Project planning guidelines

Photo: Aurora Tallon, DOT TO DOT project, Glasgow

Project planning guidelines

Preparing a perfect project plan

Do not be scared of project planning – this is simply a description of what you expect and how you plan to achieve it. A project plan is a very important measure, which helps to ensure funding and to crystallize the whole project idea. The recommendation is to take into account the following when drawing up a plan:

Why?

- Clearly indicate why your project is needed (all sponsors want to know that); - Collect documentation to demonstrate the need for this project: this could include research, quotes, statistics, news stories, surveys, etc.

Timeline

- Create a calendar with all proposed project activities for a year. Typically, in small projects, a calendar should reflect activities for 1 to

Photo: Laura Petruškevičiūtė, DOT TO DOT project, Glasgow 3 years; - Will you have time to implement all the activities? Can several activities be done at a time or one after another? Draw it on the calendar; - Activities may include: project planning and development, implementation, supervision, administration, funding and budget, information dissemination, marketing.

Basic budget

- Make a list of potential expenses; - Think about all the related project activities. What tools and equipment will you need? - Will you need to hire external organizations for implementing certain project activities?

Team

- Think about what support you need to implement the project activities; - Who has already committed (staff / volunteers) and what are their

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