Home » Guide to Hiring and Getting Hired »

Project planning

This page covers both planning when considering a new client or project, such as identifying project scope, and new client onboarding once you’ve agreed to work together.

Consider before taking on a project

Are there any key deadlines?

Example

“This a new project. v1.0 releases in three months. Documentation must be ready then.”

What are the deliverables?

Example

“The client needs documentation in both web and PDF formats.”
“The client has feedback from users that they’d really like video tutorials. We need to focus on producing these.”

Consider after taking on a project

Who do I report to?

Example

“I am working as part of the engineering team, reporting to the lead developer.”

Who are the key stakeholders in this project?

Example

“My goal is to reduce support load, so I should work closely with the support team.”

Who are my reviewers?

Example

“I am documenting a complex API. I need the developers to review my work for technical accuracy.”

What tools do I need access to?

Example

“This client uses GitHub to manage their docs, and Netlify to deploy them. I need adding to the client’s teams and access to their repos.”

Template

Tom Johnson’s project plan template, available as a Google Doc here.