Learn how to create an effective work plan and use our handy templates to save time and effort.
Templates and the essentials of work planning👇
Table of contents
Resource vs Project Management: Where Doges Float Fit? Assign the best team for the job, every time. Try for freeYou’ve just started a new project: your stakeholders are aligned and your charter is signed. Now, it’s time to get practical—one of the best ways to plan work and share what needs to be done with your team is by filling out a work plan template.
To help you get started, we put together eight work plan templates that you can copy and start using for free right now 👇
(PS: At some point, you may find that templates are insufficient or too inflexible for your planning needs. If that’s the case, the company behind this page (Float 👋) has built a dedicated resource management software that thousands of teams love. And it’s free to try out!)
Work plan tools and templates offer several benefits that support accountability, alignment, and execution of your project. Specifically, they help you:
The templates below are for different needs and use different file formats, and offer a starting point for you to iterate on what is most effective for your team and organization. Feel free to customize as you see fit and update as part of your workload management process.
Get the templates by making a copy or going to File > Download.
⚠️ Please don’t send edit requests, as the original file needs to remain intact for everyone to be able to view and save.
This work plan in Google Sheets helps you break down specific tasks and add their details in, so they can be easily arranged and assigned to the right teams and people. This template is well-suited for projects with very clear deliverables.
This work plan template includes the high-level details of the project timeline (phases and milestones) as well as the nitty-gritty of jobs to be done and the roles required. It’s good for complex projects with timelines that span multiple weeks (or even months).
This Google Docs work plan template helps you document the project scope and goals, along with how they translate into the level of effort and specific actions needed from your team. Use this to align stakeholders.
The work breakdown structure (WBS) template lists all the work to be done for a specific project. The difference with the previous work plan templates is that it places tasks into a hierarchy so you and your team can easily understand dependencies and potential blockers. If you need a WBS in a diagram format, get it here.
The daily work plan template can be used both by an individual and a team. It helps plan an entire day of work based on ongoing projects at any given time.
The weekly work plan template is ideal for tracking short-term tasks and progress, ensuring every project moves smoothly from start to finish.
The annual work plan template is best for managing projects across extended periods. Use it to plan high-level project work from conception to completion.
This template is for a project action plan and is broader than just a work plan. If this level of detail is what you need, you may find our collection of 15 project plan templates useful to organize your projects from initiation to closure.
This template is in .xls format if you prefer working locally on your computer rather than on cloud apps. Download it from the folder below and start your work plan!
➡️ Download the .xlsx file here.
Use this file version for printing and filling in manually. Download it to your computer through the options below.
➡️ Download it from this Drive folder or from Acrobat.
You always need to determine the scope and goals for each project, but you don’t need to do the actual work planning and allocation from scratch.
For example, instead of always having to list roles, set up and manage roles in Float so you can always find the best person for the job and easily assign work on the schedule. Or set up the initial budget for a project and use reports from previous projects to optimize your plan.
Creating a spreadsheet or document for work planning is something to be proud of! It takes a lot of structuring and iteration to get it right 💪
But even for spreadsheet enthusiasts, the issue remains that spreadsheets were not created for planning. They’re easy to break and hard to keep updated. Plus, all project planners could focus so much more on other parts of their job if they didn’t have to invest time and effort in setting up and managing spreadsheets.
What’s a better way? Consider a dedicated resource management and scheduling software like Float.
Jason Fisher
Co-Founder and Global Studio Director, Flight Story
Why you need to set up the right work planning system early
“From day one, [Float] is the first thing I signed up to. And even though there were just two of us, there's no question that you've got to set up the systems early and get off on the right foot. Otherwise, planning and organization become your Achilles heel down the line because you’ve not got the foundation there.
“When you suddenly get busy and win that big job you’ve been hoping for, you need the tool in place. And doing all of that at the same time as being right in the thick of client delivery is never fun.”
Schedule work with confidence based on the team’s real capacity and plan projects in a visual interface.
