Project Plan .vs. Project Schedule

I find many people use the terms project plan and project schedule interchangeably. Some dont understand the purpose of the artifacts project plan. Let me clearly explain you the purpose of those documents and their differences.

Project Plan

This document details out following about a project.

Project Objective

1. This section answers the WHY we are doing this project. It explains the business problem which is the actual business driver of the project

Project Solution

1. This section answers the WHAT we are going to do in this project. It explains the solution/deliverable which is going to solve the business problem.

Project Timelines

1. This section answers the WHEN we are going to do in this project. It details major milestone timelines, implementation timelines, etc.,

Project Resources

1. This section answers the WHO we need to do this project. It details key resources that we need to design/execute/implement the project.

Project Schedule

This document expands the project timelines/resources section of the project plan. In order words, project schedule is nothing but the work breakdown structure of the project, the timelines of each activity, dependencies b/w each activity, who is going to do each activity, what are the milestones, what is the critical path of the project.

Usually we all use Microsoft project software to do the Project schedule. Some people also use the MS excel do the project schedule for some of the very simple projects.

Hope I have clarified the purpose of the documents Project Plan and Project schedule and it would contain.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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