When you are managing your project, one of the most important tools at your disposal is a project management (PM) checklist. 

This is a tool that allows project managers to maintain project objectives, manage risks, identify and manage resources, and communicate project milestones and goals to key stakeholders. 

A well-defined and regularly updated checklist helps project managers effectively manage their projects and ensure maximum efficiency.

When people hear the term project management, they automatically think of long hours and multiple “meals” taken on a daily basis. But there is so much more to it than that! 

Many people have found that being able to see and manage their project from start to finish gives them a sense of empowerment that they never had before. In this article, we’ll talk about how to create an ideal PM checklist to help you get started.

Define your project vision

The first thing you need to do is make sure your project vision is defined and communicated clearly by your team. Your project vision should include both short and long-term goals and be detailed enough to show what you are hoping to achieve. Also, make sure your team is committed to working towards this vision for the project as well as outlining a plan for accomplishing each milestone.

Gather your team on the same page

Now that you’ve got your project vision, it’s time to make sure everyone on your team is on the same page. To do this, it’s important to outline all team members’ roles with a to-do list. 

All project management tasks should be assigned to individual team members according to their level of responsibility. 

Make sure to keep project management checklists on hand to make sure all team members know exactly what they need to do. Also, consider having a project management checklist that is accessible to project managers but not to all employees.

Develop a project plan

Once everyone is on the same page, it’s time to develop a project plan that covers every aspect of the project. Your project plan should include a brief description of the deliverables, a scope or goal, time frame, and a budget. 

Each deliverable should be reviewed and assigned a level of priority. Be sure to include both financial and scheduling resources for the project, as these will be needed by project stakeholders.

Define project scope and out of scope

A project management checklist can help ensure that everyone on your team has a clear understanding of the deliverables, scope, and deadline. However, keep in mind that it is not enough to simply create a checklist. 

To create a truly effective PM checklist, you need to use it in conjunction with a project plan and action plan. With a well-defined project scope and goal, the project manager can easily identify all project risks and determine how they will be handled. 

Having clearly defined goals, objectives, and resources allows for better project management and better decision making.

Create a project schedule to stay on track 

The project schedule is used to coordinate project activities and manage delivery schedules and milestones. Project schedules help project managers to accurately determine the amount of time and manpower needed for each activity in the execution phase.

 Project managers use project schedule templates to determine project requirements and assign activities. Executing project activities is the most important phase of a project, therefore, it is necessary to ensure that executing phases go according to schedule.

Create a risk scenario

Project risk management plan can be described as an integrated whole management tool that manages risks associated with projects. A risk management plan contains a strategy to mitigate project risk after project completion. It also describes project risk factors and their definition, their management, and their risk management strategy. 

A risk management plan is generally considered as an important component in project planning. It helps project managers to successfully complete and implement project objectives.

Like with the other steps, this is crucial for any well-made project management checklist.

Create a communication plan

A communication plan is designed to facilitate communication between project managers and stakeholders. The main goal of a communication plan is to provide a clear picture of the project budget, schedule, and requirements to stakeholders. 

It also facilitates project approval and provides project managers with an opportunity to communicate their project benefits and risks to selected people. 

On the other hand, a fintech project plan is a project financing tool that provides project managers with an opportunity to establish realistic project financial goals and realistic project time frames.

 Its key elements include project estimate, project cost, project time period, project life cycle, project initiation, and project finish line.

Get down to work and track deadlines

Some project management checklist resources may focus on defining the project scope, while others focus on the creation of work breakdown structure (wbs). Both are important, and the wbs will differ depending on the nature of your project.

Some projects will have an initial project budget and a work breakdown structure (WBS). The wbs will list all of the project tasks that are required to complete the project, and the time spent on each task. It can also serve as a tool to track budget activity and track deadlines.

Monitor the project

As the project progresses, it eventually comes to stages such as planning, implementation, monitoring, and controlling. In the planning stage, creatives are required to map out project requirements and identify suitable vendors.

At this stage, agency leaders must ensure that the project budget can meet requirements and within the allocated budget. Project implementation is a step which project managers take to initiate the project.

 In this stage, project managers determine what resources to acquire, determine project delivery dates and assign roles and responsibilities to individuals and teams. 

Project monitoring is done to ensure project completion and quality control, and project control is done to monitor project progress and ensure project success.

Other resources for making sure your team has a well-defined project management checklist are checklists for different aspects of project management. There are a wide variety of checklists available, depending on the size, complexity, and expected outcome of every project. 

Every project manager will require a checklist in their tool box. For example, a project manager should have a separate checklist for financial issues, another for marketing, and another for vendor management.

What’s next after these points are done? 

You probably want to close the project. However, the last phase of finalizing the project is the most difficult. In theory it seems simpler: you cut the ribbon and that’s about it. 

In practice, however, things are completely different: the members of the project team make great efforts to finish all tasks, each one in a very short time. 

The last phase is generally a more hectic one, and may involve re-planning, acquisition of new resources, as well as other issues related to the “transition phase”, which make it difficult to move to the next stage of the project or to a new project.

As a bonus, we’ve included below a set of questions that can help you complete a project or a phase of a project easier: 

• Are all project deliverables ready?
• Are all lessons learned from the project or project phase and reported on?

• Is the final report of the project completed and revised?
• Has the client accepted all project results and other associated deliverables?
• Were all the costs charged according to the project?
• Are all the packages ready to start work?
• Is there an unfinished package? If so, are there any supporting documents for the unfinished work?
• Are all administrative activities related to the closure of the project ready?
• Is the project management plan archived, including data support?
• Were all stakeholders involved in completing the project / stage of the project notified?
• Are all audit, support, and maintenance procedures in place?
• Are project team members appointed / in the process of being appointed / appointed to the committee?

The checklist above is just a starting point for the completion stage of a project or the phase of a project. 

How To Get Started In Creating Project Management Checklists

When managing projects, a checklist can make the project manager’s life much easier. It gives everyone on the team a sense of direction and accountability. 

However, even the best project management software is only as good as the team using it. Don’t let a lack of a proper project budget or a poorly monitored budget lead to overspending or a lack of completion to your goals. Stay organized by keeping a detailed PM checklist.

That’s why we created Alvanda. Alvanda is a state-of-the-art business optimization platform that allows you to organize all your tasks into processes. These actionable checklists then let you work through your tasks and record your progress as you go.  

With Alvanda’s process optimization features, you streamline your business processes and tasks, while also keeping your team on the same page. Optimize your project management process today with Alvanda. Request a free demo today!