The 7 basic elements of an effective project plan

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Useful links to more project planning must-reads: 

• The ultimate guide to people-first project planning, with steps to create an effective plan of your own
• 15 project plan templates to help you kickstart your project successfully
• The nine crucial stages of an effective project planning process that makes each project run smoother than the last
• A rundown of the top 10 project planning tools to streamline your processes and make your job easier

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If you’ve ever created a project management plan, you know it’s actually a compilation of many smaller plans, each requiring time and careful data-driven estimates.

Building and managing all the documentation necessary for the entire project can get a bit overwhelming 😟

So, what bare-bone essentials do you need to create a successful plan? In this article, we’ll walk you through the essential elements of a project plan and the tools you need to streamline the process.

7 elements of an effective project plan 

The most important project planning elements will cover the why, what, how, and who. It’s important to remember that you can’t (and shouldn’t) answer these questions on your own. The best plans are people-first—involving your project team and your key stakeholders. 

Another thing to note is that the steps below are not exactly linear. While some things must happen first, e.g. setting project objectives, you might set your timeline and milestones simultaneously. That said, here are the seven elements every project plan should include:

1. Goals and objectives
2. Scope
3. Timeline
4. Milestones, tasks, and dependencies
5. Resource plan
6. Budget
7. Comms plan

 1. Goals and objectives 

While project goals are usually established at the beginning of a new project, they are worth revisiting to confirm that everyone is aligned, especially if there are several stakeholders.

Meet with the project sponsor and other stakeholders like your customers or C-suite executives. If you work in-house, your client might be a team member 😉

Ask them to describe their vision of the project. Summarize what they want to achieve into a concrete goal and confirm it with them. For example, the project objective might be to boost customer response times by 20% or design and launch a marketing website by Q4.

Store your project goals in the project charter so you can reference them at any time, and ensure you keep them up to date through the project lifecycle.

2. Scope 

In the words of Laura Paine, the Delivery Lead at dwx, “Managing scope is crucial for project success as it ensures the team is protected, the project stays on track, and the end product delivers value.” In other words: set clear boundaries around what will and won’t be done to avoid scope creep.

Use a scope statement or Statement of Work (SOW) to set the project boundaries. If there is no SOW, estimate the scope based on similar past projects—their timelines, required skills, and team size. 

For example, if your goal is to design and launch a marketing website by Q4, you might want to clarify what will not be done by excluding tasks like creating custom animations or developing extensive blog functionality.

Document the scope of the project and then share it with your stakeholders for final signoff. 

👉 Download our project scope template for free

Include your scope in your project brief. This way, you have a clear reference to address any additional requests. While it might not stop project stakeholders from asking for more, you can use it to help them make better decisions.

3. Timeline

Create a timeline with due dates, mark significant project milestones (more on that below), and outline what will happen when. For example, if you need to finish a project by Thanksgiving, break down key phases to ensure everything wraps up before then. 

It should look something like this 👇

Your timeline is likely to be an estimate at this point, so to guard against unexpected situations and delays, add buffers where possible. 

One more thing to consider: you might not always be in full control of the project schedule. As Wes Jones, author of Agency Playbook, notes, “The project timeline will largely be determined by the client, as they often have deadlines they need to hit to meet certain business goals that are simply out of your control.”

However, you can negotiate with your clients so that there are clear expectations of what is possible within that time frame, and you can agree on the timing of key deliverables. 

<highlight>A resource management tool can help.</highlight>

For example, Thomas Walters, Head of Studio Movember, uses the Schedule in Float to help clients understand timelines and manage their expectations. Walters shares the visual, color-coded overview of team capacity to illustrate where his team’s attention is focused and what their capacity looks like, helping to create alignment among stakeholders, quickly.

4. Milestones, tasks, and dependencies 

Milestones are markers on your path to project success. With each key achievement, you can be sure you’re progressing toward your goals. 

To identify milestones, work backward from your goal. For example, if your goal is to run a webinar on estimation in November, a milestone might be building the landing page. 

Once you’ve defined your milestones, you can then break them down into tasks using a work breakdown structure (WBS). 

👉 Not sure how to build one? Download our 3 work breakdown structure templates to plan work effectively

Recruit the help of experienced team members for accuracy, as they can help identify task dependencies that might impact the timeline.

And ensure you note any dependencies—for example, your developer will need the copy and design assets before they can start building your landing page. If these aren’t ready, the page won’t launch on time, delaying the project 😥

Milestones are best understood visually, so it’s a good idea to create them in a project management software or use project planning tool like Float (that’s us 👋). 

5. Resource plan 

Identify the people you’ll need to complete the entire project. 

While you may not have specific names in mind (yet), you can outline the roles needed. For example, if you’re running a Google Ads campaign, you might need a performance marketer.

Always remember that although team members may have similar roles, each person has unique strengths, styles, and work speeds. Understanding these differences can help you decide whether a task requires multiple people or if one person can handle it.

Finally, before you assign those tasks, ensure your people are actually available to do the work. 

Resource management tools like Float allow you to see team capacity and resource allocations in real time. This makes it easier to spot potential bottlenecks, like a team member who’ll be away for two weeks during a critical phase in the project.

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Pro tip: plan for future scenarios with the tentative project plans in Float

You can map out projects before they’re confirmed using tentative allocations, phases, and timelines in Float. This helps you see a project’s possible effect on existing ones, and spot resource constraints on time. Don’t worry about your schedule being disrupted—the color outlines differentiate unconfirmed allocations from confirmed work.

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Sometimes, you may not have the right project resources available in-house. Team members may already be fully allocated to other projects, or you may lack a specific skill set. 

In these cases, you can seek support from other offices, hire a freelance contractor, reprioritize projects, or hire a new team member.  

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Comfort Agemo

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Senior Capacity and Freelance Manager at Scholz & Friends

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If I’m looking for someone who can do motion design, but all my motion designers are currently busy, I can use [...] Float to see who else within our offices has this skill and is available. For example, I might find a motion designer in the Hamburg office and then connect with the capacity managers in Berlin to see if they are a good fit for the project.

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Here are some questions to consider before making a choice:

• Do you have the budget for a contractor?
• For agencies: would adding this skill set align with your long-term service offerings for clients?
• For in-house teams: does this type of project come up frequently enough to justify a full-time hire?

Each option has pros and cons, so carefully consider your team’s needs and project demands to make the best choice.

6. Budget 

The financial side of your project can be tricky for a couple of reasons. First, you might not control the budget, as clients or stakeholders often set it. Other times, you’ll need to create a budget estimate yourself, which can be challenging—project costs depend on various factors, and underestimating can leave you with a shortfall. 

If you’re tasked with building the budget from scratch, start by gathering data. Reviewing historical costs from similar projects gives a realistic view of expected expenses and helps you avoid risk.

Speaking with team members can also help you estimate specific costs accurately—they may know firsthand what resources and time are required in previous projects.

7. Communication plan

Establish a communication plan to ensure important information flows to the right people at the right time.

For example, you might establish weekly check-ins to review progress, manage project risks, and address any issues with stakeholders. Be sure to include goals for each standing meeting and list the key attendees for each type of communication.

Store the communication plan in a shared project management tool or a central location like Google Drive or Notion, where everyone can easily access and refer to it.

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Change your plans if (and when) you need to

Float makes the project planning process easy and adaptable, allowing you to adjust your plans whenever needed. 

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