Introduction
The Introduction provides a high level overview of the project and what is included in this Project Management Plan. Limit the introduction to a couple of paragraphs.

Project Management Approach
This section is where you outline the overall management approach for the project. It should be written as an Executive Summary for the Project Management Plan.

The Project Manager, (Project Manager Name) has the overall authority and responsibility for managing and executing this project according to this Project Plan and it Subsidiary Management Plans. The project team will consist of personnel from (Project Team Staffing Source).

Project Scope
This section defines what the scope of the project is and how the scope will be managed.

Milestone List
Using the schedule you created for the project list the milestones in the schedule. Include details such as the milestone, a brief explanation if necessary and a date for meeting the milestone.

Schedule Baseline and Work Breakdown Structure
The Project Schedule Baseline and Work Breakdown Structure are provided in Appendix A, Project Schedule and Appendix B, Work Breakdown Structure.

Project Change Control Process
Describe your change control process here. Identify who has approval authority for changes to the project, who submits the changes, how they are tracked and monitored.

Communications Management Plan
The purpose of the Communications Management Plan is to define the communication requirements for the project and how information will be distributed. The Communications Management Plan defines the following:

1. Communication requirements based on roles
2. What information will be communicated
3. How the information will be communicated
4. When will information be distributed
5. Who does the communication
6. Who receives the communication

You may want to include the communications management plan as a separate document as communications can be quite complex and clear communications is vitally important to the success of your project. We have a template for a Communications Management Plan available online.

This Communications Management Plan sets the communications framework for this project. It will serve as a guide for communications throughout the life of the project and will be updated as communication needs change. This plan identifies and defines the roles of persons involved in this project. It also includes a communications matrix which maps the communication requirements of this project. An in-depth guide for conducting meetings details both the communications rules and how the meetings will be conducted, ensuring successful meetings. A project team directory is included to provide contact information for all stakeholders directly involved in the project.

Approximately 80% of a Project Manager’s time is spent communicating. Think about it – as a Project Manager you are spending most of your time measuring and reporting on the performance of the project, composing and reading emails, conducting meetings, writing the project plan, meeting with team members, overseeing work being performed and even a few martini lunches once in a while...

You should give considerable thought to how you want to manage communications on this project. By having a solid communications management approach you’ll find that many project management problems can be avoided. In this section give an overview of your communications management approach.

The Project Manager will take a proactive role in ensuring effective communications on this project. The communications requirements are documented in the Communications Matrix presented in this document. The Communications Matrix will be used as the guide for what information to communicate, who is to do the communicating, when to communicate it and to whom to communicate.

Cost Management Plan
The Cost Management Plan clearly defines how the costs on a project will be managed throughout the project’s lifecycle. It sets the format and standards by which the project costs are measured, reported and controlled. The Cost Management Plan:

1. Identifies who is responsible for managing costs
2. Identifies who has the authority to approve changes to the project or its budget
3. How cost performance is quantitatively measured and reported upon
4. Report formats, frequency and to whom they are presented

The Project Manager will be responsible for managing and reporting on the project’s cost throughout the duration of the project. During the monthly project status meeting, the Project Manager will meet with management to present and review the project’s cost performance for the preceding month. Performance will be measured using earned value. The Project Manager is responsible for accounting for cost deviations and presenting the Project Sponsor with options for getting the project back on budget. The Project Sponsor has the authority to make changes to the project to bring it back within budget.

The Cost Management Plan also needs to explain your approach to cost management for your project. We chose to create Cost Accounts at the fourth level of the WBS as an example since many project management offices don’t have a Project Management Information System. If you are using a Project Management Information System then you can, and should, manage costs down to the work package level. For those who don’t have a Project Management Information System you’ll want to determine which level of the WBS you can most effectively manage the project’s costs from. The further down in the WBS you go, the more detailed your cost management is. However, you should balance the granularity at which you want to manage costs against the amount of effort it takes to manage at that level. The more granular your cost management, the more work is necessary to manage it.

Costs for this project will be managed at the fourth level of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Control Accounts (CA) will be created at this level to track costs. Earned Value calculations for the CA’s will measure and manage the financial performance of the project. Although activity cost estimates are detailed in the work packages, the level of accuracy for cost management is at the fourth level of the WBS. Credit for work will be assigned at the work package level. Work started on work packages will grant that work package with 50% credit; whereas, the remaining 50% is credited upon completion of all work defined in that work package. Costs may be rounded to the nearest dollar and work hours rounded to the nearest whole hour.

Cost variances of +/- 0.1 in the cost and schedule performance indexes will change the status of the cost to cautionary; as such, those values will be changed to yellow in the project status reports. Cost variances of +/- 0.2 in the cost and schedule performance indexes will change the status of the cost to an alert stage; as such, those values will be changed to red in the project status reports. This will require corrective action from the Project Manager in order to bring the cost and/or schedule performance indexes below the alert level. Corrective actions will require a project change request and be must approved by the Project Sponsor before it can become within the scope of the project.

Procurement Management Plan
The Project Manager will provide oversight and management for all procurement activities under this project. The Project Manager will work with the project team to identify all items to be procured for the successful completion of the project. The Project Management Office (PMO) will then review the procurement list prior to submitting it to the contracts and purchasing department. The contracts and purchasing department will review the procurement items, determine whether it is advantageous to make or buy the items, and begin the vendor selection, purchasing and the contracting process.

Project Scope Management Plan

Schedule Management Plan

Quality Management Plan

Risk Management Plan

Risk Register

Staffing Management Plan

Resource Calendar

Cost Baseline

Quality Baseline

Sponsor Acceptance

Approved by the Project Sponsor:

__________________________________________             Date:____________________
(Project Sponsor Name)
(Project Sponsor Title)