Handling a project is like juggling balls— it’s only one activity, but there are plenty of factors involved. It requires extreme focus to do, a lot of careful coordination, and heaven help you if you’re juggling something fragile. So how do you head off potential disasters? A project checklist template is a good place to start.
Think of a project checklist as a handy list of what to do and not to do while juggling something fragile like eggs: or in general, a list of rules to follow when starting a project. Either way, the result is the same: it prevents you from making a mess of things.
How, exactly?
Well, projects are rarely so simple. There’s a variety of factors that can cause you to trip up since no two projects are exactly alike—but a project checklist is for the parts that are alike.
They’re also known as project plans, because that’s literally what they do: plan projects. As with a guide to juggling eggs would, they give you a fair idea of what to do when you need to do it. Because while the eggs may differ, the juggling stays the same.
These guides can be many things—a list of steps, bullet points to follow or simply a set of points to be considered.
These plans provide consistency. There are always certain things that will function the same way in any project, and are always helpful to go through the motions with. These may include (but are not limited to):
- Initial client briefing, quotation of hours and allotment of resources
- Production, review, revision, and quality assurance
- Aligning the goals of the campaign, continuing execution, and turnover to the client’s internal team, if any
Those are just a sampling of what makes them so important—a clear, consistent methodology. Improvise if you must, but for the sake of getting things done efficiently and well, you better have a plan. Here’s a somewhat frivolous example of what a project checklist may look like.
KYLE’S CHECKLIST FOR MAKING CHECKLISTS
- Evaluate project to make said checklist for. Make sure that no previous template exists, or a similar checklist already in file.
- In the event that project proves too difficult to immediately simply, seek help from the following people:
- Richard - for Marketing
- Chard - for SEO
- Rich - for Social Media
- Richie - for Content Leader
- Make sure that the checklist follows the three P’s:
- Purpose of the list
- People Involved
- PLES (Plans, Leadership, Evaluation and Satisfaction)
- Conduct at least three consultations with project leader
- Format and distribute checklist
- Evaluate effectiveness of checklist
- Upload checklist in database upon successful completion of the project
Or something along those lines. But this checklist does tick off what you need from a project—an ordered sequence of things to do, who’s involved in the process, and what to expect from everyone involved in the process.
Plan A to Plan AA
A well thought-out checklist is like learning to fry eggs: you may use different kinds of eggs, but there’s a process on how to fry them. They make sure that every project you work on meets a certain standard of excellence.
That’s where project checklist templates come in—to make sure that your project checklists maintain the same standard of quality and service across multiple projects.
Obviously, not a single project plan fits everything. Your clients may have special requests, or you might have different clients in different industries. Creating a project outline template can help save you a lot of time when it comes to these situations.
Templates can help you maintain consistent standards of excellence across all your projects, helping you explain them well to clients and brief your employees. It builds your business brand by assuring potential clients of quality, and above all, they save time and resources.
So what’s the key to making one?
- A set of standards to follow that align with your company’s work ethic
- Proven solutions to similar scenarios encountered with other projects
- Project hierarchy (who’s in charge of who)
- A way to evaluate the project status at any point in the process
- A guide on dealing with critical points that you may encounter
Project checklists are flexible once put into templates. They can even contain templates of their own, like manager checklist templates or a project deliverables templates. To have a template is to be ready for whatever project comes your way— and that’s something you need to make your way to the top of your industry.
Last word on project checklist templates
Remember that having a project checklist is the key to creating a good project and starting it off on the right foot. But as mentioned earlier, no project is simple, and very rarely are they alike. And as useful are the tricks and tips outlined above, there’s one more thing you can remember about these guides:
It’s okay to ignore them.
No, seriously. Sometimes you’ll get something so outlandish, so client-specific that you might find yourself breaking a couple of rules in your checklist. That’s fine. If the client is happy and you’ve followed best practice as much as you can, go ahead. Every juggler will drop something sometimes. The important thing is that you know how it's done, and how to do it well. Maybe next time, doing it better.
And if the eggs are already broken, you might as well have a project plan to make a good omelette out of it.
When working with another team on a project, it's also good to start with a project brief. Download our free project brief and creative brief templates here:
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