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Planning a project as a small business owner becomes a lot easier. If you use a project planning template. In fact, you’ll find many out there. And they come a variety of formats. As a result, you’ll need to conduct some research before identifying the ideal template for your requirements.

To aid that research, check out these 20 project planning templates. And at the bottom you’ll find another 8 of the best templates compatible with Microsoft Word.

Free Simple Project Plan Templates

Project Timeline Tracking

Track your project’s deadlines and status with this Excel timeline tracking template from Microsoft Office. You simply enter the project start date, add team members’ names and assign tasks to the project calendar.

Timeline Planning

This PowerPoint timeline-focused template from Office Timeline takes a broader perspective of the project to ensure important tasks are completed on time. It also doubles as a useful presentation tool for stakeholders.

Task Management

This task management template focuses heavily on the requisite tasks instead of other aspects such as milestones or issues and is ideally suited for smaller projects. Download the Excel template from Analysis Tabs.

Phase Scheduling

This project schedule template lets you separate the project into different phases which are segregated into various actions and activities. Download it from Vertex 42 in Excel format.

Weekly Work Scheduling

Although primarily a employee record, this weekly work schedule template in Excel format can be adapted as a project planner thanks to the task assigning option. Download it from Find My Shift.

Daily Work Scheduling

Microsoft Office also have their own daily work schedule template in Excel format which is great for managing the weekly, daily and hourly activities of your staff. Download it from Microsoft Office.

Task Flowcharts

Flowcharts can be excellent for defining goals. For example, this Excel template from Demand Metric will automatically sort them after they have been added. It is free but does require registration with an email address to download.

Task Structuring

Use a tabular format to organize tasks and their deliverables into various levels of priority with space to add notes for each. It is available in Excel format from Vertex 42.

Individual Weekly Tracking

This Microsoft Office Excel template lets you track a specific employee’s work-related activities over the course of a week. Add details about the clients they work with and projects they work on.

Individual Monthly Tracking

For a broader view of an employee’s project-related activities over the course of a month, download this monthly task tracking template from Vertex 42.

Gantt Charts for Planning

Vertez 42 also have a useful Gantt chart template in Excel format with which you can track a project’s progress via an attractive Gantt chart visual.

Gantt Charts for Task Structure

Microsoft Office also provides a simple and flexible Gantt chart project planning template in Excel form.

Gantt Charts for Task Planning

This PowerPoint Gantt chart project planning template from Template Tab can also be used to make presentations to clients and stakeholders. Scroll down the page to template #31 for a free download.

Monthly Budget Planners

This budget planning template helps you ensure your project remains on track and on budget. Download it in Excel format from Vertex 42.

Project Budgeting

Another excellent project budget template can be downloaded in Excel format from Axia Consulting. Quickly calculate your software project budget and tailor the template to your individual needs.

Project Risk Management

This risk management template from Smartsheet lets you identify risks and detail the measures required to avoid them. It is available in Excel format.

Risk Management Planning

This risk management template from Safety Culture can be used to identify risks and record the impact of them on a project as well as assess the likelihood of the risk occurring and its seriousness. Requires registration.

Work Breakdown Diagrams

This simple PowerPoint work structure template contains diagrams for project management or project planning and is a very basic and easily understood planning template.

Project Timelines

This project timeline management template for PowerPoint is not only a project management tool but can be adapted for presentations to teams, clients and managers.

Business Planning Timelines

This flexible business project planning template for PowerPoint lets you modify dates and more. For example, you can add new milestones or tasks. And you can even change the colors and shapes of any object automatically with just a few clicks.

Free Microsoft Word Simple Project Plan Templates

Project Management

Use this project management template to deliver project work on time and within budget. You can download the template from the MyPM website. And you can find Word or PDF format.

General Purpose Project Planner

Project management consultancy Solarity offer this general purpose project charter template free of charge. The design may seem simple. But it contains quite a lot of detail for complicated projects.

Simple Project Planner

The New York University management school offers this simple but effective project charter template with a variety of perks. For instance, the NYU project plan features an attractive template that is compatible with Microsoft Word.

Assorted Project Management Forms

The CDC may seem a curious source of free project management templates. But they are very basic. As a result, they contain all necessary fields And you’ll also find helpful user instructions.

Project Status Reports

Don’t forget this in-depth project status report template also available from MyPM. It includes additional fields for a variety of purposes. For instance, to report key accomplishments, schedule variance, budget details, risks and other issues.

More Status Reports

Microsoft Office provides a pre-formatted project status report template. It helps you keep your key stakeholders updated. For example, they can see progress of any given project.

Work Breakdown

Check out this free work breakdown structure template from My Word Templates. You’ll find it compatible with Word. As a result, it lets you edit the text to add up to three levels of deliverables.

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This article, “Looking for Project Management Templates for Your Business? Check Out These Options” was first published on Small Business Trends