You’d never consider walking on stage to give a speech without first understanding what the audience expects to hear, how much time you have, and what you’ll discuss.
The same goes for project management. Taking a project from inception to delivery requires a comprehensive understanding of the process you and your team will follow to execute the work.
That’s where an implementation plan comes in. This document provides a holistic view of your project’s goals, tasks, and deliverables so you can create a course of action to successfully deliver desired outcomes.
What’s an implementation plan?
An implementation plan is a step-by-step outline of the tasks a team must complete to achieve a project’s goals. This document is a single source of truth, providing internal team members and external stakeholders with a comprehensive, high-level view of each project facet. Teams can refer to this document to clarify what they’re working on and why, and clients can better understand project closure deliverables.
Implementation, strategic, and project plans are complementary but have different aims, and it’s essential to understand the difference between the three to leverage each in various use cases:
- Strategic plan: Sometimes called a strategic implementation plan, a strategic plan documents the strategies a company employs to achieve a specific goal or objective. You might create these documents for a certain project or team or for the organization as a whole.
- Project plan: Project managers use project plans to define every aspect — from resources to individual tasks to timelines — in detail.
- Implementation plan: An implementation plan is a simplified project plan, giving team members the information necessary to accomplish their work and meet the initiative’s targets.
The importance of creating implementation guides
Creating an implementation plan is integral to the project planning process and is considered a best practice. It sets the tone for the project, establishing a shared vision of its goals and an understanding of the outcomes, contributing to your team’s success.
Here are a few more benefits of creating and using these plans:
- Roadmap the project: No matter the project, there will be issues. If it’s simple, the project team might make erroneous assumptions about what they need to accomplish. And additional complexity could lead to uncertainty surrounding task requirements and deadlines. Creating a formal plan with detailed implementation steps defines project execution for smoother progress.
- Encourage alignment: Sharing a central, accessible document that contains all the information about a project aligns everyone involved — from clients to teammates — on outcomes, timelines, and duties.
- Foster accountability: This document publicly outlines each team member’s responsibilities and due dates, fostering task and deliverable ownership team-wide.
- Reduce scope creep: Having clearly defined parameters at the outset is a vital communication tool for project managers to maintain team alignment with the project’s scope. Everyone understands the specific needs and goals, reducing the likelihood of being distracted by work that unnecessarily expands the project’s timeline and scope.
What should an implementation plan include?
An implementation plan can include various components based on the project’s length and complexity. Consider creating a template you can customize depending on the project and team member needs.
Common elements include:
- Goals and objectives: Define your project’s ultimate goal and the achievements that contribute to its delivery.
- Scope statement: Create an outline of the work the team must accomplish over the project’s life cycle.
- Deliverables: Using a work breakdown structure, describe each task, its tangible or intangible output, and how it contributes to the final outcome.
- Roles and responsibilities: Ensure accountability for each task’s execution by assigning roles and responsibilities to team members.
- Schedule: Using a project management tool like a Gantt chart, create a timeline th