From the course: Note-Taking for Business Professionals

Developing a project plan

From the course: Note-Taking for Business Professionals

Developing a project plan

- In this video you're going to learn how to create a project plan using the XMind software platform. If you haven't installed XMind yet, check out the first video of this chapter. Let's talk about project plans. In the last lesson we discussed a To Do list, which can be helpful for an individual but what if you're working on a large project? You'll need a project plan that lists background information, who's involved, what the schedule is and what's been completed, among other things. This project plan, which you can find in the Exercise Files, is a useful template you can use in your planning process. Take a look at the top right where it says Information. Here you can list the project manager, team members, description of the project and other background information. Right below that you can click on Goals and add things that need to be accomplished by pressing the Tab button on your keyboard. Another important part of projects includes requirements such as budget, people and assets. And of course most plans don't work well unless they have a schedule. In the Schedule area you can break out your project into phases, include your most important priorities and also milestones that need to be achieved. On the bottom left under Actual Progress you can list tasks that have been done, tasks that have been cancelled or delayed, or tasks that are on hold or in progress. On the top left you'll see an area labeled Risk. Here you might list some potential problems that may arise along with the probability of these risks happening, and possible solutions. Keep in mind that this is just a template and you can easily modify it using the free XMind software. If you're working on a project plan go ahead and download the Exercise File and use it to guide your work.

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