Project Planning Worksheet
Six pages, one worksheet per initiative, from identification to post-launch review.
PDF · 6 pages · 150 KB PDF
One worksheetper initiative.
The worksheet for Chapter 4, Creating Initiatives and Project Planning. A project plan is the collection of all initiatives serving a single law firm goal, so the worksheet names that goal first, then the Directly Responsible Individual accountable for delivery, and works six pages from identification to post-launch review.
PDF · 6 pages · Free to download. Part of The Law Firm Operating System Implementation Workbook.
What is inside.
Six pages, one per stage of the initiative. Every table carries a name, and the risk table says why: a mitigation plan with no name attached is a wish.
The six pages
Identification, purpose and objectivesPage 1
The law firm goal this supports, from your Business Portfolio. The initiative, the project name, the DRI and who they report to, the sponsor, where the plan lives, and the start and target completion dates. Then purpose, what success looks like, and each goal paired with the indicator that proves it, with baseline, target, frequency and source.
Scope, constraints and peoplePage 2
In scope and out of scope, so the goal post cannot move. Constraints and limitations by type, budget, time, people, technical or regulatory, each with a planning response. Internal team members and external stakeholders: clients, partners, vendors and referral sources.
TimelinePage 3
The buffer built into the timeline and when it was last reviewed. Milestones, then tasks and deliverables, each with a DRI, what it depends on, planned date, revised date and status.
Resources and riskPage 4
Budget estimate, who must approve it, the DRI's decision and spending authority, tools and software, and human resources. Then risk management: impact, likelihood, mitigation plan and risk owner.
Communication and measurementPage 5
Status updates, reporting method, the meeting cadence where this is reported, the decision-making process, and external stakeholder communication. Five project metrics: schedule adherence, budget variance, project scope change, resource utilization and quality of deliverables. A project hold protocol for when a more urgent initiative displaces this one.
Post-launch reviewPage 6
Checkpoints at one day, one week, one month, one quarter and one year, with findings and corrective action. Question and answer sessions, the final review meeting, lessons learned, and who closed the initiative.
How to use it.
Name the goal first
One worksheet per initiative, and each initiative serves one law firm goal from your Business Portfolio. Write the goal at the top before anything else.
Name the DRI
One name, known to the team, and who receives the update. Leave the approval line blank if the DRI already holds the authority.
Work backwards from the target date
Set the dates with the team rather than for them, build in buffer, and revise the plan in writing when reality moves.
Schedule the checkpoints at the outset
The first check is never launch day. Put the one day, one week, one month, one quarter and one year checkpoints on the calendar before launch, because the lessons are the return on the planning.
Download the worksheet.
PDF only. Print one per initiative.