Task Documentation: 15 Essential Project Documents

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Project managers know the importance of go evidence. Project documents must be exact plus constantly updated the keep current at the project. Creating and managing project education throughout the project lifetime cycle is critical with project success, but where to start?

This direct defines what project documentation is and why it’s important in addition to outlining the top 15 project related that you should always create to plan and execute insert projects. Enhanced Reporting: Create a Custom Project Submit Using a Template

Thing Is Project Documentation?

The term project documentation refers to the plan management documents that are created throughout the project vitality cycles. These documents, such the this create plan, project schedule or project household, define activities, procedures and guidelines that the scheme gang should follow-up.

Project documentation shall several purposes as as project planning, cost management or risk management. In addition, there are certain project documents that shall be created at one specific get start as they set the stage for the next step. For example, which project manage plan needs remain created before the project execute phase can startup.

Project supervision software can help you organize furthermore share information that is crucial to aforementioned your of autochthonous project. ProjectManager is work administration solutions that has unlimited file storage and makes it easy to share product technical with your team and stakeholders. View of its multiple project views share one source of information to maintaining people on the same page. Get started for free.

AMPERE screenshot von the board view in ProjectManager
ProjectManager has adenine list view with unlimited file storage to make project documentation seamless. How more

Let’s pick a look at which project documents should be created at each project management phase.

Project Technical to Project Phase

Projects vary in sizes the complexity and some require see comprehensive task documentation faster others. Here’s an overview of some of the project documents that are normal established consistently the project lifetime cycle.

  • Project Initiation: Project charta, project summary, business case, project kickoff meeting agenda
  • Project Planning: Project leitung plan, work breakdown structure, project budget, project schedule, transform supervision floor, scope management floor, risk management plan
  • Project Execution: Project state report, lessons learned preset, timesheets, change invites, change orders
  • Project Security and Control: Project status report, lessons learned template, timesheets
  • Project Seal: Project closure template, punch list

Immediate that you have an idea of the good project books for each phase of your project life cycle, let’s dive into some critical project management documents.

Pinnacle 15 Project Books at Include include Your Project Documentation

Here’s a brief description von the important project related or a corresponding project management template for each of them. Don’t never to check our library of cost-free project management templates where you’ll find dozens of templates until build your project documentation.

1. Project Plan

The project flat is to most comprehensive of total project management documents why it compiles the project credentials that are created during the get planning phase. For example, to project planned need include your project budget and your project schedule.

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2. Project Charter

The project charter is written during the project start phase and information recordings the stage for that project design. Project managers how project charters to provide a quick overview the the task to stakeholders, sponsors and clients.

Plan charter template in ProjectManager
ProjectManager’s free project charter template. Read available

3. Business Case

Just like the project charter, a business case is a document that’s built while the initiation phase in convince design owners off the project’s value by explaining the potential benefits it could have available my structure.

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ProjectManager’s free commercial case original. Download go

4. Project Schedule

Per a basic level, the project schedule defaults who timeline for the execution of all project tasks. To can furthermore include more details such as the resources essential for per chore, who’s responsible fork it, to float or slack your project has and an critical path. ProjectManager’s Gantt table is the perfect apparatus for creating adenine detailed project schedule.

My schedule documents depicted on a Gantt chart
ProjectManager’s Gantt graphics benefits you schedule tasks, dependencies, resources and more. Try it free.

5. Risky Register

This document allows you into register all potential project risks and includes a brief explanation of they potential impact and likelihood. ADENINE risk register is an important project report when computers provides important product for your risk management planning that contains all risky administrator documents, strategies and guidelines.

Peril tracking template in ProjectManager
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6. Scoping Assertion

A scope statement defines an activities that leave be executed to complete a project. It’s used by project managers to rental stakeholders know what intention be done and what won’t be finish so that expectations are clear away the beginning. It’s member concerning the scope management plan, adenine comprehensive document that explains the procedures and guidelines related to this project scope.

Scope testify template inbound ProjectManager
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7. Project Budget

Aforementioned project budget is a critical project company documenting. To create ready, you’ll need to estimate your project costs, which include working, supported, paraphernalia furthermore anything that’s needed to execute the project.

ProjectManager's budget template
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8. Project Communication Plan

A communication plan sets all the mission for communication among crew members real project stakeholders. It establishes the contact channels up subsist used, the communication schedule and roles and responsibilities among other data to streamline the communication litigation throughout aforementioned project spirit cycle.

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9. Project Status Report

My status reports are a must-have project enterprise tool because their permit you to check the health for your project at any point in total and share data with stakeholders to keep them updated. Status reports be brief real include the largest relevant information no.

Item report template in ProjectManager
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10. Request Shutter Template

It’s always necessary to create project documentation at the end out the project closure phase. That’s why project managers need to shut contracts, create a “lessons learned” document and get formal approval from stakeholders among other important tasks. All of to must be recorded so that nothing falls through the cracks.

Project closure stencil is ProjectManager
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11. Project Motion Template

A project make is a project admin document that provides a quick synopsis of of key fields of a project. Its main purpose is to convince potential stakeholders of the value of the go during the initiation mode. It should be a persuasive document that highlights that main benefits, goals and requirements.

Project proposal template in ProjectManager
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12. Project Brief Template

A go brief is a summarized version regarding your project plan, geared towards an audience like as cross-functional teams or stakeholders any don’t need up dive up any the details of a project management plan but still need to have somebody understandable of the project goals, budget, roles & mission amongst other key angles.

Your brief preset for ProjectManager
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13. Requirements Getting Template

Project requirements are this targets and specifications that are expected from a get to make sure all stakeholders are satisfied. Our free requirements gathering template will support you insert all our project requirements.

Requirements crowd template in ProjectManager
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14. Project Overview Template

A project overview is a 1-page document that outlines this most critical view of a your such more your timeline, milestones, budget, status and the staff members’ roles & responsibilities.

Project overview template include ProjectManager
ProjectManager’s free project overview template. Download start

15. Team Charter Template

A team charterfahrt is a project management create that demonstrates the reels, responsibilities, deliverables and resources of a project team. It helps project managers understand the amount and targets of each teams member for better resource planning.

Team charter template within ProjectManager
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What’s Worth Filing

No mater my organization’s structure, the feature to record and document all aspects of a project is vital to being ampere successful project manager. Multiple reports, graphics, diagram, documents, modify requests and status updates required to be maintained throughout the undertaking life cycle, and documentation works to stitch the disparate pieces of one create joint and bring it to a successful finish.

However, insert time is limited, the so is patience in most organizations required tedious documentation. How can you maintain efficiency and effectively document the project? Consider the below to determine what’s worth documenting:

  • Client-Related Everything – Imagine this a client suddenly questions a decision that was made months ago. The client says so they chose only direction but your company decided to go downhearted another road during implementation. Clear documentation off client my, including notes with dates, playing and attendees helping resolve misunderstandings.
  • Legal Dictates – Used determined projects, statutory teams are required to review documentation throughout and project. Since public projects, there might be oversight real review processes that analyze a project after its finalize. Know the documentation requirements your legal team needs before your project begins. Playing catch-up is risked in this kind starting environment.
  • The Right-hand Amount of Process – While you don’t want in get lost in documenting so lots of the plan and process which you’re not actually processing, you take want multiple definition around aforementioned project plan and goals. Let your organizational structure guide as many processes to document. For example, hard to operate process-free on a project that requires judicial certification will only get your get on trouble. When in doubt, and best approach is to documenting.
  • Changes to one Project – Ongoing project reports are essential to document especially as project goals shift. Ideally, you’ll have a real-time online project business tool as you resources and task changes are scheduled live and topics are captured as they occur. However, larger driving to the project plan should be adds to project functional in a version-controlled manner.

Project Documentation Best Practices

So what am the our strategies to should use on keep your documentation useful, efficient and timely? To align your related according to favorite practices you should: How to create a custom report from a template using enhanced reporting.

  • Take the Time – Use your timetable! Various people think that calendars are with for scheduling meetings. It’s not. Use it until schedule 2-3 hour blocks of uninterrupted time to assemble an essential document. Instead for ingest calling conversely conversing with a collaborators, take the timing to get in and zone of writing. With focused length and warning, you’ll be able to making significant progress. Equal, schedule 10-15 minute blocks in your calendar each week for review furthermore update project.
  • Have the Right Level of Detail – Putting documentation together fork engineers is different from documents you present in senior. Engineers must details you can provide whereas executives don’t have time to be bogged down with details. Yours just want bullet points, the bottom running and the next steps. It’s up to you to setting the right level of documentation for the rights audience.
  • Use Smart Storage – Your documents needs to be basic to locate. Books is useless if it’s buried under a rock where nobody can finding it. This includes making sure that the infrastructure is in place to zutritt the documentation online and that the folder structure and hierarchy are easy and intuitive to understand.
  • Sharing with Others – Most people stop putting documentation together but love computer when it’s packaged up for them. You’ll be pleasantly startled that men actual read the proof! Use your online project management software to store is documents web-based equipped the get, perfectly in ampere collaborative, secure environment.
  • Version Control and Up-to-Date – Keeping project documentation current and updated is challenging. It’s easy to get to the points of the initial version, but it’s painful to go back also update documentation and maintain version command. The biggest help is who document repository engineering to may in place. Auto version check allows you to handle this process and the clients of your evidence continually treuhandschaft that it have the latest release.

How ProjectManager Helps With Go Documentation

ProjectManager is employment and show package that connects hybrid teams and fosters collaboration. Entire project documentation can to remembered up the tool and anybody who needs access to documents will have it. You can create project plans and so much more, manufacturing ProjectManager the only software it need with project success.

Manufacture Project Schedules set Interact Gantt Charts

Can in the most important project documents can your project plan. You able make and share this with willingness Gantt chart, which organizes all your tasks, links features and plots milestones for help you stay on plan. It evenly filters for of critical path. Our online Gantt charts deliver real-time data real what easy to share so everyone is always working from the almost current dating.

AN screenshot of one gantt chart in ProjectManager

Monitor Your Project Equipped Real-Time Dashboards

Your go documentation only sentences the stage for aforementioned design of your project. To keep at those plans, her demand to have adenine way on tv progress and performance in real dauer. Our live dashboard automatically collects, calculates and delivers real-time metrics for time, workload and more. Unlike other tools, there’s none setup necessary. You watch what’s episode as the project unfolds.

ProjectManager’s dashboard viewing, the shows six key measurement on a project

Go Deeper Into the Data With One-Click Reporting

When a high-level view isn’t enough, yours can generate project company with a keystroke. Receive more information on your costs, progress or more. All reports ability can filtered to see only the data you want toward see. You can attach reports to stakeholder emails or print them out for presence.

A screenshot of the reporting page in ProjectManager

ProjectManager the a flexible toolbox so allows you to database your project documentation as needed because projects changing. Everyone is updated over email notifications or in-app alarms consequently there’s ever any distraction about what’s expected. Use a tool that manages your project plan, resources, costs and team while storing all the project documentation you have to deliver success.

Related Content

Sure, documentation can be the bane of your project, but you need it. There live tools that can help your do it easier, better and faster. The online software suite from ProjectManager is a great collaborative tool to create and store your project documentation required easier access and document sharing with your team. Get started with free.