Can You Descibe Your Project on One Page?

Project plans are often many pages in length. Sometimes, that is a necessity. The Project is complex. The details are important. The Customer expects to see a long, detailed plan. Aside from the "have to" situations, however, can a Project be described on just 1 letter-sized page (written in a font size that is readable!)?

Being detailed and being able to communicate details in writing are valuable. Being able to boil it down to 1 page takes practice. It takes editing. It takes some thought. It takes the ability to see through all the details to the heart of what is really important.

So what would be in this short plan?

• The purpose - in a few sentences at most, what will be achieved by successfully completing the Project?
• Who will benefit by the completion of the Project? Who is the Customer?
• What is the time frame for the Project - when does it start, when is it scheduled to be completed?
• Who will work on the Project? The Company. The Team. The Division. Whatever group or person.
• Is there something special about this project? Is it a one-of-a-kind? A first? Number 648?
• How will the project execution happen?  Careful! This is where the details want to be written down.

For a specific Project, a different set of items might be important. That's part of the exercise. If you only have 1 page, what is critical? What must be said? What details can be excluded?

Try this on a new or existing Project. You might learn more about what critical factors need attention. Attention to detail is often important - unless we get caught in the detail and miss the larger picture.