Project Management Plan Template | FREE Download

byTam M. | reviewed 02/02/2023

The Project Management Plan brings together all of the PMBOK management plans into a comprehensive whole that shows how the project team will carry out the work, monitor progress, control the outputs and close the project. stakeholdermap.com

The Project Management Plan is the project’s operating manual. It includes a description of the Project Life Cycle, the development approach to be used for the deliverables, the Project Tolerances or variance thresholds, and how the Baselines will be managed.

While it does include its own information, the bulk of the plan will be made up of subsidiary plans for example the:

Most projects will have also management plans that are relevant to the industry or the nature of the deliverables. For example, a Logistics Management Plan or a Safety Management Plan.

The Project Management Plan is developed during the preparation or initiation phase of the project lifecycle.

This template includes all of the areas you need to cover, with includes useful hints and tips to help you complete each section.

This is a FREE Project Management Plan Template in Word and PDF. The template is fully editable with Microsoft Word and can be converted or changed to suit your project requirements. See what is in the Template! Check out the Contents complete with Hints and Tips on how to use.

Check out the contents below or Grab the template now!

The contents of the Project Management Plan Template

Field

Field Description and Tips to Complete

Project details and document control

Provide information on the project and document:

Project Name and Reference
Document information: ID, owner, issue date, last saved date, file name or path
Document history: version, issue date, changes.
Document approvals: role, name, signature, date

Project Lifecycle

Describe the project life cycle. This may be tailored to the industry, or to a particular project management method, it should include phases for a controlled start, the work itself, quality assurance, and project close.

Phase	Key Activities	Key Deliverables

Phase	Reviews	Entry Criteria	Exit Criteria

Development Approaches

Describe the development approach that will be used to create each Deliverable. Approaches could use a traditional waterfall method, an iterative approach or an agile approach.

Deliverable	Development Approach

Subsidiary Management Plans

Note the supplementary management plans for the project. You can reference file names and file-paths or include hyperlinks to electronic versions of the plans.

Name	Comment
Scope
Time
Cost
Quality
Resources
Communications
Risk
Procurement
Stakeholder
Other Plans

Variance Thresholds

Document the allowable variances for each aspect of the project. Include the baseline from which variances will measured. For example, allowable scope variance for chosen building material might be a flame spread rating of between 10 and 20 (class I). Unacceptable building material would have a class II or lower rating.

Scope Variance Threshold

For example:

Performance criteria e.g. speed or availability.
Features e.g. 4 color printing or 2 color.
Quality of materials e.g. 400 gsm paper or 100 gsm paper or water proof to x PSI.

Scope Baseline Management

Describe how the scope will be controlled and managed. Include what actions would be taken in the event of a threshold being breached or forecast to be breached. Most likely change control would be invoked, but some revisions might be allowable without change control.

Schedule Variance Threshold

Describe acceptable variances, warnings and unacceptable variances from the schedule.

For example:

Use of x% of float for a given task versus use of all float delaying dependent tasks.
Delay to a task that won’t impact the critical path vs delay that will impact critical path tasks.
% of delay from the schedule baseline.
Use of x proportion of a schedule reserve.

Schedule Baseline Threshold

Explain how the baseline will be monitored and managed. Describe what the responses will be to acceptable, warning and unacceptable variances. Include what would trigger the change control process and/or corrective action.

Cost Variance Threshold

For example:

0 – 5 % increase or decrease in Forecast Cost at Completion is acceptable.
6 – 10% indicates an issue and will trigger an investigation with action taken to document and mitigate any risks or issues that are found.
Greater than 10% variance will trigger corrective action.

See an Example Project Tolerance and Acceptance Procedure

Cost Baseline Management

Show how the baseline will be monitored and managed. Describe what the responses will be to acceptable, warning and unacceptable variances. Say when you would trigger the change control process and/or corrective action.

Variance Threshold	Baseline Management
Scope Variance Threshold For example: Performance criteria e.g. speed or availability. Features e.g. 4 color printing or 2 color. Quality of materials e.g. 400 gsm paper or 100 gsm paper or water proof to x PSI.	Scope Baseline Management Describe how the scope controlled will be managed. Include what actions would be taken in the event of a threshold being breached or forecast to be breached. Most likely change control would be invoked, but some revisions might be allowable without change control.
Schedule Variance Threshold Describe acceptable variances, warnings and unacceptable variances from the schedule. For example: Use of x% of float for a given task versus use of all float delaying dependent tasks. Delay to a task that won’t impact the critical path vs delay that will impact critical path tasks. % of delay from the schedule baseline. Use of x proportion of a schedule reserve.	Schedule Baseline Threshold Explain how the baseline will be monitored and managed. Describe what the responses will be to acceptable, warning and unacceptable variances. Include what would trigger the change control process and/or corrective action.
Cost Variance Threshold For example: 0 – 5 % increase or decrease in Forecast Cost at Completion is acceptable. 6 – 10% indicates an issue and will trigger an investigation with action taken to document and mitigate any risks or issues that are found. Greater than 10% variance will trigger corrective action. See an Example Project Tolerance and Acceptance Procedure	Cost Baseline Management Show how the baseline will be monitored and managed. Describe what the responses will be to acceptable, warning and unacceptable variances. Say when you would trigger the change control process and/or corrective action.

Variance Threshold

Baseline Management

Scope Variance Threshold

For example:

Performance criteria e.g. speed or availability.
Features e.g. 4 color printing or 2 color.
Quality of materials e.g. 400 gsm paper or 100 gsm paper or water proof to x PSI.

Scope Baseline Management

Describe how the scope controlled will be managed. Include what actions would be taken in the event of a threshold being breached or forecast to be breached. Most likely change control would be invoked, but some revisions might be allowable without change control.

Schedule Variance Threshold

Describe acceptable variances, warnings and unacceptable variances from the schedule.

For example:

Use of x% of float for a given task versus use of all float delaying dependent tasks.
Delay to a task that won’t impact the critical path vs delay that will impact critical path tasks.
% of delay from the schedule baseline.
Use of x proportion of a schedule reserve.

Schedule Baseline Threshold

Cost Variance Threshold

For example:

0 – 5 % increase or decrease in Forecast Cost at Completion is acceptable.
6 – 10% indicates an issue and will trigger an investigation with action taken to document and mitigate any risks or issues that are found.
Greater than 10% variance will trigger corrective action.

See an Example Project Tolerance and Acceptance Procedure

Cost Baseline Management

Baselines

Attach all project baselines.