FREE Project Outline Template
Master project outline timelines with our intuitive project outline gantt chart templates.
Get started for free
Master project outline timelines with our intuitive project outline gantt chart templates.
Get started for free
Project planning requires knowledge and the right tools. One of the most foundational tools is a project outline. This document is the distilled essence of your project plan. It delivers key pieces of information stakeholders, advocates, team members, and project managers must know to guide the project to a successful conclusion.
A project outline formally defines the project, outlining its goals, objectives, necessary resources, and timeline. Once approved, the project outline becomes the blueprint for future project-related documents. Think of it as the high-level overview that connects the project’s vision to larger business goals.
However, creating a project outline from scratch is time consuming and a waste of resources. Instead, use a project outline template.
You can think of a project outline template as an outline for your outline – a scaffolding that lets you plug in project specifics to create an effective, accurate outline for your particular project.
However, don’t assume that a project outline template in Word, Excel, or Google Sheets will be effective. Instead, you need something different: a project outline Gantt chart. Tom’s Planner’s project outline Gantt chart can provide important capabilities that would be otherwise unavailable to you.
Why should you choose a Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner’s offering rather than using another type of outline for a project?
Simply put, Gantt charts offer immense flexibility and customization, combined with the ability to transform data into visual elements that are easier to digest. That’s an important consideration for communicating essential information and keeping everyone on the same page moving forward.
Of course, in addition to having the right tools, you’ll need to know how to write an outline for a project and what the typical project outline format looks like.
Gantt charts play a vital role in project outlines. They visually represent task dependencies, durations, and overlaps, helping to enhance understanding across the board.
A project outline Gantt chart template is a great way to ensure that stakeholders, C-suite advocates, managers, and individual team members have an accurate idea of what the project entails and what’s required to pull it off successfully.
By using Gantt charts, project managers can effectively plan, allocate resources, and track progress. These charts provide a clear roadmap for the project’s timeline and help prevent bottlenecks.
Gantt charts provide a clear visual overview of tasks, timelines, and dependencies. This is important for team members and managers to understand the project’s flow, but it also speaks to resources, time constraints, and other factors.
Easily discern task order and interrelationships. Many tasks depend on the successful completion of other tasks. Project outline templates clearly connect each task in sequence.
A project outline Gantt chart makes it easy to optimize resource allocation by visualizing task overlaps. That also means that managing resources is easier throughout the project.
With a simple project outline template, you can track progress and meet deadlines effectively. Team members have visibility into tasks and deadlines, and clear milestones boost morale and productivity.
A Gant chart allows you to share project updates with stakeholders seamlessly, keeping them engaged and in the loop throughout the project.
Adjust task durations and dependencies as needed to accommodate changes. All projects change, and a project outline template helps provide the flexibility to accommodate that evolution.
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First, understand that there is no “typical project”. Each one is unique. Whether you’re creating a project outline for student or writing the outline of a project for your company’s IT department, you’ll need to take different steps. That said, most project outline templates do include some similar information, such as the following:
Clearly state the project’s name. The title helps to define the project, but it will also help to separate it from other similar projects you might undertake or have already undertaken.
Provide a brief overview of the project’s purpose. This should communicate why the project is important, as well as the point of the project, combined with how you’ll conduct the project.
Specify the specific goals you aim to achieve. Note that objectives and goals here are similar, whereas they take on different connotations with other project-planning documents.
List the tasks and deliverables included in the project scope. An accurate scope of work gives everyone involved an idea of what’s required and a sense of the time necessary to complete the project.
Identify team members and their responsibilities. This is a critical step and should also highlight dependencies between tasks so that team members can synchronize their efforts.
Outline the project’s start and end dates. Note that these may change over the course of your project.
Highlight significant achievements or checkpoints. These help guide the project forward, but also provide a sense of accomplishment and momentum for team members.
Mention the resources (human, financial, or material) required for successful execution. Simply enumerating resources is fine right now. You’ll allocate them at a later point in your project planning efforts.
Provide an overview of the financial resources required. You’ll also need to account for the factors that demand those resources: equipment, supplies, labor, outside contractors, and anything else that comes with a monetary cost.
Leverage team members’ skills and expertise. Assign tasks to those best suited to handle them, but also provide communication tools so that team members can easily touch base during the project.
Avoid unnecessary complexity; focus on clarity. Remember that this is just the project outline template. It will connect with other documents that help expand your planning capabilities.
Be practical about task durations and deadlines. Being too optimistic could mean encountering delays that might have otherwise been avoided. Being too pessimistic could send the wrong message to stakeholders. Strive for the middle ground.
Your project outline will include several different components. One of those should be a clear, succinct executive summary that explains the project and its goals in a nutshell.
A statement of work (SOW) helps expand on your project’s scope and shows which parts of the project are included in the work and which ones are not. This can be important if you need to connect with outside contractors or service providers.
You can bet that stakeholders will want to know what the project will cost, as well as what they can expect in terms of return on their investment. Make sure to include a rough project budget and other important financial information in your outline.
Project outlines come into play during several phases of the project planning process. They’re important during initiation, planning, and communication. The main purpose is to serve as a roadmap for the project as a whole, keeping all those involved in the loop.
There is no single project outline format that will be ideal in all situations. You’ll want to choose the outline format for your project based on the project’s goals and objectives, scope, timeline, resource requirements, communication plan, and risk assessment. The right format will allow you to include all those elements.
A portfolio project outline template is one of many foundational documents. It serves as a high-level roadmap for the project and includes the project overview, summary, objectives, scope, and key deliverables. Once approved, the outline becomes the blueprint for all future project documents.
Start by gathering basic information, and then expand the outline to include project goals and objectives, stakeholders and team members, the project’s scope, timeline and schedule information, resource requirements, risk management plan, and communication channels that will be used with the project.
Both outlines and charters are foundational documents, but they serve different purposes. A project charter outlines a project’s scope and other specifics. A project outline serves as a blueprint for creating other project documents you’ll need,, including a dynamic project plan.