Top 20 Project Management Templates for 2024

As a certified project manager, beginning a new project can be intimidating. Because of this, using a pre-built template to launch your project quickly may be useful. Choosing the best project management template requires considering your project's nature, scope, and complexity to identify the one that will contribute most to project transparency, efficiency, cooperation, and speed.  

A project manager is sometimes taken as someone spinning several plates at the end of a pole, prepared to grab any dish before it falls. Making certain that procedure is followed, progress is monitored, and status is conveyed among their duties. Project management document templates might save you a lot of time.  

Different production tools, including Excel, Microsoft Project, Google Sheets project management template, and project timeline PowerPoint template, are used to create project-related documents. Project management templates and ready-made forms are very helpful if you want to be more productive. Best course for Project Management leads to solutions in terms of human resources, budgetary, and many other constraints.

What is Project Management Template?

The creation of your project plan is made easier with the help of a project plan template. Project management plan templates are common forms that feature parts, checklists, and other useful data pre-filled to make it easier to create your project plan. Project managers use these templates to record various project activities, including: 

• Project Planning 
• Creating Work Schedules 
• Setting Goals 
• Tracking Budgets 
• Assigning Tasks 
• Tracking Project Status 

PM is a collection of routine chores carried out alone or in teams, directed by specific project goals, and geared toward project accomplishment. So, templates are essential.  

You don't have to start from scratch and create something entirely new; you may start filling in the blanks. For you, everything is set out. It removes resistance and the difficult "where do I begin" sensation before beginning a project. You'll have a lot more time to devote to important things because of the time you'll save. Your team and you will choose the templates you need to manage your tasks efficiently. 

What is Project Activity in Project Management? 

The smallest identifiable and measurable tasks planned to be completed during a project are called project activities. By transforming available inputs into desired outputs and utilizing allotted resources, they seek to complete the project work breakdown structure template. The project task is frequently replaced with the term "project activity."  

The structure for separating diverse project components is made up of activities. A project can be described as a series of logically related, prioritized, and sequenced activities in a project management framework template. These activities can be carried out sequentially or concurrently to achieve project objectives.  

Activities break down project work into its simplest components so that project workers can more easily comprehend what has to be done. Every action has a clear interim goal or target linked with it. Various dependencies and relationships connect several actions, which keep them focused on achieving the same aim or objective.  

Project activities are always quantifiable, time-bound, and meant to achieve specific outcomes. They exhibit the traits listed below: 

• Definite time frame
• Relationships between related project activities based on logic. 
• Cost  
• Resource usage

15 Free Project Management Templates

1. NYU Microsoft Word Project Charter Template

This simple and attractive charter template will assist you in producing high-level summaries of your project. You can specify the parameters of your project and even provide a severity rating for the project risks.

2. Microsoft Word Weekly Project Schedule Template

An easy template for a five-day plan that you can use to monitor your team's work progress using the project management excel template free.

3. Microsoft Word Daily Work Schedule Template

You can manage the hour-by-hour operations of your team using this style for your daily work schedule. It also includes a template for a to-do list for improved task organization.

4. Excel Four-Week Timeline Template

You can use this template to color code your project timeline to distinguish between various task groups. In this project management timeline template, you can also change the state of your project.

5. Microsoft Word Project Timeline with Project Milestones

This timeline template includes a graphic project timeline template chart to keep track of your project milestones.

6. Excel Axia Project Budget Template

This budget template, which is appropriate for IT projects, considers network, software, hardware, and customer support costs.

7. Microsoft Word Basic Project Status Report Template

To keep your stakeholders informed, this report template can document the project's primary tasks, money, and problems.

8. Microsoft Word Basic Timesheet Template

It is a simple timesheet template to track your team’s regular and overtime hours.

9. Microsoft Word Weekly Timesheet Template

This template makes it easy to keep track of a team member's activities over a whole week, as well as other information about their projects, such as billable hours.

10. Excel Agile Roadmap Template

Plans for agile projects are dynamic. Utilize this Excel template for an agile roadmap to manage the tasks for your team centrally.

11. Excel Track My Tasks Template

Use this Excel project tracker template to keep your graphic design projects on track.

12. Excel Simple Gantt Chart Template

You can construct a project schedule and follow your progress in Excel using this straightforward Gantt chart Excel Template.

13. ClickUp Agile Project Management Template

Your Agile team will benefit from using this agile project implementation plan template to organize project statuses, prioritize project planning, and more.

14. ClickUp Graphic Design Project Template

You can organize your files, workflows, and deadlines using this graphic design template, which will free up more time for you to focus on producing the work you love.

15. ClickUp Budget Template

Using this template, you can visualize your spending and create a future budget using this budget template.

Those who wish to get through a PMP program, especially busy professionals desiring to pass the PMP examination on the first attempt, could avail of an extremely handy comprehensive Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Excel for Project Management

To manage projects, you need to think about the following three reasons:

1. Availability of Free Project Management Software

You can manage your projects successfully with the help of specialized tools. They are designed to accomplish it. They can assist you with anything you require, from developing a project management checklist template and making a to-do list to monitoring your progress report or managing several projects. 

2. Excel Templates are Difficult to Customize

A business case may frequently require unconventional thinking. There will be specific needs and requirements for particular projects. 

However, because each project task list template excel is pre-built, you can't alter it to suit the requirements of your project. You're out of luck, for instance, if your stakeholders need a specific invoice type and you can't find it online. 

3. There’s no Automation to Solve Tedious Manual Data Entry

Nobody wants to spend time manually adding project data while working on a computer! Spend time on tasks that genuinely require your contribution, such as approving project deliverables or studying productivity data. 

All Excel templates, unfortunately, demand that you manually enter all of the data. For instance, an Excel timesheet requires you and your project team to record information each time they sign in, out manually, or take a break. 

Project Management can be easily compensated through education, attending any training, and getting KnowledgeHut Project Manager courses.

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Importance of Project Management Template

1. You may start working on projects quite easily with the help of Excel templates, especially recurrent projects of a similar nature.  
2. Every time you start a new project, you won't have time to complete your assignments if you manually develop a project outline.  
3. With specialized free project management software, managing projects is immeasurably simpler. Let us first consider how Excel templates can be useful at the start of your project management journey. You must establish the parameters of your project, develop a breakdown structure, and more!  
4. A project manager, however, can swiftly input their project data and begin right away if they have a set of templates.  
5. Of course, there would be a communication plan and a project charter. You would have a general project plan, a WBS, and a Gantt chart. A risk registry and a strategy to deal with all upcoming problems would also be included.  
6. It would take enormous time to create these documents from the start.  
7. Because of this, every project manager typically possesses a solid collection of project management templates excel, word.  
8. By using templates, you may standardize your project management process while simultaneously increasing productivity. You can have a single template for each function that can be utilized throughout the organization rather than developing papers on an as-needed basis.  
9. Utilizing pre-made templates can help guarantee that you plan and report using best practices. There is a significant probability that a template will also be helpful in your business if it has proven successful in another. 

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Steps of Project Management

The project management process is made up of 5 essential steps: 

Step 1: Project initiation and Conception

Possibly the most important stage of the project management process is this one. The main goals are identifying the project's motivations and goals and, typically, the business case and preliminary project feasibility study. What happens now will determine the direction and objectives for what follows.

A project typically results from a business requirement or purpose that aims to address a problem or investigate novel business models. For instance, if a business wants to reduce the quantity of customer service calls, it will investigate and find out what's causing the calls. The results of such research will then guide efforts to cut down on call volume.

A project brief that describes the project's needs and requirements and the business case is the best approach to comprehending the problems and goals. A team starting a project benefit greatly from having this kind of background. It's also a terrific approach to ensure that all parties and stakeholders are on the same page regarding the future.

Although you don't need to have every detail outlined, it is good to agree on the objectives and desired results.

Step 2: Project Planning

You should draw out every aspect of the strategy from start to finish during the project planning process. The strategy you develop here will guide your team through the project management process's execution, performance, and closure phases.

You must take into account the following aspects as part of your project plan:

• Project horizon
• Estimating the project
• General processes and workflows
• Roles and responsibilities in a team
• Important project milestones
• Regulation procedures

Step 3: Project Execution

The team is moving quickly through this stage of the project. Because this is the stage during which the work is completed, the execution stage of a project usually lasts the longest. Teams can work together, review their work, present to stakeholders, and revise.

A project manager does a lot of labor-intensive tasks during the earlier project planning phase. A project manager leads the team and stakeholders through a series of milestones during project execution.  A project manager is normally in charge of the following at this phase of project management:

• Budget management
• Timeline control
• Resource allocation
• Change administration.
• Management of risk
• Quality control
• Internal reviews of deliverables
• Facilitation and communication
• Management of meetings

Step 4: Project Monitoring and Goals

The goal of stage 4 is to ensure that everything goes according to plan and that the project runs smoothly. You must pay attention to the following throughout the project monitoring phase:

• Budgets
• Timelines
• Project goals
• Quality of deliverables
• Team performance

Step 5: Project Closure

It's time to wrap up when your project is finished and everyone is satisfied with what has been given, tested, and released. The team will finish all task-closing procedures, hand off the project to stakeholders, wrap up any reporting, and celebrate the project during the closure phase.

Many businesses rush from one project to the next without taking the time to finish each one. Giving a project time to conclude, reflect, and even rejoice properly is wise. Here are some ideas for the next actions.

What are the Principles of Project Management?

1. Settling of Goals and Objectives: Establishing goals and objectives is essential to the success of any enterprise. Your project's goals and objectives should be clearly stated so there is no room for ambiguity and project planning can proceed as planned. Clear, attainable, and measurable goals should be established. Great Buildings cannot be erected on shaky foundations, as is well remarked. As a result, the core of any project is the set of goals and objectives.
2. Defined Structure: Without a formalized structure, the project may take any course due to inadequate management. This means a project needs a formal framework, careful planning, and a dedicated crew. All of this makes sure that the project is properly managed and prioritized.
3. Get a Strong Sponsor: A strong sponsor can help you overcome challenges like losing a vital resource. When the project sponsor is efficient and involved, decision-making, issue escalation, and communication of progress are made easier.
4. Organizational Alignment: What steps should we take to establish and sustain organizational alignment? There are two perspectives on this, though.
5. Organizationally Focused View: The main goal is to ensure that all the various important parts of the organization work together to benefit the whole. For instance, an organization's strategy, systems, and structures should all function together.
6. Employee-focused Perspective: In this perspective, an employee is judged on how well he or she accomplishes personal or professional goals. But for a project to succeed, a project manager needs to encourage additional organizational alignment ideas to affect change.
7. Duties and Responsibilities: Each team member working on the project should have their roles and responsibilities specified. Conflict will develop if their duties are not clearly defined, reducing productivity. Therefore, as the project manager, it is your responsibility to make sure that each team member is aware of their responsibilities, which will make it easier for the team to coordinate and work together.
8. Starting Point and Plan of Action: It is essential to develop a plan for initiating and carrying out projects. The preliminary work that goes into a project may be divided into four phases:
   • Creating a business case for the project
   • Conducting feasibility studies
   • Assuring stakeholder involvement in the project
   • Creating a project initiation document
   • A project kickoff meeting initiates project execution.
9. Budgeting and Scheduling: Dealing with scarce resources is the largest difficulty in project management. Therefore, cautious budgeting is essential. Give yourself some leeway, for instance, and implement some cost-cutting steps. Scheduling and budgeting go hand in hand; if the project's deadline is disrupted, your budget will undoubtedly suffer as well.
10. Decide on your Goals and Deadlines: Setting priorities will assist you in focusing the energy of your team in the appropriate direction. In the project planning phase, effectively identifying milestones can help determine whether you are on time. A team's motivation is boosted when a milestone is reached, showing them that the project is progressing.
11. Transparency: There should be a method that allows team members to access all pertinent information about the project easily. Transparency in projects can be achieved in several ways, such as by giving the team access to project data and equipping them with collaboration tools.
12. Risk Assessment: To conduct a risk assessment, all potential project risks must be identified. It reduces all possible project risks during the project's first stage. Although one cannot completely remove all potential risks, being well-prepared can prevent your project from failing.
13. Observation of Progress: You can spot the problem regions by regularly monitoring the key performance indicators, such as budget, timetable, and quality. As a result, corrective action can be implemented right away.

Conclusion

You won't love project management if you don't enjoy challenges. You must manage many moving components to be successful in the field, including timelines, budgets, quality control, and issue resolution. Although project management requires talent and discipline, you don't necessarily need to invent the wheel.

Over time, project management procedures, techniques, and documentation have all grown more standardized. As a result, many document templates are available to satisfy daily needs.

Some of the most popular project management documents are included in these templates. The materials are available for download to your device or for making copies in your cloud storage. Every team in your organization may always use these in new ways. Industries encourage pursuing PRINCE2 certification training, which helps impart the essential technical skills to manage projects and inculcates the needed soft skills during the training.