A project plan is a road map document on how to achieve the objectives of the initiative as described in the project charter.

A project plan must facilitate concise and effective communication. This is important, as it ensures that all of the stakeholders are on the same page as to where their project stands at any point in time. A project plan is also a measurement to define outcomes, timelines, activities, resources, and commitments.

Any stakeholder at any point in time should be able to use the project plan and know what to expect by using the following fundamental questions:

• Why: The goals and reason for this initiative, typically coming from the project charter
• How: The list of all the activities needed to accomplish the project's goals
• What: The work expected to be performed in a specific activity
• Who: The person/team responsible for the individual work
• When: In a project timeline, when the work is expected to be completed
• Which: Which resources are needed

Let's take a look at some of the salient features of a project plan to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations:

• Project implementation methodology must be selected, as recommended in the project charter.
• Must always have detailed scope, covering all of the business processes as per the project goals. This could be based on a scope document, also known as a SOW or contract, if prepared before the project plan.
• Must define the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which identifies all of the work that needs to be done to complete the project. Structuring the work into logical components and subcomponents is an important aspect of the WBS. The work definition should be at such a level of detail that it could be used to assign tasks to an individual.
• It must list the resources needed to contribute to the project. All internal and external resources must be maintained in the project plan.
• It should depict a schedule, laying down all of the scope items with their projected start and end dates, effort, and the duration needed. This is also where responsibilities are assigned. Always ensure and follow the Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Sign Off, Informed (RACSI) matrix for responsibility assignment. A schedule is never complete until all of the resources necessary to complete the project have been committed or assigned.
• The project manager should always keep the critical path in check/updated in the project plan. A critical path is a set of activities in a path with the least slack and the longest duration. Activities that lie along the critical path cannot be delayed without delaying the finish time for the entire project. Hence, close monitoring and proactive measures are needed to ensure the timely attainment of project goals. You can use the critical path method to analyze the activities that have the least amount of scheduling flexibility.
• A project plan must be a living document and, hence, must be periodically updated with any changes in the due course of the project timeline.
• Each individual activity should also carry an estimate of the cost to complete the activity. This forms the basis of a project budget by summarizing the cost estimates for all of the activities in a project plan. Top-down budgeting involves allocating the overall cost estimates to individual work items to establish a cost baseline for measuring the project performance.
• A project plan should always be a perfect balance of the following various constraints in managing the scope:
  • Quality
  • Budget
  • Cost
  • Scope
  • Resources
  • Timeline
• A project plan must comprise the following sub-plans for effective management:
  • Communication plan: This is mostly a policy-driven approach for providing the project status information to the stakeholders. The plan should formally define who should be given what specific information and when the information should be delivered. We recommend that you also outline how such information should be disseminated and the form of communication matching the purpose: email, websites, printed reports, presentations, and so on.
  • Risk management plan: Risks are impediments to project success. This plan is intended to cover all of the potential risks and issues, as well as suggest corrective options. Having a risk assessment matrix fosters the effectiveness of such a plan. Always maintain a log for Risk, Assumption, Issue, and Dependency (RAID).
  • Quality and acceptance plan: This plan enables securing the acceptance of the deliverables produced by the project from the required stakeholders (both internal and external). Identify the external dependencies, as these may directly or indirectly impact the project plan and hence may need to be kept in close check.
  • Change management plan: A project plan must always incorporate all of the key decisions that could impact any activity. Change Request (CR) should also be captured in the due course of the project and be updated in the project plan after baselining it. Multiple levels of approval may not be a bad idea (for example, approvals for estimation, approvals for implementation, and so on). Often, the change itself may not be big, but its impact on the overall project may be huge. The impact on the testing and training aspects needs to be evaluated carefully in addition to the actual design and development. Understand the impact of timing of the change, as it is crucial; the later the change in the project lifecycle, the more costly and widespread impact it may have.
• Project plans must form the basis of all the project reporting requirements:
  • This includes a point-in-time position.
  • Dashboard reporting for project sponsors and the executive committee: This includes the following:
    • This should cover the overall progress in a percentage.
    • Phase-wise completion percentage.
  • Financials: This includes the following:
    • Project earned value
    • Current Actual Cost (AC)
    • Burn rate (the rate at which the project budget is being spent)
    • Estimate to Complete (ETC): ETC = Budget - Actual Cost
    • Estimate at Completion (EAC): The final forecasted value of the project when it is completed
    • EAC = actual costs (AC) + Estimate to Complete (ETC)
    • Budget
    • Actuals (variance to budget)
  • Detailed reporting for project stakeholders: This includes the following:
    • Activity-wise status for the phase in progress
    • The overall state of the project
    • Key risks and issues

Microsoft Project is a popular tool that can be used to prepare and maintain a project plan.

The following is a snippet of a project plan based on the CRP methodology, containing milestones, timelines, tasks, duration, a Gantt chart, and several other informative insights:

A project plan must follow the established guidelines and standards and should always be baselined for all evaluation and reporting purposes.