Project & Development

Project Management for Beginners: Plan Board for Goal, Scope, Schedule, Team, and Risks

Someone leading a small project for the first time uses this project management template for beginners to set the goal, scope, schedule, team, and risks of the plan on one board. The left page of the whiteboard holds the project charter, the five process groups from initiating to closing, a stakeholder map of influence by interest, and three frames for scope, team, and risks; the right page holds a 4 by 4 milestone table, a risk quadrant of likelihood by impact, and three frames on the weekly check, delays, and closing. The task board has five columns, from planning and preparing to in progress, in review, and done, and starts with 4 parent tasks and 12 subtasks, all not started. Starting work without knowing that a project plan follows a set order leaves gaps, so the five PMBOK process groups run through the board as its flow. It suits small projects that finish in a few weeks to a few months, such as an in-house event or a trial of a new service.