling something.
Just because you planned something, doesn't mean everything will go according to that plan. You cannot always control the outcome, but you can always control how you react to it.
Why you need a project plan.
A project plan is not something to be scared of or something to avoid.
By creating a project plan, you'll be able to decrease your stress and increase your success.
You can create project plans for almost every aspect of your business — it all depends on how you want to run things.
ClickUp Templates for Creatives
Templates to help you create launch & sales plans, content plans, and more.
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