Finalize Project Plan

Compile a final list of detailed project costs.

Add up the final costs of:

• Internal and external staffing resources including professional services and training
• Infrastructure costs such as hardware or networking
• Software
• Licensing

We recommend that you include a 10-15% contingency on your final budget to support unplanned costs that may come up during the project.

Your project plan should provide a detailed view of everything you need to do to complete your project. This plan should include:

• Specific tasks
• The people responsible for tasks
• When each task needs to be completed

Use the documented strategies you’ve created so far as your starting point. No task is too minor to include. Include everything from development and launch tasks to training and communication plans. Include critical project milestones to report back to your stakeholders.

To complete the project phases on time, factor in additional time for complex tasks and make sure the team doesn’t continue to add tasks after the project plan is final.

Take your detailed costs and final project plan to your executive stakeholders for final review and approval.