Top 5 Free Project Management Templates for 2024

Kristen Chung

Writer

August 12, 2024

20 min read

This is why you can now access project management plan templates. But before we talk about templates, it's important that you understand what a project management plan is in the first place.

What is a Project Management Plan?

As you can easily understand and tell by its name, a project management plan is a complete document where you add all the details about a project. This document should state how this initiative will be executed, and monitored, who will control it, and finally, close it.

As a PM, it's important to have all these details on your hands to ensure that you can complete all the processes in time. With this plan, it will be easier to set goals, define tasks, determine the costs and time each task will take, and even measure the risk.

While in the old days, most PMs used a project management plan doc, this is no longer the truth. You now rely on apps, PCs, or Flowlu to get things done the best way. There’s no need to download anything.

What is a Project Management Plan Used For?

As we already mentioned above, a project management plan is a comprehensive document where a manager can see all the details about it. So, as you can easily understand, a project management plan serves as a guide for each one of your projects. As you already know, it covers every single detail about the initiave itself, including the more generic aspects to the most specific ones such as timelines, resourcing, budget, and deliverables, among others. Overall speaking, a project management plan provides you with all the information you need about the initiative each step of the way.

The Most Important Elements a Project Management Plan Must Include

There are some elements that all project management plans need to include. While some specific campaigns may not need all these elements, others may need more. However, in most cases, these are the main elements your project management plan needs to include:

• Goals or objectives

• The complete scope of work

• Detailed calendar or schedule of the main tasks

• Detailed costs

• The resources it will need

• How the communication will be done

• Management of the stakeholders

• Management of the procurement

• How to tell the project is complete

• Detailed organization of the project.

Writing Your Project Management Plan

If you're just starting as a PM, you may be wondering how to even start writing your first plan. After all, it needs to include so many different pieces of information and it needs to be thorough.

While it may seem confusing and even overwhelming at first, just take a deep breath. Now, keep reading and discover the 5 must-have aspects you need to include in your project management plan:

#1: Your Project's Baselines:

Before you even start writing your project management plan, you need to have the basics in your head already. This means that you'll need to begin by identifying the scope of your initiative and determining its cost and schedule. If you think about it, the rest of the information will go around these barriers. So, think about these three aspects before you start with the writing.

Remember that your plan needs to be accurate. This means that you need to find ways to deliver good expectations regarding its cost and schedule.

#2: The Dependencies of your Project:

As you already know, specific tasks can only be done when others are already complete. Or some may only be completed when a specific person has the time to do it.

At this point, it's time to define not only the main tasks of your project but also the subtasks. But more importantly, you need to identify the dependencies and adjust what needs to be adjusted to meet the cost and deadlines that you already defined.

#3: The Stakeholders of the Project:

Dealing with stakeholders isn't always easy. Some may be more understanding while others may be incredibly demanding. However, as a PM, it is a part of your job to maintain the stakeholders informed about the project.

Notice that you may not need to inform all the stakeholders about an initiative as well as you may only need to inform some stakeholders at a specific part of the project. This is the time to determine the type of information you will disclose, how you will disclose it, to who, and when.

#4: Don't Forget About Milestones:

Defining milestones is incredibly important and it's even more important when you are dealing with a big project.

Overall speaking, you can see milestones as key markers of the progress of your project. This means you need to take a deep look at your project and everything you have defined so far and set milestones.

#5: Responsibilities:

Each task needs to have someone in charge; someone responsible for it to be complete. While it is your job as a PM to ensure that all the tasks are complete and goals are met on time, it's important to have people in charge of each task to ensure you meet the deadlines. Transparency and accountability are a must for each project to be completed on schedule.

Now that you already understand what a project management plan is, what it is for, and how you can create one, it's time to take a look at plan templates.

What is a PM Plan Template?

Well, a PM plan template is simply a document where you can find all the information about a specific project but one document that was created using a specific template. Instead of starting writing your plan from scratch, on a white piece of paper or PC word or excel document, you start with a project management plan template doc.

The main goal of using PM plan templates is that they allow you to save a lot of time. Besides, they look a lot more professional and you can be sure you won't miss any important piece of information.

One of the things you need to keep in mind about a PM plan is that it doesn't go to the archive as soon as the project is approved. You will need to keep it next to you while the project is being done. After all, it serves as a guideline.

Who Uses a Project Management Plan Template?

Even though the PM is the one responsible and in charge of creating a project management plan, the work is done with his or her team.

As you can easily understand, a project will be made by a team of individuals, each one with specific skills. Their skills and efforts are also necessary to define the project deadlines, tasks, subtasks, scope, and everything related to the project itself. Without the team's skills, the project manager won't be accurate in his project management plan.

Using the Best Project Management Plan Templates With Flowlu

Flowlu is the perfect PM software you need. With it, you may also take advantage of the different project management plan templates that help you save time and improve productivity at the same time.

Flowlu's project management plan templates are categorized by type which will make it easier for you to choose the right one for each one of your projects. All you need to do is to look at the example of a project management plan template and pick the best one for your project.

How to Use Flowlu’s Project Management Plan Templates

Step #1: Choose the right template for you:

The first thing you will need to do is to choose the right template for your project. Just check a sample or two. Within Flowlu you can find 6 different template themes to choose from. Just sign up from the appropriate template page and go to Projects and then click on Project Workflows.

Step #2: Take a look at the features of the PM plan template you picked:

Getting to know the template you'll be using inside out is a crucial step you shouldn't skip. Make sure to check the task management with the checklists included, the tracking of the milestones, the different stages of the project, and the different automation tools. By checking all these tools beforehand will allow you to save a lot of time.

Step #3: Make the necessary customizations:

All events and projects are different. So, it's normal that you need to make customizations and changes.

Take some time to think about the project you'll be managing and make the necessary adjustments to the stages, deadlines, milestones, tasks, and checklists.

Step #4: Begin your project:

Now it's finally the time to begin your project. Just click on New Project inside Flowlu and add the information that is asked about your project. Just start with the project management plan template title and go from there.

Step #5: Don't forget about your team:

Working with your team is very important. Remember that some members of your team possess the skills you need to ensure that you are accurate with your project management plan. You may also take the time during this step to assign tasks to each member of your team, add instructions to tasks, and set deadlines.

Step #6: Keep an eye on your project:

Monitoring the progress of your initiative is extremely important. You want to ensure that your deadlines are being met and that everyone is complying with their responsibilities. In case you notice some things may be missing, make the necessary adjustments to ensure that you stay on track.

As we already told you, inside Flowlu, you'll find the following 5 PM plan templates:

#1: Event Management Template:

When your project is related to event management, you want to make sure that your event goes on wheels, without any faults. You want to make it memorable.

No matter if you're organizing a gathering, a wedding, or a business conference, you need to find the right project management plan template like an IT project management plan template, for example. With this specific template to organize any event, you will have at your disposal multiple elements:

• Different Stages of the Event: Each event has its own stages and you can easily incorporate these stages in this template.

• Manage Milestones: As we already mentioned above, using milestones is crucial to ensure that you're on the right track to complete your project on time. With Flowlu's template, you can set your milestones easily.

• Define Tasks & Use Checklists: Planning tasks is ideal to ensure that your event is a success. So, nothing better than using checklists for each main task. You can even prioritize them according to your needs.

• Use Automation: Automation is here to help you be more efficient. You can, for example, use automation to follow up with some vendors. This will allow you to have more time to dedicate to more important things.

• Define the Scope of Work: With this template, you can easily come up with the event scope. This way, everyone will be on the same page, all the time.

#2: Wedding Photography Template:

If you work on the design or creative areas, you should consider taking a look at this specific template. For example, if you're a photographer, you know there is a lot to do when you accept a project. Just think about all the things you need to do and have before the actual photo shoot until the photoshoot and the moment when you deliver the final images to your client.

With this specific template, you will have at your disposal multiple elements:

• The Workflow: Just as we mentioned above, you need to set up the different stages of the photoshoot. From the pre-production to adding the necessary elements to the shoot, and then the people. Finally, you'll need to edit the photos and deliver them to your client.

• Setting Milestones: Again, milestones are crucial. You should come up with ones that make sense to you. Make sure that you listen to your clients to define the best ones.

• Define Tasks & Use Checklists: Plan every task to detail and create different checklists.

• Use Automation: Be more efficient by using automation rules. You can use reminders or follow-ups, for example.

• Define the Scope of Work: With this template, you can easily come up with the scope of your photography project. Put everyone on the same page, all the time.

#3: Marketing Campaign Template:

There are many people who need templates for their marketing projects. From content creation to social media management or SEO, there are many marketing campaigns you can create using this marketing template.

No matter if you're doing some branding, a product launch, or simply promoting an event, you can use Flowlu's marketing template.

With this specific template, you will have at your disposal multiple elements:

• Set The Different Stages: No matter the type of your marketing campaign, you want to make sure that you start by defining the different stages of your project.

• Setting Milestones: Make sure that you create milestones that make sense to the campaign you're coming up with.

• Define Tasks & Use Checklists: In order to comply with your goals for the marketing campaign, you need to create tasks. However, since these involve so many things to do, it's better to use checklists for each task.

• Use Automation: With Flowlu's templates, you can easily get scheduled reports, for example. Save time with automation and focus on more important things.

• Define the Scope of Work: With this template, you can easily come up with the scope of your marketing project. Don't forget to include all the details.

#4: New Hire Onboarding Template:

Perfect for projects when you need to hire someone new for the company, this template can be used in a very effective way. After all, you want to ensure that the new hire enters the company with the right foot.

With this specific template, you will have at your disposal multiple elements:

• Set The Different Stages Of The Onboarding Process: Organize the process in the simplest way possible and outlines the different stages.

• Setting Milestones: Make sure that you create milestones that allow you to monitor the progress of the new hire.

• Define Tasks & Use Checklists: To meet your goals and objectives, define tasks and checklists to make things easier.

• Use Automation: With this template, you can easily automate some tasks to save time.

• Define the Scope Work: Write a complete description of your project.

#5: Legal Case Management Template:

When you're managing a legal case, you want to ensure that you establish a good connection and communication with your client. No matter if you're dealing with a consultation or contract, you want to make sure that you don't forget about any details.

With this specific plan template, you will have at your disposal multiple elements:

• Set The Different Stages Of The Legal Case: Organize the process in the simplest way possible and set the different stages with this process management plan template.

• Setting Milestones: Make sure that you create milestones that allow you to monitor the progress of the case as well as the contact with your client.

• Define Tasks & Use Checklists: To meet your goals and objectives, define tasks and checklists to make things easier.

• Use Automation: With this template, you can easily automate some tasks to save time. Deadline reminders or document filing are some of the tasks you can automate.

• Define the Scope of Work: Write a complete description of your case.

Bottom Line

As you can see, it's easy to work with Flowlu's project management plan templates to ensure that you have everything you need within your plan. Try it for free for yourself.

Instead of wasting time and starting from scratch, you can simply pick the best template for your project and adjust it to your own needs.