To this point, we have introduced several discrete documents as essential elements of any project plan:

• WBS
• Schedule
• Budget
• Stakeholder register, and
• Risk register

Although they are the cornerstones, many other documents are often included in the planning mix. These include:

• Quality management plans
• Human resource plans
• Finance or cost management plans, and
• Procurement plans

…to name but a few. A project plan is much more than a single, end-to-end document. It is quite often a complex series of interconnected files.

For example, you may maintain your WBS, schedule, and budget in Microsoft Project; your stakeholder and risk registers in spreadsheets, and your human resource plan in a word processing application; all shared across a cloud drive.

So in this unit, we will introduce some of these additional plans, but the question you should be asking is do I really need all these documents on every project?

Some projects can actually suffer from overly complex processes.

Keeping in mind that these documents (and the organizational policies and procedures that inform them) are intended to support project delivery – as opposed to getting in the way or becoming an end unto themselves – in wrapping up this planning module, we will show you how to scale your project plan so that it is ultimately fit for its purpose.